Introducing: Archive

Archive’s rise in Europe has been nothing short of monumental. Having established themselves as European festival headliners (and colossally popular in France, Poland, Germany and Greece), new album Controlling Crowds has already reached number one in the album charts of France and Greece, as well as number two in Switzerland, with festival headline spots above the likes of Kasabian and N*E*R*D plus support slots with Muse confirming the band’s colossal status – the band still remain largely unknown in their native UK.

Themed on the subject of the power that comes with playing gigs on such a large scale, the record evokes the turmoil of someone coming to terms with such a position, a theme much considered over the course of 20th Century popular music, but given Archive’s meteoric rise they certainly have an interesting take on things….

You’ve played some pretty epic gigs, what was supporting Muse like?

Epic and wonderful, because the french fans pay attention to the support acts, unlike us the English, who go to the bar.

What sort of effect does playing massive shows have on your attitude to music? This record sounds very BIG, surely this is a result of wanting to have music that works on such a grand scale?

I suppose it must have an effect, but i am not that aware of it. We always try to push ourselves musically so using orchestras and choirs is going to make the music sound bigger.

Have you been playing smaller gigs in the run up to the UK release of Controlling Crowds? What’s it like playing club shows again?

We always get to play club gigs as there are always small places we go to in between the big gigs, like Saltzberg in Austria. We love these gigs because when you have a massive live sound like Archive has, when you play in small venues it sounds insane.

Why do you think you’ve been such a massive hit on the continent, but not put out an album in your native UK?

Well we really fucked up our record deals in the UK when we were very young, so it was very difficult to release stuff. Now the internet has taken over we can do and play where we like.

Are you excited about taking your music to America?

We would love to and we have a fan base growing there. We have to raise the money to go, but hopefully it isn’t far away.

What are you most pleased/satisfied with musically about the record?

I don’t know, I try not to analyse past work but Controlling Crowds feels right when I hear it. We are writing the next record, which is really beautiful so far.

Do you think marrying rock and rap is a tricky business?

Any fusion is tricky, the very idea is a bit cringy, but you just have to craft it ’till it works.

What/who inspires the music?

Bad people generally.

What UK bands do you like playing/do you feel you have an affinity with?

We don’t care really, we have played with so many UK bands and they all seem nice. I watched Jools holland the other night and loved it. There are some great new English bands, Everything Everything are genius.