‘People thought I was off my face’: indie rockers Hard-Fi look back at adrenaline, addiction and a life of excess

Hard-Fi formed in 2003 in Staines, Surrey. Frontman Richard Archer, guitarist Ross Phillips, bassist Kai Stephens and drummer Steve Kemp released their debut album, Stars of CCTV, in 2005. Featuring Cash Machine, Hard to Beat and Living for the Weekend, it reached No 1 in the UK, sold 1.2m copies worldwide and earned Brit awards and a Mercury prize nomination. They are marking the album’s 20th anniversary with a limited edition yellow two-LP vinyl and two-CD release on 4 July. The band released two further albums before going on hiatus in 2014. They reunited in 2022 and released a new EP in 2024.

Richard (front)