Last week I had the opportunity to catch up with Richard Archer, lead singer of British outfit Hard-Fi, to talk about their just-released record Killer Sounds – their first in four years. We talk about the long process to getting the album released and much more…
Where abouts am I speaking to you?
I am in bed, back in the States. We have a couple days off….. The album has just comes out and we were really busy until the release of the album… it’s going quiet now for a week or so, then we start rehearsing for the tour…
Congratulations on the new record,its a few years between drinks. How long ago did you start working on Killer Sounds?
We started working and writing songs in Autumn 2008. We had started touring in the US… our last show was in Nashville, we stayed there for as couple of months, did some work there, that’s where the cover was done, then we went to New Orleans and spent some time writing there.
We wanted to work with the best people we could, so we had to wait for it and it was worth waiting for. We were at that stage when we were like, its time to talk to our producer to go in the studio in a month. We waited two months, then three months, then six… All that time I was coming up with ideas, couldn’t wait to finish it in the studio, with the producer. Finally we got to head into the studio and finish it off.
How long did it take for the process to finish up?
We had the album pretty much finished by August 2010. The record company ended up dicking around, so we ended up mixing it ourselves with a guy we really trusted, but that process itself took even longer… you get to this stage, you spend all this time on it, you pour your heart and soul into it, you don’t want to rush it just for the sake of it. We worked right down to the artwork and on the videos… We know its great we just want to make sure we know everything about it.
We know it can be a hard road and you talked about the cover before. How did that piece come to be the cover of the album?
We had a collection of various ideas, some totally different. We were like, why does it have to be anything, lets just get as many ideas as we can and make a successful one. We searched the internet and had ten different ideas, and they were all really strong. In the end, it all came together, keep it simple was the idea in the end.
You seem to lean towards that aesthetic, the simple cover. I don’t think we’ll ever forget your first album cover featuring the CCTV symbol.
We always liked that. That’s how we sort of started it, always trying to make the cover a big part of getting a record over the line…
How do you feel your music has progressed from there to now?
The first album was made with base equipment and no money. The second album features songs were written in a dark place. We were flat out for two years. Went straight into another record. There’s always this pressure on you, an expectation, it was quite intense. With this record there was no pressure, no expectation, just make the record and try to push ourselves. I think we all progressed as musicians and producers and we just try have fun. What we learnt over the years is to enjoy what you’re doing, that’s what its all about… enjoy it, don’t freak out about it.
Having that time off is just as important as trying to enjoy the time that you do have on the road… it’s the balance of the two, no?
We are all desperate to get on the road… we’ve been in the studio for a long time now. I look back at the first album, such feelings of excitement, everyday was like ‘I cant believe I’m doing this!’. When now, I’m much more worried about screwing up. If we can, I want to work on the fourth album while we are on the road. Best of both worlds.
When it comes down to touring, are there any talks of getting you back to Australia?
The plan is we are hoping to tour Japan before Christmas and then that would be an ideal time to come to Australia. I would love to try and go and do festivals.
When it comes to the rest of the year, I imagine you have a couple of singles and music videos up your sleeve?
Yeah, we have another single coming out in early October. We are trying to get all sorts of content our there, we have so many ideas. Like we did an alternative version of “Fire in the House”, almost a piano version… then we got a MC in… this was for BBC Radio One, they have live sessions, so we re-envisioned the song for this – but they censored us and wouldn’t let us use the MC, so we recorded the version in our own studio, filmed it and put it up on YouTube, and we’re really proud of it.
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Killer Sounds is in stores now.
