The lead singer of an outspoken band said he admires Scousers for "not taking any bull****"" ahead of performing in Liverpool later this year.
Richard Archer is the lead singer of Hard-Fi, an indie rock band which unexpectedly reformed last year after an eight year hiatus. Hard-Fi, comprising of Richard, Ross Phillips, Kais Stephens and Steve Kemp, found great success in the noughties with hits such as Hard to Beat. They even rubbed shoulders with the likes of Oasis and Franz Feridnard at the 2006 BRIT awards were they were nominated for Best British Act.
However, by 2014 the band had stopped making music and many fans had given up hope of a return. Six years later, Richard stumbled across the power of livestreaming live music during lockdown with another band, OffWorld.
READ MORE: Is the new Netflix series The Days based on a true story?
He decided to see if an impromptu performance of Hard-Fi hits would generate a similar response and lead to new live performances. Richard said: “Doing it was really weird. You’re sitting there in your kitchen on your own. You've got no idea what anyone thinks at the time, but it was a really nice reaction.”
He added: “I thought, if people are still up for it and because it felt really good to play these songs, maybe we should have a look. I spoke to my tour agent as things started opening up and asked, do you think anyone will give a s***? And he said, let’s find out.”
Tickets for HardFi’s first reunion gig in London sold out just three minutes after going on sale, and after that October performance the band decided to start touring nationwide, with a date at the 02 Academy in Liverpool coming later this year. But despite the band’s eight year absence, Richard argues the band’s themes of working-class life and disillusionment with authority and culture are even more relevant now, particularly to people in Liverpool.
Although he last performed in the city in 2008 at The Olympia with Africa Express, he still retains warm feelings towards Scousers. Richard said: “The thing that struck me about Liverpool is that it is honest and the people don’t take any bull****. They say it how it is. I wish more of the country could be like Liverpool and stand up for themselves.”
Furthermore, the city’s maritime and musical history remain strong draws for him. He said: “I’ve always loved the city, I always feel like it was quite romantic as a port city. It feels like there’s stuff going on, people coming in, you could get on a ship and go somewhere.
“I’ve watched too many Beatles films and biopics. I can’t wait to get back.”
Despite Richard's self-described "stupid optimism" on life, he said many of the issues the band raised in their heyday have not been addressed. He said: “The things we were talking about in 2005, with the Stars of CCTV album in particular, nothing has changed. If anything it’s got worse. Thematically, a lot of the things seem current."
Songs such as Feltham Is Singing Out centred around the 2001 suicide of a 16 year-old inmate at Feltham Young Offenders Institution in West London, a short drive from Richard’s home of Staines-upon-Thames. This moment stuck out to Richard, and dedicating a song to it showcased the band’s commitment to creating outspoken political music.
He said: “That was on our doorstep, it really resonated with me, because the guy was not far off age wise. Just something you see that strikes a chord - what if that had been me? What if I was in that person's shoes?”
Much of this stemmed from the prominence of celebrity culture, which Richard struggled to recognise. He said: “No-one’s earning money to be able to go out and do the things you want to do.
“It’s that feeling that you're the forgotten crowd, people who do not get written about in the papers or talked about on radio. And you're trying to make the best of it you can, despite the struggles and injustices.”
Richard is furious at cuts to arts funding in schools. In 2018, the director of the Royal College of Music criticised the “steady decline” of music in schools, with studies suggesting that government cuts had led to a reduction of school pupils studying arts subjects. The Department for Education at the time said that art subjects “are an important part of our broad and balanced curriculum” and said it was investing £400m in music programmes.
Richard argued that music is about much more than just trying to make it big. He said: “It’s about the other things it gives you. The way you can analyse a piece, the way you can spend time getting lost in a piece of music. It feels like the Government we have doesn’t value it.”
When gigging this time around, Richard hopes he will make more time to explore Liverpool and the other cities on the tour compared to his band’s more hectic earlier days. He said: “I want to make more of a conscious decision to get some shoe leather from the cities we’re in. In the past, especially in the early days, we’d sit tight in the dressing rooms or get smashed.
“I thought, this time, I'm going to have a look around. If people have recommendations of places to go, places to eat, places to see, things to do, let’s have it.”
Hard-Fi will be performing at the 02 Academy on Hotham Street on 12 October as part of their nationwide tour. You can buy tickets for the show here.
Life through a new lens. We are Curiously. Follow us on TikTok, Instagram, Facebook and Twitter.
READ NEXT:
