Photo Credit: Mark Thompson

Ahead of their upcoming EP ‘Don’t Go Making Plans’, scheduled for release November 15th and their autumn UK tour which kicks off on the same day, we sat down with HARD-FI frontman Richard Archer to chat about their latest single, the decision to release an EP rather than an album after their eight year hiatus, and ‘Stars of CCTV’ turning 20.

—

What has the reception been like for your latest single ‘Don’t Go Making Plans’?

Richard: It’s been pretty good. It is quite hard to gauge because the last time we put records out, the industry was quite different. Previously, you would try get radio stations to play it and look at chart positions, whereas now you release it then start to do it the other way round.

—

Since reforming in 2022, has it been difficult to adjust to the way the industry now works?

Richard: Yes it has, because we got to know a certain way of doing things, and now is it completely different. I have always struggled being a musician anyway, unless you’re actually doing a gig and you play a song in front of people, you don’t get any immediate feedback from what you are doing. You write a song and think, is this any good? Is anyone going to like it? It could be a year before anyone hears it. Now you put it out and you still don’t know anything. Trying to look at it the way it is now, there are more possibilities, you can just keep putting music out and that doesn’t always work with a record label behind you but there is an element of having more freedom and putting music out because you want to, that is the dream I guess. It is just whether that is commercially the right thing to do, at the end of the day, we have got to eat.

—

What was the decision behind releasing an EP rather than a full-length after the hiatus ended?

Richard: Truthfully, the whole plan was put together on the back of a cigarette packet. Firstly, when we did our first gig back a couple of years ago, we thought, should we do it? Will anybody be interested? It sold out really quickly so there is clearly some interest. Next year will be 20 years since ‘Stars of CCTV’ was released, we would like to do something to mark that. There was a feeling that if we put a new album out, it would get congested with everything else but we wanted to release some new music . Back in the day, ‘Stars of CCTV’ was originally an EP, and in some ways the EP thing is quite nice as you can put it out and you’re not waiting two years for the next one. You can be more nimble with releasing them.

—

Are there plans for a full-length release in the future?

Richard: I’d like to think so. I have been working on new music to come out, whether that is an album or a series of EP’s or whatever, I don’t know. Things change all the time, I may have an idea in my head then somebody else has a different idea, who knows. It would be nice to do another Hard-Fi album. You sort of think, does anyone care about albums anymore? I think they do. There are people who want to buy an album and have that experience with it. Vinyl sales keep going up, and that was always the exciting thing about doing an album, the artwork and what you might write in credits. Hopefully that is what we will get to do eventually.

—

How excited are you to be heading back out on the road so soon after your last UK tour?

Richard: It is soon yes, but it has also been a year of us not really doing anything so it is nice to get back out there again. We had some really cool fun times on the last tour, and the difference with this time will be that we get to play some new music and change the set list up a bit really which is quite exciting as the last tour was our catalogue, stuff that came out at least 10 years ago or longer. As a band, we have been getting better, we play together much better than we did back then. Some of the jumping around is quite tricky when to you are 20 years older, but getting to play new music is exciting.

—

What are your goals for 2025?

Richard: In all honesty, one of my favourite things that we did back in the day was go to different places, play in different countries. Some of the best festivals we ever did were in Europe, the food was really nice, and they are things that I still remember. It all depends on if people want us to come out there, it is down to that really. There are so many bands out there that are grabbing the headlines or have been non-stop like Maximo Park, and it’s trying to find the space to get in there. I’d love to play abroad again.

—

Do you feel that British guitar music has had a resurgence recently?

Richard: I guess the thing would be, is it just for a nostalgia trip or is there something new about it? If there is lots of new bands who are inspired by it, and doing something different, that feels like some kind of movement. When Hard-Fi first released a record, there wasn’t much of a band scene, then suddenly there was Maximo Park, Franz Ferdinand, The Libertines, Kaiser Chiefs, Kasabian, there was loads of British bands coming out and it was what everyone wanted to talk about. When you haven’t got that, trying to make any headway is really hard, so it would be great if it that opens a door for some younger groups and doesn’t suffocate them.

 —

You brought Tom A Smith as your support act during the 2023 UK tour, is there plans for another act of the same calibre to join you on the upcoming tour?

Richard: We are just working on that now, we would like to take one support with us on the whole thing, with there then space for a second support tied to the area and it gives them the opportunity to get out there and do their thing, it doesn’t cost them too much as they are local. Touring costs loads of money now, if you are new act and you haven’t got a record label helping you pay for that sort of stuff, it’s really hard. Hard-Fi sold a lot of records back in the day, but we are still in a black hole to our record label mostly because of the money we spent touring America. It all costs a fortune and you don’t realise it at the time.

—

 Finally, ‘Stars of CCTV’ turns 20 next year. What are the plans to honour the album?

Richard: The idea of us getting back together came from a lives stream I did in lockdown where I played the whole album, it got a really nice reaction. There are loads of plans but it is just if they come to fruition. ‘Stars of CCTV’ came out on vinyl just as the record labels stopped doing vinyl, so it was one of the last to come out for a bit. If you want to buy it now, it’s at least £100 on Discogs right now. So we are talking to people about a reissue, we want to make it special for everybody, maybe some live activity around it too.

—

HARD-FI will be touring the UK this November in support of their new EP ‘Don’t Go Making Plans’. Pre-order the EP HERE. Tickets are on sale now.

November 2024

15th – London, Dingwalls
16th – Hastings, White Rock
19th – Portsmouth, Guildhall
21st – Cardiff, Tramshed
22nd – Wolverhampton, Wulfrun
23rd – Nottingham, Rock City
25th – Glasgow, Garage
26th – Sheffield, The Leadmill
27th – Manchester, O2 Ritz
29th – Leeds, Stylus
30th – London, Roundhouse (SOLD OUT)