I interviewed Roy Stride in person at Lakefest 2026. Quotes in this article have been lightly edited for clarity while retaining their original meaning.
There are some interviews where you go in determined to be professional, ask your carefully prepared questions, and generally behave as if you know exactly what you’re doing.
And then there are the interviews where you introduce yourself by pointing out that your initials are SFG and suggesting that this surely qualifies you to become the fourth member of Scouting for Girls.
Guess which way mine went?
While we were at Lakefest, I had the opportunity to sit down for a chat with Roy Stride from Scouting for Girls.
Having listened to Scouting for Girls for years, and then watched our kids discover and fall in love with the same songs at Wychwood Festival last year, this was one interview I’d been particularly looking forward to.
Naturally, I started by attempting to join the band.
Could I Become the New Member of Scouting for Girls?
I explained to Roy that my full name is Sabina Faye Green.
SFG.
Scouting for Girls.
SFG.
Surely this couldn’t just be a coincidence?
There was, admittedly, one fairly significant flaw in my plan: I can’t sing, and I don’t have any obvious musical talent.
Roy was still willing to see what he could work with.
Could I play the tambourine?
No.
Could I be a backing dancer?
That wasn’t looking especially promising either.
Eventually we landed on something much more suitable.
I could be the hype woman.
“100%,” Roy agreed.
I’ll take that.
So, if Scouting for Girls ever find themselves in need of someone to get the crowd going, I’m apparently already qualified.
It was at this point that I thought perhaps I should ask some of the proper questions I’d prepared.
Nearly 20 Years of Scouting for Girls
When I asked Roy what it is about festival life that still makes them feel like the band they were when they started, his first answer made me laugh.
“Pretty much the same set list.”
But there was a more serious point behind it.
For Roy, the most important thing is “to create as much togetherness and fun and happiness in that crowd.” And if that means playing the songs everyone has come hoping to hear, then that’s what they do.
He joked that there are probably four or five Scouting for Girls songs that almost everyone in the UK knows “whether they like it or not”.
Those songs form the backbone of the set, but the creative part comes from changing them up, particularly for fans who have seen the band before. Roy explained that they change the set every year and, after almost two decades, they can even look back at things they tried years ago and think, “You know what? That one worked.”
Having watched Scouting for Girls at festivals ourselves, I completely understand what he means. You don’t need to know every album track to find yourself singing along. There are those instantly recognisable songs where suddenly it feels as though the whole crowd is singing together.
Introducing Another Generation to Scouting for Girls
This was one of the things that made interviewing Roy particularly special for us.
Simon and I already knew Scouting for Girls’ music, but at Wychwood Festival last year we introduced the kids to them.
We’d confidently told them beforehand, “You’re going to love Scouting for Girls.”
Thankfully, they did.
In fact, they have listened to them ever since, so when we met Roy at Lakefest we were able to tell him that we’d successfully introduced another generation to their music.
We also told him that one of our family favourites is Posh Girls — with I Wish I Was James Bond getting an honourable mention too.
There’s something really lovely about introducing your children to music you’ve enjoyed yourself and discovering that they genuinely love it too. Music becomes attached to particular people, places and periods of your life, and suddenly songs from your past become part of their memories as well.
Festival Life Looks a Little Different Now
Of course, nearly 20 years of playing festivals also means life behind the scenes has changed.
Roy told us that Scouting for Girls don’t always get much opportunity to enjoy the festivals they play. The previous weekend, they’d managed four shows in just two days, which sometimes means arriving, performing and heading straight off again.
Family life has changed over those years too.
Roy’s son is now 17 and sometimes comes along and helps with Scouting for Girls’ social media. His daughter, however, has taken a rather different view of Dad’s career.
“She hates live music, hates my band, hates crowds,” Roy laughed.
Naturally, I had to ask the obvious question.
“So, are you the embarrassing dad?”
“Yeah,” he admitted.
I loved this little part of our conversation. One minute you’re talking to the frontman of a band with thousands of people singing his songs back to him, and the next you realise that, to his daughter at least, he’s still just Dad being embarrassing.
When the Crowd Knows Every Word
I asked Roy whether looking out and seeing people singing every word to songs he wrote nearly 20 years ago had changed what those songs meant to him.
His first response was typically funny.
“No, it helps because it means I can’t forget the words.”
Then he reconsidered.
“Actually, when I see people singing the words back, it makes me forget the words!”
Apparently, catching sight of someone in the audience singing along can be enough to throw him off and make him lose his place.
Beyond that, Roy explained that many of those early songs were deliberately fun. There wasn’t necessarily a deep meaning behind each of them; sometimes the intention was simply to create as much fun as possible.
I found that interesting because, almost 20 years later, those same songs have accumulated meanings and memories for the people listening to them. A song that started out as something fun can end up reminding someone of university, their first relationship, a wedding, becoming a parent or, in our case, standing in a festival field singing it with our kids.
The Stories Behind the Songs
I then asked Roy whether there was one particular song that felt like the story of his life.
He paused for a moment before explaining that the songs are more like “little snapshots of time” in his life.
This Ain’t a Love Song, for example, was inspired by something that had happened about 10 years before he wrote it.
Then there’s I Wish I Was James Bond, which has a rather different story behind it.
Roy told us that the song takes him back to a night when their drummer pretended he’d been offered the role of James Bond to chat up a girl.
Now, when Roy thinks about the song, it reminds him of that night.
I loved hearing these little stories because, as a fan, knowing where a song came from somehow adds another layer to it. You can have your own memories and meaning attached to a song, while the person who wrote it has a completely different story playing in their head when they sing it.
From Wanting to Be a Pilot to Fronting Scouting for Girls
The kids also had some questions of their own for Roy.
Albie asked whether he’d always wanted to work in music.
Surprisingly, the answer was no.
Growing up, Roy actually wanted to be a pilot.
It’s quite a leap from dreaming of flying planes to standing on festival stages with thousands of people singing your lyrics back to you, and I loved that answer.
It’s also a nice reminder for young people that you don’t necessarily have to know exactly what you’re going to do with your life from childhood. Sometimes the direction you eventually take isn’t the one you imagined at all.
Does She’s So Lovely Mean Something Different Now?
Lillie then asked Roy a really thoughtful question:
“Is there a particular song that meant something to you to begin with, but has a different meaning now that you’ve recorded it and played it so much?”
Roy chose She’s So Lovely.
He explained that when he wrote the song, he was working at Carphone Warehouse, and there was a woman who used to come into the shop regularly who became part of the original inspiration.
“She was lovely,” he said.
Roy described her as an older woman, adding, “hence she’s ‘flirty, turned thirty'”. The other guys in the shop apparently used to tease him because she kept coming in.
Over time, though, the song stopped being attached to just that one moment or person. Roy said its meaning has moved around and changed, particularly as the band have performed it for so many different people.
He also mentioned that singing their songs at weddings has changed the way he thinks about some of them too.
I really liked that answer because it shows how songs can evolve. They might begin with one very specific person or memory, but after years of being performed, requested, sung at weddings and attached to other people’s lives, they can end up carrying something much bigger than the story they started with.
These Really Are the Good Days
For all the nostalgia surrounding Scouting for Girls as they approach their 20th anniversary, they’re certainly not relying solely on the past.
In March 2026, the band released their latest album, These Are The Good Days, adding a new chapter to a catalogue that now spans almost two decades.
And after talking to Roy, the title feels rather fitting.
There was no sense that he was looking back and wishing he could recapture the band’s early days. He still clearly loves performing, finding ways to keep their festival sets fresh and, most importantly, creating that feeling of togetherness in a crowd.
If you’ve mainly found yourself revisiting the Scouting for Girls songs you remember from years ago, have a listen to what they’re doing now.
Watch Scouting for Girls – These Are The Good Days:
Scouting for Girls Celebrate 20 Years in 2027
It’s quite hard to believe when you’re talking about songs that still get entire festival crowds singing along, but 2027 marks 20 years since Scouting for Girls released their self-titled debut album.
And they’re celebrating in suitably big style.
In February 2027, Scouting for Girls will play two huge arena shows — Manchester’s AO Arena on Friday 12 February, followed by OVO Arena Wembley in London on Saturday 13 February, with The Hoosiers joining them as special guests.
After talking to Roy about how much he still loves creating that sense of togetherness in a crowd, it feels like a rather fitting way to celebrate two decades of Scouting for Girls.
There will undoubtedly be plenty of people in those arenas who first sang along to these songs almost 20 years ago — and, just like us, probably quite a few who will be bringing the next generation along with them.
What Does the Perfect Festival Need?
I finished our chat by asking Roy to complete a sentence:
“A perfect festival needs good music, good friends and…”
As far as Roy was concerned, I’d pretty much already covered it.
Good music and good friends.
I, however, felt there was a rather important third requirement.
“Good toilets.”
Roy agreed, although he admitted he’s in the rather fortunate position of being “shipped in” to festivals to perform, so it’s been a long time since he’s had to think too much about that side of festival life.
Those of us camping for the weekend aren’t quite so lucky!
As we wrapped up our chat, Roy thought of one final essential: good weather.
Given the summer we’ve been having, I couldn’t disagree — although we did laugh that we might be showing our age when we find ourselves celebrating the moment the temperature finally cools down.
And Then They Played Posh Girls…
Remember earlier when we told Roy that Posh Girls had become one of our family’s favourite songs by Scouting for Girls?
I hadn’t really thought anything more of it.
But later that day, when Scouting for Girls took to the stage at Lakefest, Roy stopped to tell the crowd that he’d met a lovely family earlier who had asked if they could play Posh Girls.
And then they played it.
Standing there listening to a song we’d specifically talked about with Roy just a few hours earlier made an already brilliant performance feel that little bit more special.
It was such a simple gesture, and I’m sure to Roy it probably didn’t seem like a big thing, but to us it was one of those little festival moments that we’ll remember.
Last year we were standing at Wychwood introducing the kids to Scouting for Girls for the first time.
This year we were standing at Lakefest listening to Roy Stride tell the crowd about the “lovely family” he’d met earlier who had asked them to play Posh Girls — just before the band launched into our favourite song.
Music has a funny way of creating memories like that.
Nearly 20 Years On, It’s Still About Togetherness
There was one word Roy used during our conversation that really stayed with me: togetherness.
For him, that’s still at the heart of what Scouting for Girls are trying to create when they step onto a festival stage.
And I think that’s exactly why their music still works so well almost 20 years later.
The people who first listened to She’s So Lovely, Heartbeat and I Wish I Was James Bond have grown up. Lives have changed, families have grown, and those songs now come with years of memories attached to them.
But we’re also introducing them to another generation.
That’s certainly what’s happened in our family, and getting to sit down with Roy and hear some of the stories behind those songs made me appreciate them in a completely different way.
More than anything, Roy came across as someone who still genuinely enjoys what Scouting for Girls do. After almost two decades, new music, countless festivals and more performances of She’s So Lovely than I imagine he could ever count, it’s still about making sure the people standing in front of that stage are having a brilliant time.
And after our chat at Lakefest, I think I understand a little better why we always do.
Now I just need to wait for the call about that hype woman position…