SMALL TALK AT SLAM DUNK WITH I PREVAIL |

by Bella Proudfoot and Kay Nickson

We have some collabs and stuff in the works…I don’t want to spoil any surprises…
Eric Vanlerberghe – I Prevail

Amid the mud and mayhem of Slam Dunk North we had the pleasure of catching up with
one of this years headliners, Michigan born, I Prevail.

Chatting with vocalist Eric Vanlerberghe and lead guitarist Dylan Bowman backstage while hiding from a thunderstorm, the pair certainly seemed in high spirits despite the rainfall and were eagerly
anticipating their upcoming show.

I Prevail @ Slam Dunk South 2024 (Ollie Hayman/Northern Exposure)

Kay: So how was yesterday [Slam Dunk South]?
Eric: Yesterday was awesome, it was a lot of fun! Closing off a stage at Slam Dunk was really sick. We had a good time.
Dylan: Yeah, it was really cool to go from like 2017 opening the small stages to close out
one of the stages.

Bella: We were actually about to ask about that! The last time you played here [Slam Dunk] was 2017, what’s it like being back in a headlining slot?
Eric: It’s crazy that we’ve only been here a handful of times, from Slam Dunk the first time ever being here to couple headliners here and there… and now here we are headlining a stage, it’s been crazy. The growth has been insane, to know we have this many fans over here, half a world away. It’s uh- yeah, it’s fucking wild!

Kay: So you’re enjoying the Northern weather today then?
Eric: Oh we fully expect this out of the UK [laughs].
Bella: [Laughing] Was it a bit better in the south then?
Eric: It was a little bit.
Dylan: It was really hot at first but then it got really, really nice out. There was actually a nice breeze while we were playing so I’m hoping that maybe the rain stops when we play. It’s going to be a muddy pit.

Kay: Now for the question everyone wants to hear the answer to…so, it’s been a little while… Do you guys have any new music on the way soon?
Eric: Usually we take months off at a time to work out a new record but this time we’ve
been finding days off in between tours, even on tours, to start demoing some ideas to keep
the creative muscles moving. We have some collabs and stuff in the works that should be
coming out soon. I don’t want to spoil any surprises. Nothing we can share yet, you’ll be
seeing it pretty soon.
After that, hopefully next year we will be starting to roll out some singles, more just straight
original content.

Bella: You mentioned time off, you’ve got a few weeks before you go back on tour
right? How do you plan on spending your break?
Eric: [laughing] It’s not a break, it’s working. We will be rehearsing. We’ve possibly got
some content videos to shoot for the collabs that we’ve got. Probably find some time to
write down some demos and hanging out with our dogs.
Dylan: Hanging out with dogs, working on the yard, streaming video games a little bit.
Y’know, just trying to fill our time. Spending time with our significant others and things like
that. You know you’re staring at the mountain of like ‘okay I have 4 weeks home, I gotta get
it all in.’ You know? I gotta see all my people and you almost don’t feel like you get to recharge. You kinda have to find time to make it a priority to sit down with whoever recharges you and just be like ‘I need this right now’.
Bella: Sounds intense.
Dylan: [laughs] Yeah.

Kay: So, you’re currently on tour! How did the tour with Halestorm come about?
Eric: Last year we played Graspop and management heard that they wanted to meet us
and we wanted to meet them so we just happened to play that festival together and hung
out after our sets for a little bit. They had an early flight or something so we got a little bit of
time to hang out and talk to them. It was cool and organic, a little friendship built there and we got to talking ‘it’ll be cool you know? I think we’ve got some shared fans, what if we do something together’ and the tour came up and it just seemed like a really cool way to try and blend some fans and see if our fans fuck with them and vice versa. They’re just really cool people.
Bella: Hollywood Undead as well, what a line-up.
Dylan: Yeah, it feels nice to return the favour a little bit. We’ve done a tour with them in the
past where we got to open for them in 2016 and they were really cool guys to us then
which we appreciate. Anytime we go out with a band that takes us out and they’re cool to
us, when we go to return the favour we make sure to reciprocate that. It’s always nice to
see bigger bands treat littler bands in a really nice respectful way.
Kay: Hollywood Undead aren’t here today, but are there any bands you are looking
forward to seeing today?
Eric: As soon as this wraps up I’m going to see ‘Guilt Trip’.
Bella: Oh yeah, they’re sick.
Eric: I’ve been wanting to see them for a long time, they are sick. Might go check out ‘LS
Dunes’.
Dylan: Oh yeah, I wanna see ‘LS Dunes’ for sure.
Eric: ‘The Wonder Years’ are playing at the same time as us. We love ‘The Wonder Years’,
love all those dudes but-
Bella: “But come see our set instead”
[all laughing].
Eric: Yeah, it’s the way it goes sometimes.
Kay: It’s not like you can miss your own set
Eric: I mean, I could, but I don’t think that people will be happy about it though [laughs].

Conscious of their time and the fact Guilt Trip were playing imminently, we wrapped up our
chat and said our goodbyes, admittedly feeling substantially less anxious after meeting
them and learning how lovely both Eric and Dylan are. Later that day I Prevail played a
roaring show to a seemingly endless crowd of devoted fans, despite their timetable
clashes, it seemed as if the whole festival had gathered in unison to catch their electric
performance.