Formed in 2014, pop-punks For I Am are a staple of the Belgian punk scene. No strangers to playing internationally, they’ve opened for the likes of The Bombpops, Propaghandi, and Lagwagon. They’re bringing their addictive energy to Manchester Punk Festival this year, and, personally, I can’t wait!
Frontwoman Hanne is here to help catch you up on the bands history…
Firstly, how did you all meet and when was For I Am formed?
Oh, there could be an excruciatingly long answer to that question, so I’ll try to summarize to the best of my ability, haha!
Basically Stef, Bjorn and I had been in separate bands all through secondary school and ended up in a pop/rock cover band together by the time we were around 20 years old. Eventually, we missed the punk rock scene and quit that band. When we got asked to play an all punk rock set at a school event, as the three of us are all teachers, we got a drummer and a bass player to join us. In the end, the bassist had to cancel on us last minute, but he did tell us he had found a replacement, who in his words would be “very recognizable, as he’s an Asian guy wearing huge black-framed glasses, standing by the side of the road”. And he was. That was Bo, clearly. Haha! After that gig the drummer that had joined us had so much fun he said we should make it a more permanent thing, so we considered that and agreed. After a couple of weeks, though, he himself told us he was too busy to actually be in the band and we decided to head forward without him. So I asked Bram, who I knew from school, if he could step in and he could! So that’s how we formed in 2014, playing our first decent show in November, at the youth centre where we always rehearsed.
After a couple of years Bram wanted to focus more on family life, so then Stijn was welcomed into the band and when he couldn’t find the time anymore, Joren – our current drummer – stepped in. We really feel like our family is complete now and we’ve kind of found our “forever band”, haha! How corny! Love it! We also call ourselves “The Little Hearts Club” because of our corniness. (Is that a word? Haha!)
We then recorded our very first EP “15 Minutes Late” and released it in June of 2015. So, we’re coming up on its 10th anniversary! And spoiler alert, we’ve got a surprise lined up in that regard!
Sooooo… I guess there’s no concise way of telling this story, is there? Whoops!
For anyone not familiar with your music, how would you describe your sound?
I find it quite difficult to actually put one label on our sound, as we love experimenting with different sounds and styles, all within the punk rock realm, so to speak. Usually we’d say it’s something along the lines of “melodic skate/pop punk rock”. Makes sense? Haha…
If you had to recommend one of your songs to a new listener, which one would you choose?
Difficult question because as I’ve said before, there’s so many different sounds and vibes…
So, I’d say… If you’re into fast, American style punk rock with political vibes “Power Behind The Throne” is your go-to. “Jack Shit (His Pants)” and “Riler” are also superfast and cover politics. If you’re more into pop punk, I’d direct you towards “Game On”, “Bonnie” and “Pity Party”. “Devil Undercover” is a mix between punk and metal, “Shoestring Sailors” is our ballad and “My Little Princess” has this sarcastic undertone to it and might be something a Weezer fan could be into…
So, here I go again with the “short” answers. Sorry, haha!
What can we expect from your set at MPF?
Definitely a lot of new songs off our latest album “The Righteous & The Wicked”, but also “Relentless Idiometry” off of our previous album, as Tree told us one time that was his favourite 😉. But we’ll make it a good mix of new and old tunes for sure, trying to include different vibes and sounds, so there’s something in it for everyone… We hope!
Are there any other bands on the line-up you’re particularly looking forward to seeing?
Unfortunately we’ll only be able to attend on Sunday, the day we’re playing, as we’re on a small run with Drunktank, Belvedere and Strung Out at that moment. So, I’ll definitely be at their shows as well, of course 😊!
Other than that I’d really love to see Burnt Tapes, Straightline and Roughneck Riot, Harker & Forever Unclean’s sets, as well as Call Me Malcolm, Our Lives In Cinema, PizzaTramp, Broadway Calls, The Menzingers… I mean, the list is endless. Such an amazing MPF line-up!
What else are you up to this year – any tours/festivals/releases you want to tell us about?
Well, we’re doing a couple of shows in Italy, but that’s before we make our way over to MPF, in April. We’re really looking forward to that. Then there’s the actual run with Drunktank, Belvedere and Strung Out, which feels like a dream come true. After that there are a couple of cool shows ahead which have not been announced just yet, but we’re looking forward to a lot as well, so I can’t really give you any other details, but I’d say… Keep your eyes peeled 😊.
And finally, is there anything else you’d like to add?
Yeah! We just love Ian and MPF to bits and we couldn’t be more honoured to be included in this amazing line-up this year. A million kisses to him and the entire team! Other than that, we really want to keep pushing the punk rock message in today’s politically and environmentally unstable world, so if anyone wants to help us spread that message, we’re super keen on playing live sets and would love to meet all of you lovely people reading this! So, hit us up to play together, to book us, or just to hang out and/or talk! We’re here for it!
Thanks so much for having me 😉!
Thank you so much to Hanne for answering these questions. Manchester Punk Festival takes place 18-20 April 2025 – full details and tickets here
You can find For I Am on Facebook // Instagram // Bandcamp
