One of the best British bands to emerge in 2025, Tough Cookie discusses their philosophy, essence, and terrific debut mixtape.
Bands are back and better than ever. But why? What changed? Well, for starters, they aren’t just following the same old formulas – genre is less relevant than ever. Gone (in the most part) are four-chord flippancies, painstakingly laddy culture, predictable, clichéd lyricism. In comes an acceptance of technical intricacy, a liberal moral mindset, and a courage to be vulnerable.
Tough Cookie are emblematic of everything that’s currently good about British indie music. An EP? Fuck an EP, let’s drop a mixtape. Sticking to one style? That’s boring, let’s cram a mosaic of musical ideas into one body of work, yet still keep it cohesive to who we are as a band.
There’s a rich emotionality to “The Countryside Is Good For You”. It’s about running away from yourself in the moment to find the answers later. It’s about understanding your flaws and evolving with your mistakes. It’s about sadness and joy, you and me.
And it sounds electric. There are splashes of slacker rock and dashes of Britpop, helpings of grunge and sprinkles of folk. And it sounds only better live – good thing the band are hitting the road this winter, finishing up at East London’s Oslo on 9th December.
With this debut mixtape cementing their seat as one of London’s best breakout acts of 2025, the quartet talks origins, essence, and bucket lists.
Listen to “The Countryside Is Good For You”…
Read the interview…
What makes you tough cookies?
We’re really tasty (high blood sugar) and the rent crisis we are dealing really really well with.
Talk us through the origins of the band – how did you start making music together? Was it a natural process?
We all met in Leeds apart from Gavin who was studying in Liverpool, and there was quite a natural progression into becoming a band. Both August and Dan had been in several projects together and Gavin was a childhood friend of August’s – it was a no brainer really, so it was quite an unconscious decision once we had our first rehearsal (for a previous project). It was obvious this was going to evolve into a collaborative project and a few years down the line TC was born.
What are your core inspirations – in and out of music?
We are heavily inspired by the 90s music scene, especially bands like Radiohead, Pavement and Jeff Buckley. Other than that, writers such as William Burroughs and Patti Smith along with all the visuals that come with their works heavily inspired the way we approach our visuals. We’d like to thank Pinterest for that.
Describe your sound as an emotion, a drink, and a colour?
Wistful – Petrol – Off white.
You’ve played some noteworthy shows and had some impactful single drops – but what was the moment for you that you felt you could be successful in the modern industry?
The reception we’ve received off the back of our shows has always been positive, watching the crowd sing our lyrics back after such a short time was probably the moment we felt success in our grasp.
What does it mean to be in a band to you? How has the philosophy of a band changed in the past 20/30 years?
Having fun writing and playing the songs as a gang, exploring ideas and allowing ourselves to grow as artists and creatives in our own right, we now have a sense of belonging. I guess social media has really changed this philosophy. People make music for popularity and media growth more often than not, we think it’s important to stick with your beliefs and not get drawn into that mess.
Congratulations on the debut mixtape! How are you feeling about the release?
It’s been a long time coming to be honest and it’s great that people can finally hear these songs. We hope people enjoy this introduction because to be honest we are really excited for what’s coming next.
Talk us through the meaning of the name, “The Countryside Is Good For You”?
It’s a mantra and metaphor for escapism – it’s what we get from writing and performing and something we hope to provide for every listener.
How was the process of putting together a body of work? What was the most challenging aspect?
It was a long process – all these songs were written over the last 5 years and getting over some of the “demoitis” was quite tricky. It was a big challenge getting all our genre influences from over the years to fit into one mixtape but we think we did it well.
What does the mixtape mean to you? What are the overarching themes and ideas?
It’s a body of work presented as a scrapbook, like a diary entry hence a lot of the visual artwork that has come with it. There is no specific concept, just word vomit of very personal experiences conveying common human emotions.
You’ve got a huge headline tour to come – catch us there. What can attendees expect from a Tough Cookie live show?
You can expect the entirety of the mixtape in its live form and a look into what’s coming next – we have a cool line up of bands so every evening is gonna be packed with grit, scuzzy guitars, a few tears and a couple people waving around their shoes for some reason?
Looking ahead, what’s on the Tough Cookie bucket list?
Recording an album with a couple of heros of ours, showcasing music alongside the art we make in a gallery or something, and some pretty big shows outside the UK. We really wanna see the world.
Words – Ben Tibbits
