Hiya Paul, thanks for joining us in the virtual RGM lounge today. Grab a brew and take a seat.
Thanks for joining us today… Tell us a bit about where you are from and how you got into music.
I am a Belfast born singer and songwriter, ( I am also a visual artist and I paint abstract expressionist “instinct led” visual works).
I was born into a musical family and my father played with Van Morrison in his early teenage days. My parents both sang Gospel music and my father wrote, recorded and produced for Gospel groups.
Musically I love everything from Gospel to Indie ,Punk to Soul to Indian Classical music and my favourite band musically are The Velvet Undergound.
My music journey began in Belfast in the mid-90s with my band Disreali Gears which I started with my brother Iain Archer, a soulful psych-rock experience beloved on the then thriving local scene. We made a couple of albums and a lot of great memories remain. Out of that band, the Ghears emerged (1998–2003, four albums) – a new band, a relocation to England and a sound that incorporated my love of Krautrock (eg. NEU!) locked grooves and my deeply held beliefs in The Logos and the importance of compassion and light with crunching guitars and vocal exploration and harmony..
My band Burning Codes (2008–18, six albums) ended on a high with the album Liberator (2018) and single ‘Loss Leader’, with the valedictory East Anglian line-up of the band widely celebrated as a thrilling live experience.
I returned home to Bangor, NI in 2019 for family reasons, I rode out the impasse of Covid and its long-tail damage to the NI live scene with a series of digital singles, including an embryonic version of the song ‘Art’ (2021), I then re-wrote the melody of this song for my current and first ever “Paul Archer” solo album of the same name. My current single from my current “Art” album is ‘Belfast (Place of My Soul)’ – where I was fortunate and honoured to collaborate with some good friends in the Belfast music scene who very kindly contributed their incredible talents to the new single, these good friends included Terri Hooley (Undertones/Good Vibrations Records), Snow Patrol’s ‘Nathan Connolly and my brother Iain Archer.
The current line up for my solo shows varies depending on whether I am playing at home in Ireland or on the mainland or abroad and I often collaborate with other very talented musicians for current live performances. Currently these very talented indviduals include Andy Hawkins, Gary Must, Johnny Irwin and Peter Marshall.
I am grateful for the blessing on music and music and art creation in my life. My song “Four Minute Mile” from my previous band called The Ghears has been used on movies including the 2007 CBS Hollywood tv movie Aquaman (Mercy Reef) starring Ving Rhames (Mission Impossible), Justin Hartley (The Arrow series) & Lou Diamond Philips (Longmire).
My music has also been placed on movie “A Patch Of Fog” which can be seen via Amazon.
I was privileged to be asked to contribute backing vocals to Snow Patrol’s Eyes Open multi-platinum album and I sang on five songs on that record.
What’s the live music scene like in Belfast right now?
With the likes of the Oh Yeah Music Centre in Gordon St in Belfast the live scene is thriving in terms of bands and artists creating new and original work. We have some fabulous s venues including the likes of The Empire Music Hall, American Bar, we even recently played the atrium of Belfast’s Titanic Museum Centre! However I think there is more pressure on the venues with overheads and other costs so it can be more challenging to secure regular gigs, particularly when you write brand new original work and are not a covers band/artist. But Belfast is a hot bed of creativity and expression.
Anyone we should be looking out for (bar you, of course)?
Bands such as And So I Watch You From Afar, Lemonade Shoelace and Chalk are but a few of many.
There have been some complex news items surrounding Belfast over the years, especially in recent times. Do you think it’s easy to become a victim of our surroundings sometimes?
“As a child of the Troubles, I witnessed how division could become normalised,”
“I have always experienced music as a force for connection.”
This belief for me sits at the heart of “Belfast (Place of My Soul)”. Whilst Belfast is, indeed a city marked by struggle, the song concentrates on Belfast’s warmth, humour, beauty and creative energy, and on the relationships that continue to exist across old boundaries.
What are your ambitions for your music?
To continue writing, searching, exploring and creating and making art whether sonic, written or visual. I am working on new mixes for an upcoming new record at the moment.
What’s your favourite social media platform to use and why?
Well I think that instagram is interesting and to the point and I often post up on both Facebook and instagram in relation to new work along with Tik Tok.
We believe it’s essential to have a presence on Facebook, Instagram and X to introduce yourself to all the different types of audiences out there. What are your thoughts on that, at a time where so many artists are complaining about being content curators on top of being musicians or do you see it as kind of the same thing?
I think that this is the age we live in and I’m probably quite pragmatic about it whilst also being aware that, for me I hughely enjoy the live setting and face to face communication and performance.
What’s your view on the music industry today?
The industry now I think is much more business and streaming/online led. I think that it can too easily become confused and misdirected or even misguided with the differences and challenges continuing between commerce and art and how art is expressed, marketing, disseminated and sold through commerce and the business side of the music industry.
Having been through various record and publishing deals I like to keep my focus on creating and performing new work as much as I can.
What are your thoughts on AI-generated music?
To be honest I’m into creating new work as I’ve always done from my heart. I see music and art as colour and feeling and organic as opposed to using algorithyms or machines as a part of the actual initial creative process.
What’s the biggest thing you have learned recently as you progress with your music?
Keep on searching, keep on being open to the moment/s
What’s currently in your ears and on rotation at the moment?
I’ve been enjoying the work of Westside Cowboy and Far Caspian in particular of late.
What was your worst experience on stage? Any funny stories to share?
Ha ha! Well there have been many! I remember playing in The Crescent Arts Centre in Belfast. It was a large open plan black room and we had a friend, Adam who was doing some fantastic live projections whilst we played and they had a ‘create your own stage’ situation there so we made a big runway ramp into the audience and I’d a mic on a stand on a persian type carpet at the end of the ramp.
I ran onstage and up to the end of the ramp and as I ripped the mic out of the stand I booted up into the air and the whole persian carpet shot of the end of the stage catapulting me into the air!
I landed on my back on the stage and proceeded to sing the first half of the verse lying on my back which was unplanned of course but a bit fun and definitely different.
I remember one of my publisher’s being upset with me when we played the Astoria for falling down on stage as I always did a martial arts breakfall in one song which was about how the music insustry builds you up and knocks you down and you need to pick yourself up and go ever harder at your creative goals no matter what the industry does around you so I used to literally knock myself over and pick myself up.
I hear you have new music. What can you tell us about it?
“As a child of the Troubles, I witnessed how division could become normalised,”
“I have always experienced music as a force for connection.”
This belief for me sits at the heart of “Belfast (Place of My Soul)”. Whilst Belfast is, indeed a city marked by struggle, the song concentrates on Belfast’s warmth, humour, beauty and creative energy, and on the relationships that continue to exist across old boundaries.
My new single Belfast (Place Of My Soul) is on release at the moment
What was the recording process like?
It was a joy to record at Start Together Studios at the Oh Yeah Music Centre and an honour to have some really good friends involved too.
Would you change anything now it’s finished?
I think I’d love to get a full size choir involved for some of the live performances.
Is there anything else you would like to share with the world?
I’m so grateful to be making music and I am thinking a lot about the profound wisdom of The Beatitudes at the moment and I’d encourage everyone to check them out as I think that they are transformational and the longer I delve into this thing we call music and creativity and art the more I discover compassion and a deeper love.
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