“The first gig I did was full of industry,” Hannah Louise Clark tells us, “you get a lot of hype before you’re even ready.”
Not that we ever got that feeling from FOE that she isn’t. She’s incredibly assured, buoyed by a self-confidence that can only be created by having total conviction in what you’re doing.
And what she’s doing is a sneering, brash amalgamation of PJ Harvey seduction, feisty attitude and scratched, skewed pop throwing up the old world accordion wheeze of ‘Ape Song’ to the pop diva baiting ‘Genie In A Coke Can’. It’s a style set to make as many friends as it does enemies – something Hannah is aware of and prepared for.
“There’s been a few mixed reactions but as long as I’m doing what I want to do, that’s fine,” she explains. “I’ve been really surprised by the attention but the way people have picked up on it has been amazing. I’ve always done music for personal reasons but I’m confident in what I’m doing.”
Working with Adam Crisp (Entrepeneurs) FOE’s flickers of riot grrrl attitude, allied with Hannah’s colourful presence, on and off stage, makes FOE an easy target if it does all go wrong. Not that she is overly concerned, or easily cowed, by pressure or perception, because FOE’s on a personal crusade – you just happen to be invited along for the ride.
“I just do what comes naturally. The whole dressing-up thing has been something I’ve always done anyway and it just developed into its own thing. It’s never been forced or contrived, which I think is important but it might come across…extreme in places. I don’t think I’ll be dressing up and wearing wigs forever, it’s just the here and now. It keeps it exciting.”
Words by Reef Younis
Where: Fleet, Hampshire
What: Trash pop
Unique Fact: Hannah was a child witch, apparently.
Get three songs: ‘Ape Song’, ‘Tyrant Song’, ‘Deep Water Heartbreaker’