Indieterria meets French Toast

We often say that London is a place of incredible new music and the town prides itself on its musical heritage. But on 11^th April 2026 few things happened that made us wonder if things are really this way. Lyly Riott of French/English punk band French Toast has been manhandled and removed from her own show – for taking off her top. Imagine the same thing happening to any man in a rock band – there would be outrage and cries of censorship. When a London based female musician is harassed and banned from a London based music venue, there are crickets. No articles and no press enquiries why Dingwalls in Camden decided to sexualize a woman performer and then banned her from ever working or performing at the venue again. It’s not just Taliban level of moral policing of women but the venue acting here as judge, jury and executioner – take a top off as part of your artistic expression and not have the right to work ever again at certain places and have no right to appeal anywhere. Mind, it is not an offence for a man or a woman to be topless in England and Wales, the laws are perfectly clear on it as well as they are on the right to artistic expression which include the right to shock, offend and include elements of nudity.

The worst of it is the fact that Dingwalls do not extend the same harassment and censorship to men who often undress on the venue stages, on the contrary they are encouraged to do as they please. It is not just a scandal plain and simple but also a proper stain on London`s reputation. And it’s a shame that everyone is silent. But maybe everyone is silent because it happened to a woman on an independent circuit and not Iggy Pop who would have access to expensive lawyers and biggest music journalists.

It also speaks volumes about the reality women face on a daily basis – in venues, concerts, and in publicity. Grass roots music venues say they are safe spaces and time and time again this shit happens. Things really need to change. Well we hope this interview will start the conversation. And there is another point we want to make. While Dingwalls is preoccupied with fighting female nipples, the biggest health organisations in the country appeal that paramedics remove the bras when using a defibrillator on females. We ain’t kidding here – women are dying from heart attacks because health workers are afraid to remove their bra, even if just a bit of a nipple is shown. In the UK in 2026. The mentioned BBC article can be found here.

We wanted to profile French Toast for a long while on this blog. They are a spectacular group of musicians and entertainers. They are one of those bands that you really need to see to appreciate the scale of power of underground music in the capitol. We are a bit saddened that we are introducing the band under such circumstances but alas – you will now know what they stand for. It’s a long read, but as we said before. We want to give space to the artists that matter, who have values, integrity and artistic vision. Artists of that sort that made the UK a powerhouse on an international scale. And French Toast meets those criteria.

You have been described as an “Anglo French nu punk revolution” and “a collective of thought provoking individuals”. Please introduce French Toast to the readers of Indieterria. Who is currently in your line up?

Lyly Riott: Hi, I am Lyly Riott, the lead singer, songwriter, composer and manager of the band. Then we have Bryan Medina (guitar/composer), Falko Tillman (bass/composer), Lydia Lou Scott (keys/composer) and Sam Higham (drums, sound engineer, producer).

It may not be immediately obvious to people who don’t attend grassroot music gigs on a regular basis, but you are a part of a strong scene in London formed by French artists such as A VOID, Mango In Euphoria or Carne. The Guardian called this wave ‘oi la la’, noticing that bands like yourselves mix early punk with grunge, riot grrrl movement and elements of burlesque or cabaret. We are very curious if you agree with the paper?

Lyly Riott: I guess we have that Oi influence in our songs but I’d say we don’t take inspiration from any french Oi bands. In fact, I know none of those stated in the Guardian article. The one great band I know from France doing OI is TRUST. Yeah, that one is inspiring. But I’ve been more inspired by recent bands like Split Dogs who are from the UK and who truly embrace that bloke Oi singing and female fronting punk energy.

A Void, and their lead singer Camille Alexander has also been one of my recent biggest influences. Not only by her music, but also by her activism. She inspired me to grow my hair as long as we get insulted for it. I remember watching Lou Smith videos and finding one from the show Camille did at The Windmill, wearing nothing more than her hair on her breast. I always wanted to go shirtless but never had any good examples to follow and Camille changed that. I don’t know about Carne’s work but Mango in Euphoria is also a friend. Yes, we do embrace the same values. I guess it`s that French spirit mixed with a punk attitude with us – we own our bodies regardless of being judged for it. We are musicians and frontwomen who aren’t scared of speaking out loudly and frankly about political issues. I feel like Healthy Junkies are in the same vein. I consider myself a great fan of that band and I am influenced by them as well.

On the element of burlesque, I see how you would think we could be influenced by the self confidence of the performers. On my side, I did not take inspiration from them whatsoever. The aesthetic of the corset and lingerie and glam comes more from the badass looks of female performers from the 70’s and 80’s in the punk/alternative scene with The Runaways performing in tights and corset or the Slits with their shirtless album cover for instance. Before that, I got inspired by Michael Jackson, RHCP, especially Anthony Kiedis and Flea, Iggy Pop and always thought how cool they look to rip their shirts off. They always looked so free. I remember a revelation I experienced when watching Iggy Pop. I was high on shroom and he appeared, limping, going shirtless in front of thousands of people. The way his face was grimacing and the shape of his posture, I for sure thought I shall look the same. Because of that unique and absolute way of being free. Burlesque is on the other side of the coin, the female body is yet to be truly empowered. There is this objectification and glorification of the female body though a male gaze. Nothing wrong with burlesque, but we’re more trying to normalise the fact that I want to be as free as Iggy Pop I guess! (laughs) We’re not trying to look beautifully sensual for the straight man`s eye, or anyone else`s really, but rather want to normalise going shirtless and free.

You have released two singles “Chaos” and “Floating Away” to great critical acclaim. We can hear influences from hard rock, 70s punk, the Cold Oi scene in France and American college rock. How would you describe your sound?

Lyly Riott: As I mentioned before, we take inspiration from the 70’s punk scene and the recent London/UK based bands as influence. I definitely agree with the fact that we took inspiration from the old school punk bands like The Runaways and later from the bands of the late 80’s and 90’s like Hole and Nirvana. Although I think French Toast leans a bit more into the experimental, ruthless era of the birth of punk with influences from The Stooges and Iggy Pop and the Runaways and The Slits and Ludus, The Doors or Led Zeppelin.

I definitely inspired myself with the riot grrrl movement. When I studied them I thought they were the strongest, badass bunch of women I’d ever come across. Learning about their fight and seeing that we can still be treated so horribly for speaking up definitely encouraged my rebel side. So, I decided to have “Toasties” at our shows: clips and visuals to dance to, with us wearing balaclavas but painted red with French Toast written on them.

French Toast photographed by Georgia Rose

Not so long ago you spoke with Independent Venue Week (IVW) where you passionately encouraged people to support grass root venues. Do you still have the same outlook on things

Lyly Riott: For sure! Because we would probably not be allowed to play freely anywhere otherwise!

We asked if you have the same outlook, because a few weeks ago you were escorted out the venue after your own gig and banned from ever entering Dingwalls in Camden – a grass roots venue that prides itself on punk ethos and being a safe space for women. We want you to tell us what has happened.

Lyly Riott: After a sold out show, I got physically held and escorted out of the venue by two males. They were one on each side of me, holding me. They patiently waited for me to put my shirt back on after I’d given my performance and did it very quietly, so the whole thing would not be seen. But my friends spotted them and a few people rallied around to defend me and to ask what I had done wrong. The security were arguing with Camille from A VOID and myself, that showing my breast was illegal because of indecency. After one of them said “no one wants to see her tits”, I asked Camille to get her phone out and to record. They then augmented that they would do the same to a man, which is a clear hypocrisy and we have proven the opposite afterwards. I really wanted this to be recorded because I get so much harassment. On two different occasions, some men in the crowd have touched me or got their private parts out while watching our show. But security is kicking us out! I just wanted some proof of the oppression we’re constantly going through.

We consider the actions of Dingwalls to be abusive and potentially illegal. They encroached on your self expression and banned you from a workplace in the future. The actions of management and the security were also highly dangerous – throwing a woman out at night without providing a way back home could have ended badly for any of us! They sexualize women as power play while engaging in hypocrisy because the ban on being shirtless on stage does not seem to extend to men. What are your thoughts?

Lyly Riott: Well, my thoughts are that once and for all we need to establish equality between all genders and all bodies and that venues and people like those security guards are slowing the process. To be honest, to me it is same as racism, working against disabled people or child abuse. All this junk of discrimination. I think discrimination against any human being should be eradicated. Not only some people are against positive change, they just can’t conceptualise nor see the progressive vision of society. I am infuriated that bare male chests are everywhere: on ads and in public spaces. But when women or queers go out, we get harassed, even if we are covered from head to toe.

I am all for women to be able to decide on being covered up or not being covered up. We should all be accepted and it drives me mad to face constant harassment and hypocritical double standards. The female breast is made for, when a woman has a baby, to give milk to her child. If her breasts are being sexualised, it’s only done so from the male point of view. And then it is a taboo and needs to be hidden away.

On top of that, the bigger the female breast size is going to be, the more uncomfortable we are around it. How about we don’t fat shame or body shame any person for being how they are? Or not hypersexualise them in a completely unfair way? Why don’t men get over their boners and let us be free?! In the music industry, and more specifically in the rock and punk genre, males are constantly shirtless while females are constantly sexualised or made look underage or like teenagers to sell records!

Remember, since the Epstein files were made public, no paedophile was jailed. It makes more sense when you realize that sexualizing women’s bodies makes men a lot of money and this is why schemes like this are never cancelled. It is always about toxic patriarchy. The world runs on shallow lucrative deals that serve only those with power. So I find it a real inequality that even punk promoters, punk bands, punk venues ban us for just showing breasts. Simply because female breasts are bigger than the male ones. It is time for attitudes to change and we’re making sure this revolution takes place.

Women attending gigs are told that grass root venues are safe for us – but almost every woman has a story. We had our drinks spiked at Thekla in 2019 and the venue did absolutely nothing, not even talked to us to see how we were doing. Our mutual friend MilkMaiden was verbally attacked during her gig in Zanzibar in Liverpool and the incident made it to the newspapers. And now Dingwalls are banning female performers and telling them what to wear. Maybe we should send some words towards venues and bodies that represent them, like MVT, NTIA or MVA about it? Is there something you want venues across the UK to implement when it comes to female safety?

Lyly Riott: Wow, first of all I am so sorry to hear all that. It is truly heartbreaking to hear stories like this happening to other females. I know MilkMaiden, she is absolutely amazing. Yes, I want the venues to stop caring so much about what women wear, stop fixating on policing women’s bodies and pay more attention to harassers and man spiking drinks. I want the focus to be reversed because we are the victims, it`s never the other way around. More so, when a woman is being harassed, follow up on it and make sure that harassers aren’t allowed back in the venues. Let’s make straight places safe spaces.

While preparing questions for this interview we saw images of Iggy Pop playing Coachella, shirtless as usual. His performance was seen by thousands of people at the festival and 3 millions online (streams, videos). It makes us wonder why successful men can play without clothes to great acclaim but women on the independent scene can’t so when playing local venues? We are dead sure that Dingwalls would not kick Iggy Pop out and ban him but they feel encouraged to do so when a performer is a woman without a record label and access to expensive layers.

Lyly Riott: Again, it is because female breasts are still seen as a private domain and it’s a clear inequality. It’s not even about the shape since some obese men have bigger boobs than some girls! It’s due to the mainstream patriarchal way that sees women’s breasts as taboo. Showing ankles used to be forbidden as well. Nipples, ankles, it’s always about patriarchal systems oppressing women’s bodies.

Let’s change the topic for something more pleasant. Your gigs are a show that must be experienced. Where can people who cherish good music see you?

Lyly Riott: Well, we are headlining Paper Dress Vintage on the 15th of May so that should be cool! We also have some UK and international dates on our Insta ready to be found!

If somebody can’t attend a gig in person, but still wants to support the band, do you have any merch shop or website to buy your music from? Where should any potential gig offers be directed? Is there a way to contact French Toast?

Lyly Riott: You can support us by buying one of our merch that’s available to order on our Bandcamp or by following us via our Instagram account @french_toast_band.

Last questions on Indieterria are always a bit of fun. Please design a punishment for those who tell others what to wear. We mean public flogging in a town square is one way to do it but maybe you have other ideas?

Lyly Riott: We’re honestly a pacifist activist band and we don’t want to punish anyone as that’s not our way. We’ll progress together in a more fair and equal society. I’d give them some education though because the only reason men still act this way is because of their ignorance. Sorry I wasn’t fun. I mean, I’d also defo make them wear a short dress and wig too so they can be catcalled and understand how it feels to be oppressed just because you are a girl.