The band remember their hit 2005 record Stars of CCTV and talk about coming back with a new dynamic
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. The band released two further albums before going on hiatus in 2014. They reunited in 2022 and released a new EP in 2024.
This shoot was for an interview in the Big Issue. I still wear those clothes now, but back then a good jacket or pair of sunglasses was a suit of armour. With the right pair of shades, I could face the Terminator.
The more extrovert elements of being a frontman didn’t always come naturally, so at times I was playing a larger-than-life character. I wasn’t that confident performing – not to the extent I’d puke up backstage, but I’d get nervous and try too hard. I was also a bit gobbier and swearier back then. A lot of people thought I was off my face on coke, which I wasn’t. Adrenaline is powerful stuff.
I often had this outsider feeling – as if there was a party going on we weren’t invited to. We’d go out in Staines rather than Camden, but, even though we weren’t part of the “scene”, our shows kept selling out. By 2006, it felt like we were on a train that was getting faster and faster. For years, we’d tour and do promo, with no days off – all of which was exciting but exhausting. The whole time I thought: “We can’t stop, we can’t screw it up.” There was so much pressure that I didn’t get a chance to stop and soak it in.
