Contempo band Richard Archer decided to return to his hometown of
Staines, crushed by the lack of success of his former band
Contempo and the death of his father from cancer. He said "I moved back to Staines because I ran out of money and it was quite a shock." Archer has said that music business insiders tried to dissuade the band's manager Warren Clarke from managing him: "People told him, don't bother with Archer, he's damaged goods, you're wasting your time." When Archer asked his publishers for some money to record the new songs that he had written, they terminated his contract instead.
Formation and early success While Archer was making demos to produce an album, he went into the Staines hi-fi shop where Ross Phillips worked, simply so he could listen to his latest demos on the shop's better equipment. Philips apparently asked Archer who had played guitar on his demos and Archer said that it was himself. Phillips said it was "shit" and was therefore recruited to play guitar for the new group.
Steve Kemp was already an old friend of Archer, while it took Kai Stephens little persuasion to leave his job as a "pest killer" at
Rentokil. The band were signed to newly formed independent label
Necessary Records, owned by Clarke. The majority of
Stars of CCTV was recorded in a variety of unusual acoustic environments - in bedrooms, in pubs, and played back in their producer, Wolsey White's,
BMW. 1,000 copies of this record were pressed with only 500 going on public sale, and the initial plan was to sell 1000 each time. However, it quickly sold out, receiving critical acclaim and radio play, proving a lot more successful than the band had imagined. Most of the album was recorded in a disused
mini cab office, which cost them about £300 and is known to this day as the "Cherry Lips" Studio. The band used to try to make their music sound more atmospheric by putting a microphone in the corridor to add echo; listening closely to the record reveals that this also picked up passers-by humming and whistling and the occasional aeroplane flying overhead. Archer desperately tried to generate publicity for the band through the
Staines Observer, to no avail; "We sent them a press release and a photo," said Archer. "The press release was all like, the hard-hitting sound of the streets and stuff. And the article came out going, 'Richard Archer, former pupil of Thamesmead School ...' Whatever you say, they seem to be most interested in what school you went to." The band were then licensed to the major label
Atlantic Records in December 2004, where they were given the chance to re-record the album in the renowned
Abbey Road Studios, among other well known studios, however they went back to the cab office to maintain their sound.
Stars of CCTV The band were one of the acts opening for
Green Day, alongside
Taking Back Sunday and
Jimmy Eat World on their two-day residency of the
Milton Keynes Bowl in June 2005.
Simple Plan were initially booked though cancelled only a few weeks before the show, and Hard-Fi were made as a last minute booking and opened on both days. Their debut album's launch party was scheduled to be 7 July 2005 at Cheekees nightclub in Staines, however this was cancelled due to the ill health of Richard's mother, and the
London bombings also occurring that day. Her death resulted in the band pulling out of the
Glastonbury festival. The launch party was rescheduled for 13 July 2005 and the venue changed to
Ladbroke Grove, London. The
Stars of CCTV album re-entered the official UK album chart at No. 4 on 1 January 2006. Two places higher than it originally went in on the week of its release, the album climbed from No. 33.
Stars of CCTV finally got to No. 1 on 22 January. The band's re-release of "Cash Machine" entered the official Top 40 singles chart at No. 14 on 1 January. The album has reached sales of 1.2 million copies worldwide and sales of over 600,000 in the UK alone. Hard-Fi gained increased prominence in the UK when
Stars of CCTV was nominated for the 2005
Mercury Music Prize.
Stars of CCTV scored 74 out of 100 on Metacritic. In February 2006, the band were nominated for two
BRIT Awards, Best British Group and Best British Rock Act, alongside international superstars such as
Gorillaz,
Franz Ferdinand and
Oasis. Richard spoke about the nominations, "I don't think we'll win it, especially best group when you've got
Coldplay, Franz Ferdinand and Gorillaz in there, they're kind of big hitters, but you never know,
Burton drew with
Man United". "Last week I would have probably said 'nah it's all rubbish', but now I'm nominated it's great but what is good is that there's a real wide spread of stuff there, but there's no Best Dance award and the urban category is more pop than what's quality."
Once Upon a Time in the West Hard-Fi expanded the "Cherry Lips", their taxi cab office which they used to record, making more room for equipment after having searched fruitlessly for a space. Archer described the record as "darker and more expansive". A working title for the Album was "Bat out of Staines". The first single from the album was "
Suburban Knights", released on 20 August. The single had its first play on 18 June 2007, at 7:20 pm (BST) on Radio 1. The album
Once Upon a Time in the West was released on 3 September 2007 when the band launched it at midnight in
Virgin Megastore in
Oxford Street, London with a live performance from a selected set list followed by a CD signing. The following day, the band performed at
Maida Vale Studios to a small audience who earned their tickets through Radio 1. The album cover of
Once Upon a Time in the West has an orange background with the album title at the top, and "NO COVER ART." written in large, white letters below. The artwork has received criticism, however, top cover art designer
Peter Saville has described it as "a 'White Album' for the digital culture." On 9 September 2007,
Once Upon a Time in the West went straight in at No. 1 on the UK Albums Chart, giving Hard-Fi a second No. 1 album. It received positive reviews including five stars from
The Observer Monthly and four stars from
Q Magazine, scoring 70 out of 100 on Metacritic. The album was more popular than their debut album
Stars of CCTV in other countries, as it reached Japan's Top 10 chart. Mexico, Argentina, Brazil and Central America began to show interest in the band as the first single from the album, "Suburban Knights", charted in all of their respective charts, reaching No. 5 in Peru, No. 3 in Guatemala, No. 2 El Salvador, No. 8 Mexico alongside their second single "
Can't Get Along (Without You)" which spent two weeks on No. 1 in Peru and Argentina. On 10 March 2008, the third single, "
I Shall Overcome" was released in the UK, where it reached No. 35, whilst making the top five in South America just like the previous two singles entering in at No. 4.
Killer Sounds During the 2008
Christmas period, Hard-Fi released a Christmas message to their fans announcing that they would be back in the new year with "a wicked new album". On 2 February 2009, Phillips released a blog on the band's official
Myspace page, saying "me and the boys are now back in the cherry lips recording facility working hard on the new tunes. Sounding great by the way. We're really pleased with how the album's shaping up. Hopefully over the next few months we'll put some bits and pieces up for you to have a listen." On 29 October 2010, Hard-Fi made a blog posting on their website stating that they were starting production on their new album. On 14 February 2011, Archer posted an update on the band's
Facebook page, which revealed that six of the eleven album tracks had been mixed. Producers that worked with Hard-Fi on their third album include
Stuart Price and
Greg Kurstin. On 7 March, Hard-Fi confirmed that they are getting closer to completing the album. Archer posted a status on Facebook, saying "going back into the studio to mix the final tracks for the album, we've got two weeks booked to finish off and tweak a few bits and pieces from the last batch. Thinking about photos, a video, artwork and getting out and doing a few gigs - sooner than you might think." On 28 April, Hard-Fi's latest single "
Good for Nothing" was premiered on
Zane Lowe's
Radio 1 show receiving airplay as the 'Hottest Record in the World'. In an accompanying Archer announced that the album is called
Killer Sounds. On 7 May, "Good for Nothing" was featured on
Soccer AM's
Premier League goals portion of the show. The single was then made available to listen to on Hard-Fi's official
YouTube channel. Having been made available for listening on Hard-Fi's website since 22 May, "Good for Nothing" was finally released on 17 June and debuted on the UK Singles Chart at number No. 10 and on the UK Rock Chart at No. 2. The second single to be released from the album was "
Fire in the House" on 7 August 2011. Despite suggestions that it would struggle due to strong competition from contestants competing on
the eighth series of The X Factor, which was ongoing at the time,
Killer Sounds was officially released in the UK, Ireland and other European territories on 22 August and entered the UK Albums Chart at No. 9. "
Bring It On", the third and final single, was released on 24 October 2011. Following unspecified legal difficulties, the album's USA & Canada release date was delayed until 15 March 2013.
Greatest hits album and hiatus In March 2012, Archer told
Gigwise that Hard-Fi are hoping to release their next album in a shorter interval than the four years between
Once Upon a Time in the West and
Killer Sounds, although no estimated release date was set. The band released some samples of studio material from their upcoming album via their official Facebook page in March 2013. On 6 May 2013, the band announced via their Facebook page that Phillips was leaving the band to concentrate on 'different things'. On 27 November 2013, it was announced that Hard-Fi would be releasing a greatest hits compilation album called
Hard-Fi: Best of 2004–2014. The album was released on 27 January 2014. They also played a one-off sell out gig at the Bloomsbury Ballroom in London on 13 February 2014 along with Phillips.
Reunion In April 2022, posters were posted in various London underground stations featuring the band's trademark yellow and black camera logo, with the text "London 01.10.22" suggesting the band will be playing their first live show since 2014. On 24 April, during a
Facebook Live stream, Archer shared details of the gig, which will take place at London's O2 Forum Kentish Town on 1 October. He confirmed all original members, including Ross Phillips who had previously left the band, would be present. On 23 May 2023, the band announced their first tour in eleven years. They played at venues across England and Scotland from 5-21 October 2023. On 20 May 2024, the band released their first new single since 2011 - "Don’t Go Making Plans". It was followed by an EP of the same name which was released on 15 November 2024. They also announced an accompanying tour which took place from 16–30 November 2024. In March 2026, the band released the single "They Ain’t Your Friends" and announced their album
Sweating Someone Else’s Fever would be releasing on June 19, 2026. == Musical style ==