Currently Brighton’s very own Architects are absolutely smashing America and are about to take on Europe for festival season. They recently bagged a Top 20 album with their incredible sixth record ‘Lost Forever// Lost Together’ and when they were last in the UK, we managed to sit down with frontman Sam Carter to talk about how everything changed for them when they changed their attitude. From a band who’d been going for ten years without the recognition they deserved, they’ve really broken out with this new album, and deservedly so.
HOW ARE THINGS GOING FOR YOU AT THE MOMENT?
We’re having the best time we’ve ever had. Stuff’s going really well with the band and we can’t really believe it. We’ve never gone into a tour with sold out shows before and we’ve never had such a buzz around an album. It’s really flattering to be playing these shows and we put so much hard work into the record. It’s no different to what we normally do, but this time we’ve really taken hold of it, and it’s a nice thing because I think kids are proud of us. I think they know how much it means to us.
YOUR LAST UK TOUR DID INSANELY WELL.
The Brighton show sold out in three minutes. We had a day off so we thought we might as well do it, and then it sold out in three minutes, which is fucking unbelievable. We thought the website had broken because it said there were no tickets left, but then our manager called us and told us we’d sold out a show in 3 minutes and we were like, ‘What the fuck?’ I was in shock. And then we did a stream for Youtube and that was terrifying. There were 8000 people watching around the world.
‘LOST FOREVER// LOST TOGETHER’ HAS HAD AN INCREDIBLE REACTION.
Everyone’s been so nice about it, it’s really flattering. It feels like for a long time we’ve been looking around at other bands doing stuff and thinking, ‘Why aren’t we doing that?’ And now it’s like, ‘Holy shit, we’re doing it’.
WHILE YOU WERE RECORDING, DID YOU HAVE A FEELING IT WOULD BE THIS GOOD?
Well, the demos were good, which we worked really hard on, but then we fully immersed ourselves in the record. We went to Sweden and did it there so we were away from everyone and all distractions and we just really got on with it and nearly died in the process. We were so stressed out. I think when you come out of the studio there’s always a phase where you think there’s more you can do, but after awhile we realised we were still listening to it and still liking it, so you think, ‘Maybe this is the one that’s gonna do well’. Everyone’s just been so nice. It really is insane.
IT’S QUITE RARE FOR A BAND TO RELEASE THEIR SIXTH ALBUM AND HAVE EVERYONE SAY IT’S THEIR BEST WORK. BY THIS POINT PEOPLE ARE USUALLY GETTING BORED.
That’s the thing that makes it so special for us. We’ve been doing this for ten years – well the rest of the band have been doing it for ten years, I’ve been doing it for eight years – but I think through all the hard work we realise we’re still so fortunate to be doing this. I don’t have to have a normal job and I can go on tour and play shows and it’s the best life in the world. I can’t complain. I think it was when we realised how lucky we are to be doing this that it sort of just started happening. Once our attitudes changed and we realised how fortunate we are, it all started happening for us. It’s great.
I THINK THAT POSITIVE ATTITUDE REALLY MAKES SUCH A DIFFERENCE.
I think there’s so many bands who don’t have that attitude and I find it insane. You’re in a fucking band. You see these people on tour in these amazing countries and they’re like, ‘I’m homesick, I wanna go home’. It’s like, fucking shut up. No-one wants to hear you say that. You’re on tour, you’re probably playing massive shows, just fucking get on with it.
WHAT HAVE YOU GOT COMING UP NEXT?
After the American tour we’re doing Rock Am Ring, Rock Im Park, German festivals, Reading and Leeds, and then we’re going to Australia again and it’s all kicking off. We had three months off at home to be normal and now it all starts again.
WHAT ARE YOU MOST EXCITED ABOUT?
I think I’m most excited about the German dates because they’ll be crazy. And I love Australia so much. I can’t wait to get back there. We’ve been there a few times now and it always feels kind of like home because we’ve got so many friends out there. It’s really nice. We’re very fortunate that we have so many friends around the world, so wherever we are we can always feel like we’re at home.
HOW HAVE THE NEW SONGS BEEN GOING DOWN LIVE?
We’ve been playing five songs off the new record. We didn’t know what it would be like but ‘Broken Cross’ is massive and ‘Gravedigger’ is massive and we’re really blown away by it. it’s nice to have new songs in the set, especially when you’ve been touring for so long. We look forward to playing them. It keeps it fresh.
YOU AND BRING ME THE HORIZON SEEM TO REALLY BE FLYING THE FLAG FOR THE UK AT THE MOMENT.
We’ve been friends with Bring Me for so long that it’s always good to see them doing well, but before it was a bit like ‘For fuck’s sake, when are we gonna get a fucking break?’ but now it’s happening. As soon as we stopped caring about it it started happening. It’s really nice that it’s two British bands doing well. This is all just so weird and nice for us. I think everyone knows that we’re not one of these bands that thinks we’re rockstars. We’re just five lads that really enjoy playing music and it’s so clichéd to say we’re the luckiest guys in the world, but we really are. To be able to play after this amount of time and still be doing well, it’s amazing. I think the further we are in our careers, the less we take it for granted. You know, one day we might wake up and be playing to ten people again. I think kids get it, they understand. A lot of people that bought our album bought two copies to support us, and that’s just insane. We were number one on the rock charts in the UK, and number one in Australia. Insane.
LASTLY, THOSE ‘BLEH’ PARTS…
With the ‘BLEH’ parts, it wasn’t like they were planned. We’d be doing a take and it’d just come out. They’re very satisfying to do. At a signing the other day someone made me do a ‘BLEH’ for them on Snapchat.
LAIS MW