Richard Archer
Encyclopedia
Richard John "Rich" Archer (born 18 January 1977 in Staines
, Surrey
, England
) is an English singer-songwriter
and guitar
ist. He is the lead vocalist
, guitarist
, principal songwriter and main composer of indie rock
band Hard-Fi
. Hard-Fi have produced several top 10 hits and two #1 albums. The influence of Archer's hometown of Staines is often evident in his lyrics. He used to front another band called Contempo from 1997 until 2001.
. He grew up in Staines, a suburban location of North West Surrey
which has become a huge influence in the lyrics of the songs he has written with band Hard-Fi. He explains, "There's no record shops, there's no decent pubs, there's no venues, there's no decent clothes shops. Look around, it's quite pleasant but if you're a young person living here then you're into a certain type of music - chart house - and a certain fashion, and if you're not into that there is nothing here for you. Here, you can't get home if you're out in central London after eleven. There's no night bus, there's no late train, you have to get a cab if you can find one and that'll charge you eighty quid to get home from central London. A lot of people live like that."
Music was always his main interest and his first ever band was formed when he was at school. Archer said they had a "ridiculous" name. They were, as Archer describes, a "joke heavy metal
band, which was kind of like Spinal Tap
meets Bad News
". This gave them an excuse to wear unusual clothes on stage. He was also into football and is a fan of Brentford F.C.
during the summer of 1997, originally going by the name "Parachute".
Mick Jones
produced demos that were intended to be released on an album which was initially had a release date planned for the end of March 2000, which was eventually delayed until September/October 2000, however the release was cancelled. Some tracks have been reworked as Hard-Fi songs.
Contempo's first release was a limited 7" vinyl on the Blue Dog label which had the tracks "On The Floor" and "Stronger" (the latter was released as a b-side for the Hard-Fi
single Hard to Beat
).
In November 2000 Contempo announced they had left London Records after months of having a mutual tense relationship. After these events, Contempo released a six track EP called "This Is Contempo", which featured the ska
song "Ain't Going Out Tonight" on their own label "Nu-Suburban Sounds". Another record was "Contempo - The Demos", this however was a CD released by fans which featured demos of what would be Hard-Fi
tracks: "Better Do Better
, Can't Get Along (Without You)
, Living for the Weekend
(then named "Living 4 the Weekend"), Move On Now and Unnecessary Trouble.
In the wake of Contempo splitting up, Archer claims that music business insiders tried to dissuade the band's manager Warren Clarke (not the actor of the same name) from managing him. "People told him, don't bother with Archer, he's damaged goods, you're wasting your time'."
Archer asked his publishers for some money to record some new songs that he had written, they terminated his contract instead.
He eventually formed Hard-Fi
whose line up includes Ross Phillips
on lead guitar, Kai Stephens
on bass, and Steve Kemp
on drums, who also provided drums for Contempo as their career was coming to an end.
Archer went back to his home town of Staines, "I moved back to Staines because I ran out of money and it was quite a shock," he says. "There's no record shops, there's no decent pubs, there's no venues, there's no decent clothes shops. Look around, it's quite pleasant but if you're a young person living here then you're into a certain type of music - chart house - and a certain fashion, and if you're not into that there is nothing here for you. Here, you can't get home if you're out in central London after eleven. There's no night bus, there's no late train, you have to get a cab if you can find one and that'll charge you eighty quid to get home from central London. A lot of people live like that."
Archer asked his publishers for some money to record the new songs that he had written, but they terminated his contract instead.
When talking about how the band met, Archer said:
The band were signed to newly formed independent label, Necessary Records
, owned by Clarke. The majority of Stars of CCTV
was recorded in a variety of unusual acoustic environments - in bedrooms, in pubs, and played back in their producer, Wolsey White's, BMW
. 1000 copies of this record were pressed with only 500 going on public sale, and the initial plan was to sell 1000 each time. However, it quickly sold out, receiving critical acclaim and radio play, proving a lot more successful than the band had imagined. In a disused mini cab
office, which cost them about £300, is where most the album was recorded and is known to this day as the "Cherry Lips" Studio. The band used to try and make their music sound more environmental by putting a microphone in the corridor, which added echo, however, people would walk past whistling or humming as well as the fact that planes would fly by and could be heard while the band recorded the album, and, if listened to carefully, it can still be heard on the record.
Archer desperately tried to generate publicity for the band through the local paper, the Staines Observer, without success. "We sent them a press release and a photo," said Archer. "The press release was all like, the hard-hitting sound of the streets and stuff. And the article came out going, 'Richard Archer, former pupil of Thamesmead School ...' Whatever you say, they seem to be most interested in what school you went to."
The band were then licensed to the Atlantic Records
label (a major) in December 2004, where they were given the chance to re-record the album. The band were offered the chance to record in the renowned Abbey Road Studios
among other well known studios however, the band went back to the cab office to maintain their sound.
Hard-Fi finally saw success with their debut album Stars of CCTV
reaching #1 and followed up with another #1 record Once Upon a Time in the West
. The band went on to be nominated for the prestigious Mercury Prize in 2005 and BRIT Awards among others. Archer wrote all the songs on the albums, while the Hard to Beat
single featured a track called "Stronger" which he had originally written with Contempo.
when he was still with Contempo. The band were looking for a producer when one of the members of the record company recommended Jones, to which the band agreed. At a rehearsal in Putney
, Archer compared his dress sense to that of "the Godfather
".
After working on the bands first record for a year where things did not turn out as planned due to problems with the record company.
Talking about Archer, Jones said;
On March 1, 2008, rumours started appearing that the two would be forming a new band after Archer joined Jones and his new band, Carbon/Silicon
, during a show in London
. They revealed that they were thinking about combining the two bands to form a project called "Hard Carbon".
while she was filming Woody Allen
movie Scoop in London. Archer had never said anything of the sort. It did in fact turn out to be a false rumour, which was confirmed when Johansson
declared "I've never met him, and until all this started, I'd never even heard of him". One newspaper accused Archer of creating the rumours himself. He says:
"A paper phoned our manager and said: "We know he’s dating Scarlett Johansson, her people have told us." We told them it wasn’t true and that I’d never even met her. They ran the story anyway, saying I was secretly dating Scarlett Johansson. A week later they ran another story saying her people were denying it and that: "Richard Archer, from Hard-Fi, is a fantasist." and that I'd made the whole thing up for publicity. The wankers. It was quite funny until I ended up looking like a prick."
In the same year, Archer was nominated for "Sexiest Male", alongside Liam Gallagher
and Pete Doherty
who actually won the award, Archer told Britain's Cosmopolitan
magazine, "At the NME awards, I was nominated for Sexiest Man but I didn't win it... Crackhead Pete Doherty did."
During a performance in Staines
, Archer spoke out against critics.
Staines
Staines is a Thames-side town in the Spelthorne borough of Surrey and Greater London Urban Area, as well as the London Commuter Belt of South East England. It is a suburban development within the western bounds of the M25 motorway and located 17 miles west south-west of Charing Cross in...
, Surrey
Surrey
Surrey is a county in the South East of England and is one of the Home Counties. The county borders Greater London, Kent, East Sussex, West Sussex, Hampshire and Berkshire. The historic county town is Guildford. Surrey County Council sits at Kingston upon Thames, although this has been part of...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
) is an English singer-songwriter
Singer-songwriter
Singer-songwriters are musicians who write, compose and sing their own musical material including lyrics and melodies. As opposed to contemporary popular music singers who write their own songs, the term singer-songwriter describes a distinct form of artistry, closely associated with the...
and guitar
Guitar
The guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
ist. He is the lead vocalist
Lead vocalist
The lead vocalist is the member of a band who sings the main vocal portions of a song. They may also play one or more instruments. Lead vocalists are sometimes referred to as the frontman or frontwoman, and as such, are usually considered to be the "leader" of the groups they perform in, often the...
, guitarist
Electric guitar
An electric guitar is a guitar that uses the principle of direct electromagnetic induction to convert vibrations of its metal strings into electric audio signals. The signal generated by an electric guitar is too weak to drive a loudspeaker, so it is amplified before sending it to a loudspeaker...
, principal songwriter and main composer of indie rock
Indie rock
Indie rock is a genre of alternative rock that originated in the United Kingdom and the United States in the 1980s. Indie rock is extremely diverse, with sub-genres that include lo-fi, post-rock, math rock, indie pop, dream pop, noise rock, space rock, sadcore, riot grrrl and emo, among others...
band Hard-Fi
HARD-Fi
Hard-Fi are an English indie rock band formed in Staines, Surrey in 2003. The band's members are Richard Archer , Ross Phillips , Kai Stephens and Steve Kemp .They achieved chart success with their third single, "Hard to Beat" and then followed by other successful singles such as...
. Hard-Fi have produced several top 10 hits and two #1 albums. The influence of Archer's hometown of Staines is often evident in his lyrics. He used to front another band called Contempo from 1997 until 2001.
History
Archer is a music graduate from Kingston UniversityKingston University
Kingston University is a public research university located in Kingston upon Thames, southwest London, United Kingdom. It was originally founded in 1899 as Kingston Technical Institute, a polytechnic, and became a university in 1992....
. He grew up in Staines, a suburban location of North West Surrey
Surrey
Surrey is a county in the South East of England and is one of the Home Counties. The county borders Greater London, Kent, East Sussex, West Sussex, Hampshire and Berkshire. The historic county town is Guildford. Surrey County Council sits at Kingston upon Thames, although this has been part of...
which has become a huge influence in the lyrics of the songs he has written with band Hard-Fi. He explains, "There's no record shops, there's no decent pubs, there's no venues, there's no decent clothes shops. Look around, it's quite pleasant but if you're a young person living here then you're into a certain type of music - chart house - and a certain fashion, and if you're not into that there is nothing here for you. Here, you can't get home if you're out in central London after eleven. There's no night bus, there's no late train, you have to get a cab if you can find one and that'll charge you eighty quid to get home from central London. A lot of people live like that."
Music was always his main interest and his first ever band was formed when he was at school. Archer said they had a "ridiculous" name. They were, as Archer describes, a "joke heavy metal
Heavy metal music
Heavy metal is a genre of rock music that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s, largely in the Midlands of the United Kingdom and the United States...
band, which was kind of like Spinal Tap
Spinal Tap (band)
Spinal Tap is a parody heavy metal band that first appeared on a failed 1979 ABC TV sketch comedy pilot called "The T.V. Show", starring Rob Reiner...
meets Bad News
Bad News
Bad News were a spoof rock band, created for the Channel 4 television series The Comic Strip Presents.... Its members were Vim Fuego , vocals and lead guitar ; Den Dennis, rhythm guitar ; Colin Grigson, bass ; and Spider Webb, drums .-Biography:Bad News made their television debut during...
". This gave them an excuse to wear unusual clothes on stage. He was also into football and is a fan of Brentford F.C.
Brentford F.C.
Brentford Football Club are a professional English football club based in Brentford in the London Borough of Hounslow. They are currently playing in Football League One....
Contempo (1997 - 2000)
Contempo formed in StainesStaines
Staines is a Thames-side town in the Spelthorne borough of Surrey and Greater London Urban Area, as well as the London Commuter Belt of South East England. It is a suburban development within the western bounds of the M25 motorway and located 17 miles west south-west of Charing Cross in...
during the summer of 1997, originally going by the name "Parachute".
Mick Jones
Mick Jones (The Clash)
Michael Geoffrey "Mick" Jones is the former lead guitarist, secondary vocalist and co-founder for the British punk rock band The Clash until his dismissal in 1983. He went on to form the band Big Audio Dynamite with Don Letts before line-up changes led to the formation of Big Audio Dynamite II and...
produced demos that were intended to be released on an album which was initially had a release date planned for the end of March 2000, which was eventually delayed until September/October 2000, however the release was cancelled. Some tracks have been reworked as Hard-Fi songs.
Contempo's first release was a limited 7" vinyl on the Blue Dog label which had the tracks "On The Floor" and "Stronger" (the latter was released as a b-side for the Hard-Fi
HARD-Fi
Hard-Fi are an English indie rock band formed in Staines, Surrey in 2003. The band's members are Richard Archer , Ross Phillips , Kai Stephens and Steve Kemp .They achieved chart success with their third single, "Hard to Beat" and then followed by other successful singles such as...
single Hard to Beat
Hard to Beat
"Hard to Beat" is the third single from indie band Hard-Fi, from their album Stars of CCTV. Despite being released as third single it was Hard-Fi's first top ten single, reaching #9 in the UK, and was released on 20 June 2005...
).
In November 2000 Contempo announced they had left London Records after months of having a mutual tense relationship. After these events, Contempo released a six track EP called "This Is Contempo", which featured the ska
Ska
Ska |Jamaican]] ) is a music genre that originated in Jamaica in the late 1950s, and was the precursor to rocksteady and reggae. Ska combined elements of Caribbean mento and calypso with American jazz and rhythm and blues...
song "Ain't Going Out Tonight" on their own label "Nu-Suburban Sounds". Another record was "Contempo - The Demos", this however was a CD released by fans which featured demos of what would be Hard-Fi
HARD-Fi
Hard-Fi are an English indie rock band formed in Staines, Surrey in 2003. The band's members are Richard Archer , Ross Phillips , Kai Stephens and Steve Kemp .They achieved chart success with their third single, "Hard to Beat" and then followed by other successful singles such as...
tracks: "Better Do Better
Better Do Better
"Better Do Better" is the fifth single from Indie band Hard-Fi, taken from their debut album Stars of CCTV. It was released on 27 February 2006 where it reached #14 in the UK singles chart sharing a similar chart success with all the other singles released from Stars of CCTV. The video was directed...
, Can't Get Along (Without You)
Can't Get Along (Without You)
"Can't Get Along " is a single from indie band Hard-Fi, taken from their second album Once Upon a Time in the West. It was released on 4 November 2007. Richard Archer has said that he thought it to be one of his best songs and TV presenter Tim Lovejoy said that it was one of the best records he had...
, Living for the Weekend
Living for the Weekend
"Living for the Weekend" is the fourth single from English indie band Hard-Fi, from their debut album Stars of CCTV. It was released on 5 September 2005 and peaked at #15 on the UK charts. "Living for the Weekend" was written by Hard-Fi frontman Richard Archer and has been heavily featured in a...
(then named "Living 4 the Weekend"), Move On Now and Unnecessary Trouble.
In the wake of Contempo splitting up, Archer claims that music business insiders tried to dissuade the band's manager Warren Clarke (not the actor of the same name) from managing him. "People told him, don't bother with Archer, he's damaged goods, you're wasting your time'."
Archer asked his publishers for some money to record some new songs that he had written, they terminated his contract instead.
He eventually formed Hard-Fi
HARD-Fi
Hard-Fi are an English indie rock band formed in Staines, Surrey in 2003. The band's members are Richard Archer , Ross Phillips , Kai Stephens and Steve Kemp .They achieved chart success with their third single, "Hard to Beat" and then followed by other successful singles such as...
whose line up includes Ross Phillips
Ross Phillips
Ross Phillips is an English musician. He is the guitarist of indie rock band Hard-Fi and also provides backing vocals for frontman Richard Archer. Phillips previously worked in a local hi-fi shop in his home town of Staines...
on lead guitar, Kai Stephens
Kai Stephens
Kai Stephens is an English musician. He is the bass guitarist of indie rock band Hard-Fi. He attended Licensed Victuallers School in Slough and then Ascot, Berkshire....
on bass, and Steve Kemp
Steve Kemp (musician)
Steven Michael "Steve" Kemp is an English drummer. He is the drummer of indie rock band Hard-Fi. Originally from Lancashire, he went to Carnforth High School, before he moved to London in his late teens to do a musical course. Kemp is a big fan of Liverpool F.C...
on drums, who also provided drums for Contempo as their career was coming to an end.
Archer went back to his home town of Staines, "I moved back to Staines because I ran out of money and it was quite a shock," he says. "There's no record shops, there's no decent pubs, there's no venues, there's no decent clothes shops. Look around, it's quite pleasant but if you're a young person living here then you're into a certain type of music - chart house - and a certain fashion, and if you're not into that there is nothing here for you. Here, you can't get home if you're out in central London after eleven. There's no night bus, there's no late train, you have to get a cab if you can find one and that'll charge you eighty quid to get home from central London. A lot of people live like that."
Hard-Fi (2003 - present)
In the wake of Contempo splitting up, Archer claims that music business insiders tried to dissuade the band's manager Warren Clarke (not the actor of the same name) from managing him. "People told him, don't bother with Archer, he's damaged goods, you're wasting your time'."Archer asked his publishers for some money to record the new songs that he had written, but they terminated his contract instead.
When talking about how the band met, Archer said:
The band were signed to newly formed independent label, Necessary Records
Necessary Records
Necessary Records is a record label based in the UK founded by Warren Clarke, not to be confused with the actor of the same name. The label was born out of a creative necessity. "It's an outlet for records that should and must be heard...
, owned by Clarke. The majority of Stars of CCTV
Stars of CCTV
Stars of CCTV is the debut album by English indie rock band Hard-Fi. It was first released on 4 July 2005 on Necessary/Atlantic and Warner Music UK...
was recorded in a variety of unusual acoustic environments - in bedrooms, in pubs, and played back in their producer, Wolsey White's, BMW
BMW
Bayerische Motoren Werke AG is a German automobile, motorcycle and engine manufacturing company founded in 1916. It also owns and produces the Mini marque, and is the parent company of Rolls-Royce Motor Cars. BMW produces motorcycles under BMW Motorrad and Husqvarna brands...
. 1000 copies of this record were pressed with only 500 going on public sale, and the initial plan was to sell 1000 each time. However, it quickly sold out, receiving critical acclaim and radio play, proving a lot more successful than the band had imagined. In a disused mini cab
Taxicab
A taxicab, also taxi or cab, is a type of vehicle for hire with a driver, used by a single passenger or small group of passengers, often for a non-shared ride. A taxicab conveys passengers between locations of their choice...
office, which cost them about £300, is where most the album was recorded and is known to this day as the "Cherry Lips" Studio. The band used to try and make their music sound more environmental by putting a microphone in the corridor, which added echo, however, people would walk past whistling or humming as well as the fact that planes would fly by and could be heard while the band recorded the album, and, if listened to carefully, it can still be heard on the record.
Archer desperately tried to generate publicity for the band through the local paper, the Staines Observer, without success. "We sent them a press release and a photo," said Archer. "The press release was all like, the hard-hitting sound of the streets and stuff. And the article came out going, 'Richard Archer, former pupil of Thamesmead School ...' Whatever you say, they seem to be most interested in what school you went to."
The band were then licensed to the Atlantic Records
Atlantic Records
Atlantic Records is an American record label best known for its many recordings of rhythm and blues, rock and roll, and jazz...
label (a major) in December 2004, where they were given the chance to re-record the album. The band were offered the chance to record in the renowned Abbey Road Studios
Abbey Road Studios
Abbey Road Studios is a recording studio located at 3 Abbey Road, St John's Wood, City of Westminster, London, England. It was established in November 1931 by the Gramophone Company, a predecessor of British music company EMI, its present owner...
among other well known studios however, the band went back to the cab office to maintain their sound.
Hard-Fi finally saw success with their debut album Stars of CCTV
Stars of CCTV
Stars of CCTV is the debut album by English indie rock band Hard-Fi. It was first released on 4 July 2005 on Necessary/Atlantic and Warner Music UK...
reaching #1 and followed up with another #1 record Once Upon a Time in the West
Once Upon a Time in the West (album)
Once Upon a Time in the West is the second studio album by English indie rock band Hard-Fi. It was released on 3 September 2007 on Necessary/Atlantic and Warner Music UK. It reached #1 in the UK Album Chart in the first week of its release, unlike its predecessor Stars of CCTV, which took around...
. The band went on to be nominated for the prestigious Mercury Prize in 2005 and BRIT Awards among others. Archer wrote all the songs on the albums, while the Hard to Beat
Hard to Beat
"Hard to Beat" is the third single from indie band Hard-Fi, from their album Stars of CCTV. Despite being released as third single it was Hard-Fi's first top ten single, reaching #9 in the UK, and was released on 20 June 2005...
single featured a track called "Stronger" which he had originally written with Contempo.
Friendship with Mick Jones
Archer first met Mick JonesMick Jones (The Clash)
Michael Geoffrey "Mick" Jones is the former lead guitarist, secondary vocalist and co-founder for the British punk rock band The Clash until his dismissal in 1983. He went on to form the band Big Audio Dynamite with Don Letts before line-up changes led to the formation of Big Audio Dynamite II and...
when he was still with Contempo. The band were looking for a producer when one of the members of the record company recommended Jones, to which the band agreed. At a rehearsal in Putney
Putney
Putney is a district in south-west London, England, located in the London Borough of Wandsworth. It is situated south-west of Charing Cross. The area is identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London....
, Archer compared his dress sense to that of "the Godfather
The Godfather
The Godfather is a 1972 American epic crime film directed by Francis Ford Coppola, based on the 1969 novel by Mario Puzo. With a screenplay by Puzo, Coppola and an uncredited Robert Towne, the film stars Marlon Brando, Al Pacino, James Caan, Robert Duvall, Sterling Hayden, John Marley, Richard...
".
After working on the bands first record for a year where things did not turn out as planned due to problems with the record company.
Talking about Archer, Jones said;
"I guess I can have a lot of fun at this stage in my career and I like working with young people such as Rich because they're full of new ideas. I wouldn't say I'm a mentor to him, though. I just like to try to have some fun and play a few tunes.
On March 1, 2008, rumours started appearing that the two would be forming a new band after Archer joined Jones and his new band, Carbon/Silicon
Carbon/Silicon
Carbon/Silicon is a punk rock duo consisting of two experienced punk rock musicians: Mick Jones formerly of The Clash and former Generation X and Sigue Sigue Sputnik member Tony James. The band formed around 2002.-Career:...
, during a show in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
. They revealed that they were thinking about combining the two bands to form a project called "Hard Carbon".
Media
In 2006 there was a story generated by the media that Archer was having a relationship with Scarlett JohanssonScarlett Johansson
Scarlett Johansson is an American actress, model and singer.Johansson made her film debut in North and was later nominated for the Independent Spirit Award for Best Female Lead for her performance in Manny & Lo . She rose to further prominence with her roles in The Horse Whisperer and Ghost World...
while she was filming Woody Allen
Woody Allen
Woody Allen is an American screenwriter, director, actor, comedian, jazz musician, author, and playwright. Allen's films draw heavily on literature, sexuality, philosophy, psychology, Jewish identity, and the history of cinema...
movie Scoop in London. Archer had never said anything of the sort. It did in fact turn out to be a false rumour, which was confirmed when Johansson
Scarlett Johansson
Scarlett Johansson is an American actress, model and singer.Johansson made her film debut in North and was later nominated for the Independent Spirit Award for Best Female Lead for her performance in Manny & Lo . She rose to further prominence with her roles in The Horse Whisperer and Ghost World...
declared "I've never met him, and until all this started, I'd never even heard of him". One newspaper accused Archer of creating the rumours himself. He says:
"A paper phoned our manager and said: "We know he’s dating Scarlett Johansson, her people have told us." We told them it wasn’t true and that I’d never even met her. They ran the story anyway, saying I was secretly dating Scarlett Johansson. A week later they ran another story saying her people were denying it and that: "Richard Archer, from Hard-Fi, is a fantasist." and that I'd made the whole thing up for publicity. The wankers. It was quite funny until I ended up looking like a prick."
In the same year, Archer was nominated for "Sexiest Male", alongside Liam Gallagher
Liam Gallagher
William John Paul "Liam" Gallagher is an English musician and singer-songwriter, the former frontman of the English rock band Oasis and currently of the band Beady Eye. Gallagher's erratic behaviour, distinctive singing style, and abrasive attitude have been the subject of commentary in the press...
and Pete Doherty
Pete Doherty
Peter Doherty is an English musician, writer, actor, poet and artist. He is best known musically for being co-frontman of The Libertines, which he reformed with Carl Barât in 2010. His other musical project is indie band Babyshambles...
who actually won the award, Archer told Britain's Cosmopolitan
Cosmopolitan (magazine)
Cosmopolitan is an international magazine for women. It was first published in 1886 in the United States as a family magazine, was later transformed into a literary magazine and eventually became a women's magazine in the late 1960s...
magazine, "At the NME awards, I was nominated for Sexiest Man but I didn't win it... Crackhead Pete Doherty did."
During a performance in Staines
Staines
Staines is a Thames-side town in the Spelthorne borough of Surrey and Greater London Urban Area, as well as the London Commuter Belt of South East England. It is a suburban development within the western bounds of the M25 motorway and located 17 miles west south-west of Charing Cross in...
, Archer spoke out against critics.
“We had success because real people heard our music.
“Working-class musicians are supposed to be idiots who get drunk rather than people who have something to say.
“Sometimes it’s nice to have that to work against but what annoys me is when I think of our fans. You have to wonder what the people slating our record know about music when they’re essentially slagging off the fans of the band.
“You can take the piss out of my hair, my clothes – I don’t give a fuck. But take the piss out of the fans and that is out of order.”
See also
- Hard-FiHARD-FiHard-Fi are an English indie rock band formed in Staines, Surrey in 2003. The band's members are Richard Archer , Ross Phillips , Kai Stephens and Steve Kemp .They achieved chart success with their third single, "Hard to Beat" and then followed by other successful singles such as...
- Hard to BeatHard to Beat"Hard to Beat" is the third single from indie band Hard-Fi, from their album Stars of CCTV. Despite being released as third single it was Hard-Fi's first top ten single, reaching #9 in the UK, and was released on 20 June 2005...
- Kai StephensKai StephensKai Stephens is an English musician. He is the bass guitarist of indie rock band Hard-Fi. He attended Licensed Victuallers School in Slough and then Ascot, Berkshire....
- Ross PhillipsRoss PhillipsRoss Phillips is an English musician. He is the guitarist of indie rock band Hard-Fi and also provides backing vocals for frontman Richard Archer. Phillips previously worked in a local hi-fi shop in his home town of Staines...
- Steve KempSteve Kemp (musician)Steven Michael "Steve" Kemp is an English drummer. He is the drummer of indie rock band Hard-Fi. Originally from Lancashire, he went to Carnforth High School, before he moved to London in his late teens to do a musical course. Kemp is a big fan of Liverpool F.C...