Creeping Jean Interview at The Great Escape Festival | SALT Magazine

Brighton has long specialised in producing bands that sound like they were born for sticky floors, late nights and very loud speakers. Creeping Jean fit that tradition perfectly. Fast-rising and gloriously unapologetic, the band blend garage-rock grit, sharp hooks and a swaggering sense of fun that feels built for packed rooms and festival chaos. They make songs that hit hard, move fast and never overstay their welcome.

With The Great Escape Festival returning to Brighton, Creeping Jean arrive as one of the names worth getting down the front for. Their live reputation continues to grow, fuelled by sweat-soaked sets, big energy and a knack for turning noise into something strangely irresistible. We caught up with the band to talk Brighton, festivals, standing out in a crowded scene, and what comes next.

You’re playing The Great Escape this year, a festival known for tipping artists into their next phase. Does it feel like a turning point or part of a longer build?

Rod: It’s not our first Great Escape rodeo, but it’s our first official Great Escape. We performed at the fringe festival before. So having a badge in itself will already be a turning point! 

Tom: It feels like a bit of both. You’re always hoping the next step is the step that’s really going to make a difference. We’ve been grafting for a while, so it feels more like another chapter to our story, but definitely one we’re buzzing for.

Everyone hates this question, but we’re asking it anyway. How would you describe your sound right now, without the clichés?

Rod: We play rock music with a certain pop sensibility in order to be instantly relatable, while aiming to retain respect for the rock music art form of the mid-20th century. It’s a 21st-century Spotify-friendly take on timeless rock music! 

Tom: Grit, melody, and a bit of beautiful chaos, songs that hit hard but still know how to move.

Brighton has a strong musical identity. What kind of energy are you hoping to tap into when you play there?

Rod: Brighton is one of our homes and we always have a great time playing there! We’re hoping to tap into some kind of “cosmic energy, when everybody goes yeah and bash”, as eloquently pointed out by Robert Plant backstage at the MSG, 1973. 

Tom: Brighton always feels switched on. We want to match that energy and make it feel loose, loud, and unforgettable.

What’s the one thing about your live set that people won’t get from just streaming your tracks?

Rod: I personally think we come into life playing live in a way that no recording managed to encapsulate, except for perhaps Spice Rack. There’s a certain urgency and drive in the atmosphere that only unfolds in a live setting.

Tom: The sweat, the volume, and the unpredictability. Live is where it all properly comes alive.

There’s a lot of noise around new artists right now. How do you stand out without trying too hard?

Rod: You just have to be genuine and find the best way to portray what you’re about to the people who’ll connect to you. There are no proven ways or methods, and to prove that just think about the fact that the pop sensation of the moment is an instrumental microtonal avant-garde band called Angine de Poitrine. 

Tom: By keeping it real. Just good songs, honesty, and turning up properly when it counts.

Do you feel more at home in the studio or on stage, and has that changed over time?

Rod: They’re different homes for different purposes. Think of it as a beach house in Saint Tropez or a cottage in the Cotswolds, I’d probably feel at home in both of them if I could afford them, but real estate aside, I think that the live set is where it’s at for us! 

Tom: Stage, every time. The studio shapes it, but live is where we breathe.

Are you looking forward to any other artists at The Great Escape? Any recommendations or acts you want to watch?

Rod: Angine de Poitrine! Can’t wait to sing along to their non-sing-along cubist avant-garde music.

Tom: Theres a few! Angine de poitrine as headline will be fun to watch (if I can get in early enough). That’s the beauty of it, half the fun is stumbling into your next favourite band by accident.

For someone discovering you for the first time at the festival, where should they start?

Rod: Spice Rack, Sassy Got Shakes and Warm & Fuzzy encapsulate us well!

Tom: Get down the front. You’ll get it quicker that way. But album 1 or 2 is equally as good of an option.

Outside of music, what’s currently feeding into your world? Films, people, places, bad decisions, all of it.

Rod: Musically, I’m currently in a quest for all things CSNY, delving as deep as possible in all the records, including all their members from the mid 60s to the early 70s. Philosophically, I’m in the quest for the mysteries of the Pythagorean initiates. 

Tom: Late nights, early starts, good books, questionable choices, and people with something real to say.

Looking ahead, what other exciting things are planned for the band this year? 

Rod: We’ve got quite a few festivals coming up! It feels great to play at festivals, they feel like utopic microcosms in which life’s all about indulgence. We just have to capture that energy and exchange it with the audience.

Tom: More music, bigger shows, and plenty more miles.

Creeping Jean play The Great Escape at Waterbear Music Bar on Saturday, 16th May 2026, at 3:30 PM.

For all other shows and announcements check out their Instagram page @creepingjeanband

Top Image by Blackham Images