Published on 2nd January 2011.

Architects

Jessica Thornsby spoke to Architects drummer Dan Searle, ahead of the release of their fourth full-length studio album, 'The Here And Now'.

How does your upcoming 'The Here And Now' album compare to your backcatalogue? Do you feel it's a big leap from 'Hollow Crown'?

Yeah, there's definitely a leap in sound but the evolution was starting on 'Hollow Crown' so it's not like we took a massive U-turn. It's a lot more straight forward and probably slightly less heavy, we're turning into old men!

The album features guest vocals from Andrew Neufield of Comeback Kid. How did that collaboration come about?

Andrew and the rest of Comeback Kid have been good friends since we first toured with them a couple of years ago. We're huge fans of Andrew's voice and they invited Sam to sing on their new record 'Symptoms and Cures' so we thought we'd do a trade of vocalists!

Since 'Hollow Crown' was so well received, did you feel a new sense of pressure when writing 'The Here And Now'?

Of course, there is always pressure when you're writing. The songs you write for a record sculpt your career and once they're written and recorded there's no turning back. We were very aware of that when we were writing which is definitely part of why we made a jump in our sound - we didn't want to spend the next 2-3 years touring songs that we weren't 100% happy with. We could have written super heavy songs but it's not what we want to play and to tour songs that we don't want to play would be a nightmare!

What did having Steve Evetts on production duties add to 'The Here And Now'?

We've never had a producer that has gotten so involved with the songs as Steve did. He spent a lot of time just working trying to capture the essence of our band - the five of us playing in a room. Certain songs have a certain vibe and I think that can get lost sometimes, Steve worked on bringing out the best qualities in each song, often with us that is just about capturing the energy that we have when we play together.

'Learn To Live' was recently added to BBC Radio 1's daytime playlist. How does it feel, as a metal/hardcore band, to hear your songs on Radio 1?

It's definitely strange but also very flattering. A lot of people tend to decide bands are 'sellouts' when they get radio play. I guess people don't like bands succeeding, I'm not sure why! It's exciting for us though, it opens new doors for us and obviously puts our songs in front of a huge new audience. It'll be interesting to see how the next year goes!

Whenever bands connected to metal release new material, there always seems to be cries that it isn't as heavy as it used to be, that the band are 'going mainstream.' Have you experienced this yourselves?

Yes, a lot. We fully expected it and it doesn't bother us. Everyone is a critic now because of the internet and if I judged everything just by what I read on the internet I'd think we have no fans at all! Luckily for us that's not the case.

Your previous 'Hollow Crown' album has an intriguing title. Is there a concept behind it?

Yeah, 'Hollow Crown' was referring to people that don't work for what they get. Some people get everything served up to them on a plate and hold these false egos, its bullshit. We've worked for everything we've done and we always will.

What bands should we be listening to right now?

Lower Than Atlantis, Queens Club and Let Live.

And finally, what have Architects got planned for 2011?

Releasing a new record and touring the world. Too much to think about right now. I need some rest!