INTERVIEW: A BAND WITHOUT A BOX: A NIGHT WITH THE GREAT LESLIE

“What we do brings joy, it brings you anxiety, it brings you stress, but it also brings you incredible happiness”

The Great Leslie played a sold-out show at The Stags Head in East London on February 13th 2026. We sat down with the band before their gig to talk about their journey so far, what’s coming up next, their influences and more. The band consists of Ollie Trevers (vocals/rhythm guitar), Ryan Lavender (drums), Freddie Miles (lead guitar) and Oda Steinkopf (bass). They have made a name for themselves in the indie rock scene with their unique sound and energetic live shows.

Just two weeks before their London show, the four-piece band released their latest single ‘The Party’. Trevers explains that the track contextually complements their 2025 single ‘Under Your Skin’, the first release from their upcoming debut album. He describes ‘Under Your Skin’ as a song about ‘‘wanting to connect with an audience and having kind of a deep desire to affect our audience in a meaningful way“. In contrast, he says, ‘The Party’ is more about the anxiety of getting older and not achieving things like that“. The band is currently working on their debut album, which Trevers reveals they want to use to express their journey both as individuals and as a band. Although they’ve already released two singles from their debut album, Steinkopf explains that they’re still writing and plan to record more tracks before mixing and mastering. Because that process is time-consuming and costly, they’ve turned to crowdfunding, asking fans to help cover the remaining expenses to finish the record and fund a tour after the album release. ‘‘We've asked our audience, our fans, to help us, to support us“ Steinkopf says, adding that many backers are already supporting the album. They hope to gain additional support to fully fund the project, as they are now close to finishing. Miles encourages, ‘‘So if people want to support our album, go to our website“ before Trevers adds, ‘‘We’ve got a lot of stuff coming up. There’s a lot to do, but it’s good“.

The band gained wider recognition when they took part in the Eurovision Song Contest selection last year, making it into the final five contenders to represent Germany in 2025 out of more than 3,000 entrants. They reveal that at the time they did their live TV performance for the show, they hadn’t even played a gig with bassist Steinkopf yet, who had joined the band shortly before that. Trevers explains that over the years they’ve had different members come and go. He first met Lavender years ago while searching for a drummer for his solo project, while lead guitarist Miles joined the line-up about four or five years ago. The band’s name is inspired by The Great Race, a childhood favorite of Trevers starring Tony Curtis. They eventually settled on the name The Great Leslie, Curtis’s protagonist in the 1965 comedy, after considering countless other options.

The band looks back fondly on their Eurovision experience and their trips across Europe, where they’ve built a particularly strong following in Germany, where Miles is from. They speak with real affection about life on the road, especially in Europe, highlighting how friendly the people are. Even when they’re exhausted on tour, they say the adrenaline kicks in as soon as they step on stage. Steinkopf explains; ‘‘You're stressing out with a lot of details before you go on tour, so when you are on tour, you can't really do anything about it, but you just have to go with the flow, and that's the beauty of it“. Ultimately, what they cherish most about touring are the road trips from city to city, the hours spent in each other‘s company and drummer Lavender‘s karaoke performances.

The band will return to Germany (and Belgium) in April, supporting Franz Ferdinand on four dates – an opportunity they’re all hugely excited about: ‘‘That's already as big as it gets in the indie scene, I think. But there's great new bands out there as well“ Miles says when asked who else they’d like to support in the future. They mention acts like Wunderhorse and Wet Leg, explaining that they’d love to open for bands with a similar buzz and energy, which they feel would pair well with their own sound.

When it comes to describing that sound, Steinkopf defines it as a blend of classic rock influences and modern indie, mixed with disco grooves and funk. Miles adds that they used to label it ‘‘disco rock“ or ‘‘theatrical indie“, even if those terms are hard to pin down. Trevers cites Queen and ABBA as major inspirations, particularly for their colourful, layered backing vocals – something The Great Leslie also try to bring into their music to fill out the sound. He admits it’s hard to sum up what they sound like, ‘‘We've got aspects from a multitude of different things“ he says, ‘‘Which I think is a good thing, but it's also a bad thing, because getting on playlists is sometimes harder if they don't really know what to do with you“. Miles agrees, arguing that this is a problem with music in general, ‘‘People always need you inside a box. They need to have a label to understand what it is. You can't really say that, as a band, we don't sound like any of the other bands because that just sounds arrogant“ he says, ‘‘But I think it's the case. So far, I haven't heard a band that's got the same sort of approach to us“. He points out that of course they’re influenced by groups like Arctic Monkeys and Franz Ferdinand – whether consciously or not – but resists reducing their work to a label. ‘‘People always need to leave a label for you and I don't like giving them that label because they will judge you on it“ he continues before saying, ‘‘We've had loads of people come to our shows saying they thought this was going to be an indie gig, and then it's completely different“. Trevers concludes that many of the most successful bands in history have had a distinctive sound that didn‘t really exist before, ‘‘When you look back in time, all the really successful bands were always the ones with a unique sound, something that hasn't really existed before. Those were always the most successful bands“ he says ‘‘Look at Queen“.

The band’s inspirations and influences couldn‘t be more varied. Miles notes that their music taste is ‘‘completely different“: bassist Steinkopf is drawn to Jazz, drummer Lavender mainly listens to heavy genres such as metal, Trevers listens to everything from Jazz and Modern Indie to EDM, while Miles describes his own music taste as ‘‘all over the place“, but largely rooted in older records. He adds, ‘‘I think that part sort of shapes our sound as well, because we all have completely different approaches to music“. Similarly, their favourite songs to play live are just as varied as their music tastes. Drummer Lavender loves performing ‘Burn Me, Drown Me’ because of how heavy it is, while Miles says his favourites are usually the newest tracks or the ones that haven‘t been released yet. Trevers settles on ‘The Party’ adding that it changes all the time, to which Steinkopf agrees.

When asked what they love most about being musicians, Trevers immediately talks about how it allows him to connect, ‘‘Music taught me how to communicate with people in a more meaningful way. I was never very good at talking to people, particularly when I was younger. I'm deeply, innately shy. So my favourite thing is just being able to connect with other people“. On stage, he explains, there‘s a unique exchange between artist and audience: ‘‘In that moment, you wouldn't wanna be anyone else. It's a special kind of interplay. I think that's why people fall in love with artists, because they say what you might have felt. That's an incredible thing“. He thinks back to the songs and albums that shaped him as a kid. Every now and then, he says, something hits so deep it reminds you why you love music in the first place. ‘‘It doesn't happen all the time, but there are a few artists and albums and songs that really move me. That's probably the best thing for me“.

For Steinkopf, the joy lies in the process. She was surprised by how fun it is simply to make music together, ‘‘Just being in the studio, jamming on something together and then it actually becomes a song and we record and release it. The whole step is quite interesting. And how the tune changes from when we start until it's finished. It’s a very cool process“. Trevers also loves the sense of creating something that lasts, ‘‘Making something that's just so much bigger than you. We could be dead for a hundred years and the songs will still be there“ he says ‘‘People can still be listening to it and they might know our names“. Miles sees music as a direct extension of who they are, ‘‘At the end of the day, any art form is just an extension of yourself and it's just great to be able to express yourself in this way“ he says ‘‘Not many people can do that. Some people have no idea where to go with their emotions, and for us, it's obvious because it brings all the emotions. What we do brings joy, it brings you anxiety, it brings you stress, but it also brings you incredible happiness“. He continues, ‘‘I'm doing this for me, mainly, because I'm enjoying it. I wouldn't be doing it if I wasn't. But it's crazy how it makes other people happy: the music I write, the riffs I write, the vocals Ollie sings or whatever. Even if it just touches one person tonight at the gig, that's already a win. It's just, I guess, gratefulness. Grateful to be able to do it“.

And that clearly worked. The crowd at The Stags Head in East London was buzzing, with band and audience feeding off of each other all night. The set was high-energy and at one point they even turned their audience into collaborators or you could say ‘‘videographers“ for their next music video. The show doubled as a shoot for the video for ‘King Beard Man’, the soon-to-be-released third single from their upcoming debut album. The band invited fans to film the song on their phones and then submit the footage for it to be cut into the final video. ‘‘We‘re involving all of the fans because we thought it would be fun if people would get their perspective, from what the videographer would see. It's just about sharing the experience of being at a TGL gig, which is just pure energy and fun, and we want the video to represent that. It will be nice because it will be a music video by our fans and for our fans“.

With a debut album on the way, a fan-shot video in the works, and shows with Franz Ferdinand on the horizon, The Great Leslie are channelling their diverse influences and restless live energy into the kind of project that could define the next chapter of their career. If their night at The Stags Head is anything to go by, they’re a band built on connection, emotion and a determination to carve out a sound – and space – that‘s entirely their own.

Words and photos by Nadine Goetz