Interview - Ellen and the Escapades and Skinny Lister: Poised on the verge of musical stardom

The difficult thing about catching bands before they make the breakthrough is that they haven't yet been media trained.

The disorganisation, chaos and general truculence of a young band can be endearing, but it can make for slightly stilted or difficult interviews.

In the case of Ellen, of Ellen and the Escapades, she is friendly enough, happy to answer questions, she just lacks that ability to pluck the right phrase that the journalist is after – the sort of skill she'll demonstrate like it's second nature before too long, one suspects, when she has been honed by record company execs.

With Skinny Lister the issue is more obvious – lead singer Daniel Heptinstall forgets to call at the arranged time – then when he does call the bad reception on his mobile means the call is abandoned – twice. Not that either of these things matter, really. Both bands being at this early stage of their careers means the lack of polish is easy to forgive.

Both bands have been receiving "festival buzz" this year, have won the support of Steve Lamacq and are tipped to become big new names over the next 12 months. Ellen and The Escapades is a folk five piece from Leeds, made up of former Leeds College of Music students who are beginning to make waves in the music world – a national newspaper described them thus: "Like the work of a late-60s Bob Dylan support band, fronted by a young Kirsty MacColl, with a Yorkshire accent."

Lead singer Ellen Smith says philosophically of the music business: "It's quite a hard nut to crack."

Compared to some though, her band has actually cracked the nut relatively easily. The band formed in 2008 when Ellen and Chris Quick, then playing as a duo, invited college alumni and friends Jeff Schneider, James Warrender and Andy Calder to a gig.

"The other guys liked the kind of music we were into, so we decided we would get together and form a band," says Ellen.

"I think it was shared musical influences that meant we really gelled."

The band certainly did and playing gigs around Leeds they began picking up fans quickly in their home city.

They then heard about a stellar opportunity, the chance to play in front of Michael Eavis in a competition, the winner of which would get to play a mainstage at Glastonbury.

Unfortunately, by the time they heard about the competition they had missed the deadline. "Fortunately our manager had already submitted us for the competition without telling us, so we got to go down to Glastonbury and play in the working men's club there as part of the competition," says Ellen. Being pitched against other acts hoping to breakthrough was a nerve-wracking experience.

"Before we went on we could see Michael Eavis and his family in the audience and they didn't seem to be enjoy themselves, so we got really quite nervous," says Ellen.

"When we started playing though, they seemed to start enjoying the music really quickly – in fact Michael got up and started dancing and that really relaxed us. We actually really enjoyed it."

Eavis clearly enjoyed the performance as much as the band, later saying "it's so good to get that sort of quality" as he announced Ellen and the Escapades as the winner of the Emerging Talent Competition.

The band landed the spot on Glastonbury's Acoustic stage and the next phase of their career was under way.

"Other bands that have won the competition previously included Stornoway and Scouting for Girls, so it was really exciting," says Ellen.

"It also gave us a bit more confidence as a band and getting the opportunity to play Glastonbury was amazing." It also set in motion a fantastic festival summer which saw the band go on to play the BBC Radio Introducing stages at both Leeds and Reading Festivals.

Another band with local connections who appear to be on the cusp of something is Skinny Lister. Lead singer Daniel Heptinstall grew up in Bridlington before heading to London to study at Rose Bruford College where he met the four fellow members of the band.

They have been making waves at festivals this summer and winning fans from Steve Lamacq to Tom Robinson, both of whom played the music on their BBC Radio shows.

The band are coming to the end of a UK wide tour – being undertaken in a Land Rover. "It's not exactly luxurious travel," says Daniel. "We had this idea to play a gig in each of our home towns, this week was my turn so we played in Bridlington at my local, Ye Olde Star Inn. The great thing about doing it this way is that it doesn't cost anything to stay at our families and friends houses – and we are getting good meals everywhere we go."

Compared with Mumford and Sons, Daniel says they don't mind the comparison, but insists the band's influences are different.

"It's inevitable but while they are quite influenced by American sounds, we are much more English in our influences. One of our favourite descriptions was from a reviewer who said we were a cross between Belle and Sebastian and The Pogues."

Of impending success and the fact that the band is being spoken, along with Ellen and the Escapades, as the next big folk break-out act, Daniel says simply: "It's nice, but we are just really enjoying ourselves in the moment. If that coincides with wider success, that's great. But we're just having fun for now."

Ellen and the Escapades launch their EP Of All the Times at Brudenell Social Club, Leeds, on November 4.

Skinny Lister launch their new single, Kite Song, on iTunes next week.