The Edge and the Contenders Archer began his musical career as lead guitarist in a group called the Edge in the early 1981. They released two singles, "Take a Walk" and "Little Girl Blue". In early 1987, he was part of a band called the Contenders. He then formed Whirlpool in 1991 and signed to
Food Records and
EMI Publishing. Simon Scott was also involved on a live basis playing keyboards and backing vocals. After gigging around the UK and recording for 18 months the group folded. This laid the foundations for
Heavy Stereo, with Archer taking over the role of singer.
Heavy Stereo Archer formed
Heavy Stereo with bassist Nez and guitarist Pete Downing both previously of
Redcar indie band
2 Lost Sons who were subsequently signed with
Creation Records. The band's only album, 1996's
Déjà Voodoo, did not enjoy much critical or commercial success. However, Heavy Stereo's next release did receive more attention through demos of new material, a critically acclaimed contribution to
The Jam tribute album,
Fire and Skill: The Songs of the Jam, and opening on a
Paul Weller tour.
Oasis Archer heard a report on
The Big Breakfast that
Paul "Bonehead" Arthurs had left Oasis after a massive row with
Noel Gallagher. He claims, "I thought, Shit! They'll split now. I was a real fan, and I'm not just saying that. For me, Oasis had breathed life back into rock 'n' roll." He was unaware that Noel Gallagher – who knew Archer from their days on the Creation Records label – had rung his home in London and invited him to
Olympic Studios, where Oasis were mixing
Standing on the Shoulder of Giants. "We went to the pub and I couldn't stand not knowing if I was a part of the band. After less than half a pint of
Guinness I said, 'What does
Liam say?' And Noel said, 'It's my f*cking band. I'll have who I want.'" Archer claims the rest of Heavy Stereo were pleased for him to join Oasis. Since Archer did not perform on the
Giants album, he received no royalties and, for the first few performances, was paid a standard session wage, about £85 a gig, as the new Oasis rhythm guitarist. His first official duty was to appear on the "
Go Let It Out" video – on which he played lead guitar, as
Andy Bell had yet to take over bass, so Noel played bass with Liam on acoustic guitar and vocals. Archer played his first rhythm guitar set at a session for alternative radio in
Philadelphia. His first songwriting contribution after joining Oasis was "Hung in a Bad Place", which appeared on Oasis' fifth album
Heathen Chemistry. This song was picked up for use in a commercial for
Victoria's Secret in the US. His role was expanded on Oasis' sixth studio album, ''
Don't Believe the Truth'', which features Archer's "A Bell Will Ring" and "Love Like a Bomb", the latter of which he co-wrote with Liam Gallagher. He also contributed the B-sides "Eyeball Tickler" and "The Quiet Ones" – an acoustic song. He also wrote "To Be Where There's Life" on the 2008 album
Dig Out Your Soul. Archer has said that he found it quite daunting to submit songs for consideration to the band because of Noel Gallagher's stature as a songwriter, whom he cites as one of his favourites. On rare occasions, Archer contributed backing vocals to Oasis songs, such as on "The Meaning of Soul", "Force of Nature", and on the band's cover of
The Who's "
My Generation", played piano on "Stop Crying Your Heart Out" and harmonica on "Mucky Fingers". In 2024, it was revealed that Archer would take part of the
Oasis Live '25 shows.
Beady Eye in 2011 Noel Gallagher quit Oasis in August 2009, following an argument with his brother in Paris. Gallagher placed part of the blame for his decision to leave on Archer and Andy Bell for a lack of support saying "the lack of support and understanding from my band mates has left me with no other option than to get me cape and seek pastures new." Soon afterwards the band announced they had split. However, Archer, Bell, Liam Gallagher and Oasis live drummer
Chris Sharrock resolved to work together on a new project under a new name,
Beady Eye. Archer contributed guitar, bass and backing vocals to Beady Eye's debut album
Different Gear, Still Speeding, released on 28 February 2011. Archer also contributed guitar, keyboards, and backing vocals on Beady Eye's second album
BE, released on 10 June 2013. On 25 October 2014, Liam Gallagher announced, via Twitter, that Beady Eye had disbanded.
Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds in July 2017 In December 2015, Archer appeared with Noel Gallagher at an acoustic gig in Lincoln, followed by an appearance for BBC Radio 2. In October 2016, Archer joined
Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds for their performance of "Half the World Away" dedicated to Caroline Aherne for Channel 4's Stand Up to Cancer telethon; leading to speculation he had become a permanent member of the band. In July 2017, it was confirmed that Archer had become a permanent member of Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds.
Other work Outside of Oasis, Archer has collaborated with a few other artists, most notably
Paul Weller. He has contributed acoustic guitar to the song "One x One" on Weller's 2002 album
Illumination and guitars and
Mellotron to the song "Echoes Round the Sun" on Weller's 2008 album
22 Dreams. He participated in an acoustic tour of the US with Weller when
Steve Cradock of
Ocean Colour Scene was unavailable, and provided guitar and backing vocals at the 2010 NME Awards when Weller performed a live set. He also contributed guitar to
David Holmes' 1997 album ''
Let's Get Killed''. He also assisted Noel Gallagher in producing the first
Proud Mary album, a band signed to Gallagher's Sour Mash record label. According to album notes, Archer also worked with his good friend and previous Oasis and Beady Eye colleague
Andy Bell on his debut solo album (now under the "Glok" alias) called
The View from Halfway Down, contributing some drums, bass and guitar tracks, and also doing some of the recording work. ==Personal life==