Interviews

Architects Interview

• 10th Jan 2011

With their second album, The Here And Now, set for release, I catch up with Architects front man Sam Carter to get the low down on their the new record before they head off to Europe with their good friends Bring Me The Horizon next week.

Tell me about the new album
The record is about being on tour for so long and everything we’ve gone through as a band. A lot of it was written while we were away and we did go through the ups and downs of being on tour and the stuff we all go through as musicians. It wears you down; the majority of the songs were about how hard it is touring America. We’ve done it about three or four times and they’re not short tours either; they’re like six weeks long. We literally just spent six months in America and that just bought us to the point where we thought “let’s write a record about how depressing this is!” Every song has got a different vibe to it, so that’s pretty much the basis of the record. It was very important that we did a record we we’re really proud of.

As the lyrics are more personal on this record, did you find it easier to write them or did it have the opposite effect?
I guess in some situations it can make it easier because you are writing straight off the back of everything that has happened. But sometimes it is really hard to find the right words to put pen to paper and get it out. On a few songs I really showed my true colours. So sometimes it was easier, but other times I was a bit of a pain with it.

The record reflects the emotions you felt whilst being on tour, did you have any ideas prior to this of what your next album might have been about if all this didn’t happen?
It all depends on what the situations are and what we’re going through at the time. It’s important to write with a personal influence. I can’t see us writing about something made up and not real, I don’t know how to do that. The ideas for the next one would be depending on what happens. If we become millionaires then I’ll be singing about being millionaires!

How was it working with Steve Evetts?
Steve was cool, he worked us really hard which is amazing to do that. You need to be pushed in the studio to get the best results. It was great being in LA for five weeks in the sun; it was a really good experience.

Did it feel like a bit more of a break than work being in that environment?
I think anytime we’re in the studio it’s definitely the most stressful part of the year. Even though we were writing in the sun for five weeks, it was really stressful! Where it’s personal influence it was everyone’s concern to make it the best that it can be and that can be frustrating at times. So there are definitely some ups and downs throughout.

Do you have any favourite tracks from the new record?
Right now I really like The Blues and I really like Heartburn as well. It changes everyday I love them all. Heartburn was one I was a bit scared of putting onto the record, but we thought, “Fuck it, we want to write stuff like this.” It was something that was important to us, experiencing new types of sound with my voice and what we do as a band.

You’ve got Andrew Neufeld and Greg Puciato on the record
Yes, it was madness actually. Andrew from Comeback Kid mentioned to me about singing on their record when we were on tour in Australia with them and I was blown away by it and immediately it was “If I sing on your record, you have to sing on mine” and he was 100% down for it. With Greg, he’s a friend of Steve Evetts and he’d come to the studio and hang out. One day he just asked if he could sing on the record, it was amazing. Immediately we were like “Fuck Yes!”

Your European tour with Bring Me The Horizon starts next week, what are you most looking forward to about that?
We’re excited to get back on tour and we’re great friends with Bring Me The Horizon. So we’re just looking forward to hanging out with them and being idiots together.

Are there any cities in particular you’re most looking forward to playing?
I’m looking forward to Belgium, that’s always amazing. Sweden is awesome as well.

Are you planning on making any festival appearances this year?
Yes we are, we have a few in the running right now and we’re going to try and do as many as we can. We’re trying to get them nailed in and then we’ll announce it.

What else can fans expect from you in the future?
I don’t know really, for us to still be doing it. We’re starting to write our next video so I’m sure that will be released as well. We’re just going to keep going until we’re old and gray!

So pick up a copy of their new album on the 24th January, and catch them in April as they tour across the UK with Bring Me The Horizon.