INTERVIEW: FOE FOE, aka 21 year old Hannah...

INTERVIEW: FOE

FOE, aka 21 year old Hannah Clark, has just released her debut album “Bad Dream Hotline”. Working with Entrepeneurs, “Bad Dream Hotline” blends rock and grunge with catchy pop melodies and often dark lyrics.

Having previously fronted alt-pop band Arthur, Hannah went on to work as a solo artist and released her first EP “Hot New Trash” back in April last year, with her debut album out this week. FOE’s live set includes a four-piece band, which Hannah describes as somewhat close and shambolic.

We caught up with Hannah to find out more about music…

How did you choose and what’s behind the name FOE?

I kept coming up with names that had the word foe in just because I’ve basically always put all my effort into music, and always been a bit of a loner in a way - just kind of writing on my own. So it just felt quite apt really, I was thinking FOE as in nobody’s friend, and then I eventually just decided to use the name FOE and kind of get straight to the point.

Tell us about FOE, is it you as a solo artist or do you have a full band?

Well I write all the music and songs, and I guess FOE is meant to be my alter ego, a bit of a persona. I do have a four-piece live band and when we’re on tour it does feel a bit more like a band in a way, the guys are playing parts that I’ve written. I really wanted the band to be kind of not stale, I think you see a lot of soloists perform and the backing band just look really separate. I really wanted the live show to be a bit more shambolic and for us to look like a unit. So the band is kind of made up of friends and we’re quite connected on stage which is cool.

You’ve just released your debut album “Bad Dream Hotline”, how does it feel putting it out?

It feels amazing to have the album out, it’s quite a huge personal achievement. I’ve made a decision to not read any reviews - good or bad, just because everyone has their own opinions and i don’t want it to distract me from why I write music - but I’ve had quite a few personal messages and emails that have been really lovely so I’m quite pleased.

What was the inspiration behind the album, and how does it differ/compare to your EP “Hot New Trash”?

Well there are two songs on the album that were on the first EP just because it felt right for them to be on my proper debut. The album is kind of based on personal experiences and dreams. I’ve always had really vivid dreams and its quite a blurred line sometimes between what’s real and what’s a dream, so songwise it’s kind of a mashup of that really. The EP I released before the album is based a lot more on where I live in the suburbs, so that’s kind of its own thing compared to the album.

Who did you record the album with?

I recorded it with Entrepeneurs, who is Adam Crisp - he’s also in my live band as well. He’s got a bedroom studio and we wrote most of the record there, and then moved his set up to this recording studio in Henley - so it was literally just me and him in this little place int he middle of nowhere for a month, it was really nice.

How would you describe your sound?

I think there are definitely pop elements because I’ve always been a bit of a sucker for a tune I guess. Melody is quite important to me so I always try and get a strong melody into my songs when I’m writing. I’m also really influenced by artists and bands like Nirvana, PJ Harvey and Sonic Youth - so I kind of usually describe my sound as grunge pop. I think live it is definitely more grungey than it is on the record I think the songs can maybe be quite dark in places - which probably comes from Nick Cave being an influence.

You touched on a lot of your influences there, have you always listened to the same kind of music - who were you listening to growing up?

I was obsessed with the Spice Girls when I was about 7 as I’m sure most young girls were, and then my dad started giving me CDs and stuff and I started playing guitar when I was quite young. So it was mainly my dad’s influence as he would kind of chuck CDs at me and I’d go off and listen to them. I think I had my first Nirvana CD when I was about 12, and then he gave me a PJ Harvey album after that and I absolutely fell in love with her. I think Nirvana and PJ Harvey are the ones that I really remember growing up. Also, my dad used to play quite a lot of Neil Young and Captain Beefheart, who I’ve always been quite obsessed and intrigued by - so quite big musical characters I guess. I’m not very good at knowing whats hot now and finding things that are new!

Which artist are you listening to most at the moment?
Frank Zappa.

How did you start out making music?

To be honest, I’ve kind of been playing for as long as I can remember, I was in a band 5 years before i started doing stuff on my own - we were at college at the time so it was just a bit of fun really. I then went on to art college and ended up dropping out because i realised that I wanted to put all my effort into music, not because I wanted to make loads of money from it but I just knew that that’s what I needed and wanted to do. So the last few years have just been all about music.

What are your plans for 2012?

I’ll be playing a lot of shows hopefully, and planning my next batch of songs - hopefully ill be writing the next album. I work quite quickly as I quite like the idea of getting stuff out quickly - because i move on quite quick and if i ve written something and it doesn’t get released for a while id probably end up hating it. Ill be hopefully writing 2nd album , i want to travel around the country a bit and try and get some inspiration for lyrics, just from travelling around this country - I’m not sure which way yet but thats my vague plan.

What are your ambitions for your music?

My main ambition is that I’d love to be able to produce my own album - it’s quite a high goal but I’ve sort of started off by making the demos for the first album, so now I really want to develop that.