| Small town, big ambitions: Hard-Fi |
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| "I suppose if we mess it up it's going to be recorded forever – but then that recording would be special, wouldn't it?" |
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CMU ALBUMS OF 2005: 'Stars Of CCTV'
released 4 Jul on Warner/Atlantic/Necessary
I think it was one of my fellow CMU co-founders, Mr Fraser Thomson, who once observed of early nineties indie that if you were to refer to the musical scene that included Happy Mondays and Inspiral Carpets and Stones Roses as 'Manchester', then one of my favourite bands of the era, James, were kind of 'Stockport'. That is to say, close to the scene, but not quite part of it - and a much stronger band for it. Which is why the constant media references to these guys' place of origin - the London periphery town of Staines - is possibly apt, because Hard-Fi are in some ways part of London's vibrant modern day indie scene, yet not. And, may I say, all the better for it. Of course there are other metaphorical comparisons to make between this band's debut album and the M25 commuter town. Reference to Staines tends to conjure up images of something really rather grim, and there is something of that in the musical grittiness of Hard-Fi. And lyrically 'Stars Of CCTV' does seem to carry something of a sub-plot based around that common small town frustration - "surely there's something better than this". But there's a lot more to Hard-Fi than where they come from. Clearly influenced by certain elements of late-seventies London punk, The Clash in particular, Richard Archer et al seem to have approached indie rock through the eyes of a dance music producer, while maintaining something of that punk attitude. It's a good approach to take, and an approach that has resulted in one of the stand out albums of the year. With one of the best tracks from it, 'Cash Machine', getting a re-release on Boxing Day, let's hope this clearly ambitious band continue to build on their critical and popular success in 2006. I have a feeling they will. |
"Hard-Fi are a rock band from Staines, England - a location that has significantly influenced their musical style and lyrics". Not my words, but the opening of the Hard-Fi biog that a diligent fan has posted on Wikipedia, the online encyclopedia where anyone can write definitions for anything. Given that there has been quite a bit of discussion recently regarding the reliability of the Wikipedia website, I thought I'd do my bit by checking the reliability of this one entry.
"I guess that's true", says Hard-Fi's Steve Kemp, "well, it doesn't have to be Staines really, just any shit town that is just outside a bigger city. One of those cultural wastelands where there's a cinema, a couple of pubs and nothing else to do". Of course that could describe most of the towns in Britain, but the close proximity of an urban centre like London is key. Steve, who spent his early childhood in the North West, agrees, "yeah, it's worse when there's this big city nearby. Because you know all this stuff is happening not so far away, but the public transport is rubbish, and there's no night buses, so it is just out of reach."
But how exactly has the town of Staines had such a "significant influence"? Wikipedia reckons that it is all about being close to a music scene, but not being part of it. "That's true too," Steve continues, "there is absolutely no music scene in a place like Staines, nothing. You absorb all the music on the radio and stuff, but you're never part of any specific scene. So if you start making your own music you just do what you think sounds good, and then take it in whatever direction you like. You don't start making music to fit into whatever is popular on the London gig circuit, because you've no idea what is popular on the London gig circuit".
Which is, of course, why 'Stars Of CCTV' is one of our favourite albums of 2005. It has a definite contemporary feel about it, yet is sufficiently distinct from many of the other indie albums doing the rounds that it stands out as something special.
"Debut album 'Stars of CCTV' was initially recorded as a six track mini-album in a disused mini cab office" continues Wikipedia. "That's true too," Steve says, increasingly pleased with his band's unofficial entry in the online encyclopedia. "As I said, there's no venues, no gigs, no nothing in Staines. So needless to say, there's no studios, no rehearsal rooms, nothing like that. So when we stumbled across this discussed cab office we thought 'we'll record some stuff here'. We had to tidy it up though, it was pretty nasty when we first moved in. And it was pretty noisy around there too. We could only really record in the evenings when all the nearby offices and stuff had closed".
Despite the limitations of the makeshift studio, the band decided to return there to record the debut album, despite by that point having the backing of major label Atlantic Records. "We could have gone into Abbey Road studios or something," Steve admits, "but we were really proud of what we had already recorded on our own, and we were really keen to do the main album in the same way. And hats off to Atlantic for letting us do it, some labels might have thought we were mad and booked us into somewhere more flash and professional".
Atlantic, presumably, realise independence is important to Hard-Fi. They have definite ideas of where they want their music to go. Not following the whims of the music scene of the moment was initially a necessity, but now it's a mission - and especially so, I suspect, for frontman Richard Archer. "Most of our songs start with ideas brought to the studio by Richard", Steve explains. "Sometimes it's just a vague idea, sometimes he's made up a demo on the PC. Sometimes his initial idea is spot on, and the final track sounds very similar. Other times the track will change radically as we work on it together. We'll go backwards and forwards, and change even just little things to get it spot on."
Which brings us to other reason 'Stars Of CCTV' is one of the best long players of the year. The Hard-Fi guys clearly have an attention for detail more akin to a dance music producer than a rock band, and those tiny production details are surely responsible, in part, for the band's distinct sound. "Definitely", Steve says, this time agreeing with my summary of his band's music, rather than that of Wikipedia. "We are all into dance music, and the intricacies of the recording process are important to us. That's why some of the tracks we end up with will be so different to what Richard originally proposed".
Back to Wikipedia, and the considerable critical and popular success the band have enjoyed since the original release of single 'Cash Machine' at the start of the year. "Hard-Fi supported Green Day on their tour of the USA, and at their two massive gigs at Milton Keynes Bowl, England", the online encyclopedia says, commenting on the band's busy touring schedule. "Ah, that's where they're wrong", Steve says, "We did support Green Day at Milton Keynes, but not on their American tour". So, Wikipedia, you're not 100% correct.
That said, the band have been to the States, and have considerable ambitions there. In fact Richard Archer is quoted as saying: "I wanna be successful. I don't see the point in being just another fucking indie band. I wanna sell records in the States. I'm not in competition with Razorlight and The Killers - I like those bands. I'm in competition with Eminem".
Of course there is no secret as to what it takes to break America, and Hard-Fi seem to be aware of that. "Lots of British bands go to the US and play New York and LA. That's no good. They all know about you already - the music fans there read NME and stuff. You've got to go to all those other places in America many bands miss out. We have only done a few dates in America, but already we've picked smaller cities to play. Kansas City, places like that. You support another band at a gig where no one in the audience has any idea who you are. That's a challenge, but that's what you need to do. We're a hugely ambitious band, we want to sell a lot of records, but we know that we are going to have to work hard and do that kind of thing to succeed."
Hard-Fi's willingness to put themselves on the line probably explains their willingness to let their label record every performance of 'Cash Machine' on their current UK tour, and to then release all of them on the band's website. "I suppose if we mess it up it's going to be recorded forever!" Steve admits. "If Richard gets the words wrong in Belfast tonight it'll be there on the website for everyone to keep. But then that recording would be special, wouldn't it?"
Psychologists might say that Hard-Fi's high ambition, and their willingness to put themselves on the line to achieve them, are also down to their commuter town upbringing. And it probably is. But let's not dwell on the psychology of what made Hard-Fi anymore - with an album this good, it doesn't really matter.
Steve from Hard-Fi's favourite artists of 2005:
"As a band I think we'd say 'Gorillaz' - that was a great album. A load of decent tunes, and some cool production. And the right balance between music and production too."
Steve from Hard-Fi's New Year's resolutions:
"Not to make any more New Year's resolutions - fuck it and let's see what happens".
Some Hard-Fi plugging:
Hard Fi's 'Stars Of CCTV' was released on 4 Jul 2005 on Warner / Atlantic / Necessary.
chris@unlimitedmedia.co.uk - published dec 2005
