What to expect from the explosive Montreal duo at this year’s festival.

We are so excited to be back in Brighton for The Great Escape this week. Festivities kick off this evening and we’ll be there across the whole weekend, with our stage at DUST running on Thursday evening from 7pm ‘til late. We are looking forward to hosting Canadian duo Ribbon Skirt as part of the show. An incredible response to the duo’s independently released 2025 album ‘Bite Down’ has projected them to an international presence among the most talked-about new alternative acts. Evolved out of different projects around Montreal’s thriving scene, the new project is defined by a grungey palette, powerful rhythms and lyrics which explore memory, love, grief and lyricist Tashiina Buswa’s Anishinaabe heritage. Fresh off the release of ‘Bite Down’, the band ended 2025 with the release of EP ‘PENSACOLA’, which picks up right where the album left off, leaning deeper into the forceful and synthetic elements of their sound. Ahead of the Ribbon Skirt’s set with us (DUST, 11.15pm), guitarist Billy Riley gives us an insight into what newcomers might expect.

What should people know about the band before going to see you?

We’re definitely a live band and that’s where we have the most fun – we’ll always give everything we have at a show! Genres are always hard, but I’d say we land in the post-punk/grunge world. Bands like Wednesday, Dry Cleaning. Some of the new songs are a lot heavier than we have been in the past, both in the sound and lyrical content. 

You have played with Tashiina in other projects before becoming Ribbon Skirt. What changed about your work in the shift into this current project?

It was a really natural transition. One day it just felt like a new band and the old band name didn’t really fit anymore. I don’t think anything has changed in the way we write music – it’s still just me and Tash in a room trying to figure it out – but I think the new name gave us a focus we were looking for. It’s helpful sometimes to shed old ideas and habits to force you to move forward! You can’t be too precious about anything.

How does your live show differ from what we hear on the record?

We’re a lot more high-energy onstage! I think it does come across on the record, but there’s nothing like having a crowd to feed off to bring it to the next level. It’s more raw, spontaneous. Being onstage gives you the opportunity to push the boundaries of the songs and be in the moment. Sometimes the night calls for some screaming.

And do you do anything different for your festival sets?

Not really in terms of how we perform, but they’ll often be condensed sets compared to usual, so we’ll usually play all the songs we most enjoy playing or the most high-energy. Although we’re gonna be playing a new song for the first time ever at Great Escape, so that’s always exciting!

What is each your favourite thing the other band members do during the live set?

Tash has so many incredible ways of really engaging the audience, usually ending up by getting right into the crowd at the end of the set which is my favourite part! Chrissy is also amazing at amping up the crowd, she always has a pocket of fans on her side of the stage getting hyped. Tash is usually a little more grounded in the first half of the set, but then really explodes as the energy rises up. Touring with SHAME earlier this year really taught us a lot about building energy across a set, they’re all such incredible and unique performers. It was so amazing to see them play every night and give it their all.

Have either of you been to Brighton before? What are you most looking forward to doing while you are here?

I actually grew up about 45 minutes from Brighton and my grandparents lived close by, so I came here a lot when I was growing up! Brighton was also often the closest place that bands I wanted to see would play, I saw so many formative shows at The Brighton Centre and Concorde 2. I love wandering around the lanes and hanging out on the beach eating some donuts from the pier. Excited for some fish and chips too!

Is there anyone else playing The Great Escape that you’d recommend we catch?

I’ve been obsessed with Tony Bontana recently, I’d love to catch him if I can! He just put out an amazing record that’s been on repeat – so prolific too and always onto interesting stuff! Our friends in PISS always put on an incredible show and would definitely recommend catching them! They’ve got a record coming this year that’s gonna be huge. I’ve never seen Mandy, Indiana and been following them for a while – they just put out an amazing record too. Honestly, there are so many incredible bands on the lineup it’s hard to choose! 

After a very busy year of releases in 2025, do you have more planned for 2026?

Lots of shows and working on the next record! We’re always writing and recording so trying to keep that momentum going in between touring. We’re playing loads of festivals across North America this Summer and then coming back to the UK for Green Man in August which is huge! I’ve never been and only heard incredible things about it from other bands and people who have gone.

Catch Ribbon Skirt at The Great Escape at the Hard of Hearing Stage at DUST at 11.15pm on Thursday 14^th May. You can also see them at the TGE Beach tonight (Wednesday 13^th May) at 8.30pm, and Dalton’s tomorrow afternoon (14^th May) at 2.15pm.