Wet Leg deserve Grammy wins, says Isle of Wight music teacher

Image source, Getty Images

On stage at the Grammy Awards in LA - Wet Leg have come a long way since meeting on the Isle of Wight

A former music teacher of Grammy-winning band Wet Leg has said the indie stars deserve their success.

The Isle of Wight-based musicians won two Grammys at the awards in Los Angeles on Sunday, less than two years after their first live gig.

Peter Pontin, co-director of Platform One music college in Newport, said Rhian Teasdale and Hester Chambers met during their BTech in 2010.

"It's great to see them get the recognition," he added.

Aged 16, the pair joined the island's only independent music college to study for a two-year course which focussed on performance, composition, song-writing, sound recording and music theory.

Recalling the early days of their musical career, Mr Pontin said: "Hester was on guitar - she was very creative, very artistic, into her fashion and jewellery making.

"Rhian was quite quirky, a bit Bjork-like - there was something very different about her."

Image source, Getty Images

Isle of Wight duo Rhian Teasdale and Hester Chambers of Wet Leg with their Grammys in LA

The course helped build the women's confidence so they came out as "creative all-rounders", Mr Pontin said.

It was during this time they met two other musicians there, Ellis Durand and Josh Omead Mobaraki, who would become members of the band when it formed in 2019.

"They worked together, they were quite a small cohort and quite close," Mr Pontin said.

As time progressed they got on to the gigging circuit and performed twice weekly.

"There was lots going on, lots of opportunity," the music teacher added.

Although going to the mainland was difficult because of transport: "Rushing to get the last ferry back over made it hard, but we used to do as much as we could."

They were "strong academically and motivated, no doubt about that", he added.

"They all had a talent, they were a nice bunch of students, a good combination of personalities," he continued.

"They deserve the success they've had. Chance does come into it, but so does having the right sound in the right place, at the right time."

Image source, Getty Images

Wet Leg performed at Glastonbury last year after the stellar success of their hit Chaise Longue in 2021

Wet Leg might still be adjusting to the adulation.

Speaking after the awards, where they won best alternative music performance and alternative music album, Rhian Teasdale said: "This is so funny, thank you so much, what are we doing here? I don't know. But here we are.

"We cannot compute. It's very bizarre, very magical."

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