Our fearless Fender reporter, Nigel Trimmington, met up with Hard-Fi in the canteen at the Brighton Conference Centre, mere hours before they were due to play in front of yet another sell-out crowd. First up was frontman Richard Archer (vocals, guitar and melodica) ...
Fender: Richard, mine’s a pint. What are you having? RA: Truthfully, it’s a cup of tea in a truck stop Styrofoam cup. But if we were down the pub and you were to ask me, you can’t beat a nice pint of lager. But if I was on holiday, I’d have a Cuba Libra—that’s my summer drink.
Fender: Do you remember the first song you ever wrote? RA: I always used to write songs on the piano when I was a kid. I think I probably played one at a school concert or something like that. God knows what it was called. It was a bit rambling. I think it had a key change.
Fender: Classy … RA: My one and only ever use of key change. I think I got that out of my system early. I think it was in "D". We used to have a room and it had a piano and a broken-down old drum kit. We used to have piano/drum jams.
Fender: Cool. RA: I don’t know if it was cool, actually. I’m sure that can sound good. But we sounded completely rubbish.
Fender: So when you’re writing songs, what does it entail? Do you normally write them on guitar or piano? RA: I’ll start on an acoustic guitar or an electric and I’ll get a rough idea together. Then I’ll make a demo with a bass line and build up a structure and take it to the guys and they’ll kind of twist it to their own little ways. Sometimes, I’ll write on the piano as well. For instance, the riff for “Hard To Beat” was written on the guitar.
Fender: What was the first band you were in? RA: It was a band when I was at school. We had some ridiculous name. We were a joke heavy metal band, which was kind of like Spinal Tap meets Bad News. That gave us an excuse to wear stupid clothes onstage. Then, our first band played in a local pub in Staines, which was the only place that had live bands. It was called the Compasses.
That kind of fizzled out, and then the first one where we thought, “Let’s try and do something with this,” was when we called ourselves ‘Thieving Hippy Dole Cheats’, after a Daily Mail headline. That became a band called ‘Parachute’, and that became ‘Contempo’. We got signed to London records—wrong time, wrong place. That’s where I met Warren Clarke. When everything went sour at London, we got the boot and he got made redundant and started his own label and here we are now.
Fender: When you were learning, what were some of the first riffs or songs that you learned to play? RA: One of the first ones I learned was “Good Times Bad Times” by Led Zep—just a basic version of it. Also, “Whole Lotta Love.” I was always playing the piano, never really picking up the guitar. I taught myself, really. My brother played a little bit and he showed me a few bits and pieces. So they were the first things I really learned. And then, probably a couple of numbers by The Cult; something like that.
Fender: Generally, Led Zep or Pink Floyd? RA: I’d probably go Led Zep.
Fender: What sounds are you currently listening to? RA: I’ve just bought the Boy Kill Boy album. I’m really loving Gnarls Barkley. My favourite record of the last year or so has been that, and then the Gorillaz one. Also, a lot of older stuff, like soul music. It’s weird when you’re on the bus—you get in different moods. When you’re on the bus, going through the night, you want something a bit more reflective. The other night, it was the Specials, lots of Clash, stuff like that.
Fender: So, top three albums of all time … RA:London Calling, Exile On Main Street and maybe Nevermind by Nirvana as well. Hearing those records made a real change in my life.
Fender: You recently played with Paul Weller at the Brixton Academy. What was that like? RA: It was amazing. Seeing him play was inspirational because he just stood there and he just did it; he played it and it was just perfect. He’s got so much experience. It was a real moment.
Fender: What advice would you give to any young kids starting a band up? RA: If you really want to do it, don’t give up. Don’t let other people tell you what’s good and what’s not. On the other hand, if it’s someone you trust, take criticism and act on it. Also, just get out there and make things happen. With a computer now you can record your music, mix it, master it, distribute it on the Internet, do your artwork, host your website and you can do that from your front room. So it’s well worth getting out there and making things happen.
Fender: Talking about your artwork, didn’t you get any kind of copyright problems with your album cover? RA: So far, no one’s said anything. Maybe it’s a public domain thing; it’s out there and it’s for everyone to use.
Fender: Whose idea was it to use that? RA: Well, the first mini-album we put out ourselves actually had a picture of us on a CCTV camera and a picture of a screen, and the camera was on the CD and we thought, “That’s a good image, we should use it for badges and stickers and things like that,” and it just went from there. When we were looking at doing the artwork for the major release and we were sitting there going, “Well, they want us to use another photo”, then we thought “Hmmm, this is staring us right in the face.” We said, “This is the artwork. It’s everywhere wherever you go.” Everyone came to the same conclusion. It’s hard to say if it was anyone’s definite idea. It was a combination of us and a guy at the label who was helping us to put it all together.
Fender: What’s the most catastrophic onstage incident that’s ever befallen you? RA: Going right back, I was doing a school pantomime when I was eight and my trousers fell down. Recently, our samples have gone down—that’s always a drag. Generally, touch wood; nothing too major.
Fender: OK, imagine if you will, somewhere out there, that there’s an alternative universe in which Richard Archer never discovered music. What’s he doing right now? RA: Dunno. It’s always been in my life. I got into it because I had an older cousin who was really cool and into bands. She used to play guitar and all that, and I used to go in there and my brother used to play, so I don’t know. I reckon I’d be really bored.
Next, we pulled up a chair opposite guitarist/vocalist Ross Phillips and chewed the fat. Here's what he had to say ...
Fender: Ross, mine’s a pint, what are you having? RP: Pint of Stella.
Fender: Do you remember the first time you picked up a guitar? RP: Yeah. A few of my mates played guitar and it was round their houses. We just worked things out; about 12 years ago.
Fender: When you were learning to play, which artists inspired you to take it to the next level? RP: Nirvana got results for me. I was really into them. As soon as you could suss out how to play barre chords, you could sit, work out and play along to all of their songs, so I used to sit there for hours, just playing along.
Fender: Anyone else? RP: I was also a big fan of AC/DC, which was a bit more difficult to get right. Loads of stuff. Rage Against The Machine as well.
Fender: I saw them ages ago, at the Brixton Academy in the early '90s. RP: Brixton Academy? I was there. I got thrown out for crowd surfing. I think it was that gig. I was gutted.
Fender: They weren’t ready for it yet, obviously. RP: No, they kicked me straight out. Right out of the fire doors.
Fender: Tell us about the first band you were in. RP: It was a band called Fluid. It was a school band, just messing about: all different sorts of styles. One of us would come down with a song and we’d just play through it. We never got further than the pub, fortunately. I’ve had a few bands like that.
Fender: So we won’t be hearing any Fluid tracks turn up in the near future? RP: No. I hope not, anyway.
Fender: What’s the best gig you’ve ever been to? RP: Probably that Rage Against The Machine one. Tom Morello recreated those sounds from the record spot-on live. F-----g brilliant. Tight rhythm section. You probably remember—the whole place was jumping up and down.
Fender: What advice would you give to young guitarists who want to make it in the business? RP: Just keep at it, I suppose. I’m a rhythm player. I don’t sit there for hours playing lead. No one wants someone widdling for hours, do they? If you sit there strumming through sets of chords, you’ll go a lot further, in my opinion. It seems impressive, all that sweet picking, but what use is it? Keep practising!
Fender: Here’s bit of a hypothetical one for you: a bit of a dream team scenario. What band, living or dead, would you most like to play with? RP: What, like I construct the band?
Fender: Yeah, it’s like your fantasy band. RP: Mitch Mitchell on the drums. Great drummer. All over the shop. Crazy. Malcolm Young on guitar. Paul Simonon on bass. He looks bad. I’ll have some of that. And me, singing and playing guitar.
Fender: You recently played with Paul Weller at the Brixton Academy. What was that like? RP: Yeah, loved it. He came down to rehearsals as well, beforehand. I came in (I’d been down the shop for the bacon sandwiches and cups of tea) and he was sitting on the couch. He just came down for a couple of hours. I forgot all about it. I walked through the door with my breakfast and he was sitting there. He came in. It was just f-----g brilliant.
Fender: How many songs did he do? RP: He did “Town Called Malice”, and he stayed on and played one of our tracks. He did a little bit of a solo on it. It was like a call-and-answer thing. I’d play something and then he’s play another bit. I was like “Yeah! He’s a hero, man!” I f----n’ love him to bits. And he’s still looking cool as f--k and just on it. He came down and he just fit straight in; done the job. That’s an experience.
Fender: Okay, here’s a thing. I’m offering you unlimited resources, raw materials and the chance to have Fender build you the guitar of your dreams. What kind of guitar would you have? RP: I used to want a Fender Jazzmaster®, but I didn’t want all the old stuff on it. I’m a big fan of humbucker pickups as well, so maybe I’d have some big fat P-90s.
Fender: That’s a good idea, actually. You’ve got the look, the shape and the pickups of the Jazzmaster without all the gubbins. RP: With a fixed bridge. I thought about this before, you can tell. I want a left-handed neck, upside-down. That’s what I’d love. With a three-way toggle switch.
Fender: What albums or tracks are you currently listening to on the tour bus? RP: I’ve just loaded up iTunes on my computer, so it’s absolutely full of stuff. I’m just going through it and listening to things I’ve forgotten about.
Fender: Any new releases? RP: It’s not a great deal of new stuff that I’ve bought. I bought the Boy Kill Boy one. That’s cool. They’re mates of ours. I’ve been listening to a lot of old stuff. You read about people and you find out what they’ve been listening to, like the Clash, for example. They’ve been listening to reggae. They say what reggae band they like. So you check that out and then you hear what they’ve been listening to. I’ve been listening to Robert Johnson. That’s off the wall, just amazing. It’s just him and a guitar and it blows my mind.
Fender: Everything seems to lead back to him. If you follow artists’ recommendations back, it all seems to lead back to Robert Johnson. RP: Yeah, yeah. I just sort of found him, really. I’ve been missing out, man. What else? I got a KRS-1 thing the other day, a retrospective. Nice bit of hip hop.
Fender: Here’s a weird one: Imagine, if you will, that somewhere out there, there’s an alternative universe in which Ross Phillips never learnt how to play guitar. What’s he doing right now? RP: Stealing car stereos. And selling hooky equipment out the back of a white van.
Hard-Fi bassist/vocalist Kai Stephens had a cold, so a box of lozenges lay within easy reach on the bar. It was our round, so we asked him ...
Fender: Kai, mine’s a pint. What are you having? KS: G and T.
Fender: Do you remember the first time you ever picked up a bass? KS: I do. I was in a pawn shop in London because I decided to play bass so I could get a band moving that me and my mate were in. We found a drummer and me and my mate were playing guitars. We were writing songs. Could not find a bass player for love or money, so I thought I’d give it a go, and I haven’t looked back since. The first time I played it, I thought, “Yeah, I can get my hand round this.” It was a Fender Precision, an old beaten-up one. I bought it and haven’t looked back.
Fender: When you were learning to play the bass, what bassists or guitarists inspired you to take it to the next level? KS: Because I’d been a guitarist first, I started off playing like John Entwistle—giving it runs and melody. But then I got into really focusing on rocking it with the drummer. So I was looking at people like Bill Wyman, Kim Deal, Paul Simonon; people who do just the right amount with the optimum effect.
Fender: What were the first riffs or bass lines that you ever learned to play? KS: I never really tried to copy anyone’s bass lines. I used to when I was learning to play the guitar. Zeppelin was a big one. And Pink Floyd.
Fender: In your book, which one trumps the other, Led Zeppelin or Pink Floyd? KS: Floyd.
Fender: Tell us about the first band you were in. KS: I grew up in a band, so there were always friends floating around. I’d just got given a guitar, so then my brother decided he wanted to get a drum kit, and a mate over the road could play bass a little bit and we just rushed into forming a band.
Fender: What was it called? KS: It was called Indio Twist. I think Indio was a character in some spaghetti western. We named it after him. We played a couple of gigs locally and loads of friends came down to see us. We played to some busy audiences, but we were rubbish.
Fender: Most first bands always are. KS: Yeah, we were bad.
Fender: What’s the most disastrous onstage incident that’s ever befallen you? KS: About three or four gigs ago, we ran out onto the stage and Ross was the first out and he had a pint of beer in his hand, so he ran and it just went everywhere. I ran into it. I didn’t actually fall on my arse, but it was almost like I was doing some kind of crazy ice skating move.
Fender: What’s the best gig you’ve ever been to? KS: Because I was so young, I’d never seen a live band before. I went to see Suede at a place called the Old Trout in Windsor. There were about 200 people, and it was just when they were breaking through. The support band was the Auteurs, with Luke Haines. So, two very good bands on. Coming from a dance and hip-hop background, that made me think, “Wow, this is cool.”
Fender: So you were into hip hop before that? KS: Yeah, a little bit. Stuff like Run DMC, Public Enemy and N.W.A.
Fender: What advice would you give to young bassists who want to make it in the business? KS: Don’t get too flash. Have some style, but you don’t need to prove it. Don’t try and express it too much. Look for the simple and effective way of doing things.
Fender: What albums or tracks are you currently listening to? What’s on heavy rotation on the tour bus? KS: There’s this track called "Ground Swell". For some reason, it sounds like a classic house track. It’s by Jeff Mills, this Detroit techno sort of stuff. Mid-'90s. Yeah, I’m so random on my music. Sometimes, I’ll pick stuff for different moods. I found myself listening to "Wichita Lineman" and "California Dreaming" when I was flying home one day, just feeling in a reminiscing, sentimental kind of mood.
The most recent stuff I downloaded was by a band called the Dillinger Escape Plan, just for the sheer mad technical craziness of it all. Yeah, I like my aggressive stuff. I like my mellow stuff as well.
Fender: On the same subject, what would be your top three albums of all time? KS:It Takes A Nation Of Millions To Hold Us Back, Electric Ladyland by Hendrix and Nevermind.
Fender: That’s always the one that people come back to, because you never tire of listening to it. KS: Yeah, that’s right. Fantastic album.
Fender: I’ve got a fast car, a bunch of mates and a grand in my back pocket. I’ve got 24 hours in Staines. What’s the best use of my time? Where’s the place to go in Staines? KS: Probably my mate’s house. He lives where I used to live, which is in a church hall flat, of all places. It’s completely detached. You could play drums in there at three in the morning. So I’d probably call him up get some booze and go round and have a jam and listen to some music. I learned to play bass in that flat. In terms of nightclubs, I wouldn’t know what to do. Possibly, we’d go out for a drive on one of the hills if it was a stormy night. I remember one night, we were on top of one of the hills and there was a storm over Heathrow Airport. It was amazing. Maybe I’d build a bonfire. The grand would be pretty much spent on getting wasted! A few mates. You’ve got your fast car: maybe a tank full of petrol, have a burn around somewhere.
Fender: Imagine if you will, somewhere out there, there’s an alternative universe in which Kai Stephens never learned how to play bass. What’s he doing right now? KS: Either doing quite well in something illegal or in prison.
Fender: Richard, mine’s a pint. What are you having? 
Fender: Ross, mine’s a pint, what are you having? 
Fender: Kai, mine’s a pint. What are you having?