Hard & Soul
In a revealing interview, frontman Richard Archer talks about the pressures of success and the death of his parents.
Craig Fitzsimons, 14 Sep 2007
Hailing from the vibrant hotbed of musical creativity they call Staines, by way of West London, Hard-Fi made an instant impact with their debut album Stars Of CCTV, a genre-straddling mix’n’match that fused Kaisers/Monkeys adrenaline-rush indie-punk with elements of hip-hop, house and reggae, not dissimilar to The Clash’s latter-day output.
CCTV went Number One with a bullet, shifted zillions of units and got shortlisted for the Mercury Music Prize, losing by one vote to Antony And The Johnsons.
Now, of course, it’s Difficult Second Album time, the band having spent the last year concocting the creation that would eventually become Once Upon A Time In The West. It’s rawer and sharper than its predecessor, and more emotionally soul-searching, frontman Richard Archer having recently lost his mother.
Rich describes the record as “much more subtle. CCTV was a high-energy album, very brash, full-on, in-yer-face. I still think it’s a top record, but it sounds a bit angry, like some guy who’s shouting the odds and demanding attention and not wanting to be ignored. On this one, it’s like he’s got his head kicked in, picked himself up and dusted himself down, and learnt a few lessons, and he’s moving on – more determined than ever, but more stealthy, with a quiet sense of purpose.”
The album’s title pays deliberate homage to Sergio Leone’s classic western of the same name: “Yeah, it’s a good one. The tour bus is a great place to watch films, and we used to watch that one over and over. We loved the soundtrack, as well, anything Morricone ever did is worth a listen. So the title was always knocking around, always in the air, we were dying to use it. And when it came to deciding the album’s title, the decision was more or less unanimous, it was there before most of the tracks were. It just felt right. Also, we’re from West London. And it’s got a fairytale quality – fairytales always have moments of tragedy, moments of hope, moments of sorrow, the full range of human experience, which is what we were hoping to convey on the album. It just seemed to fit and sounded good.’
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