Photo by: Liz Ramanand
The Brighton boys from English metal band Architects had a massive tour in North America and are slated to play all over Europe to end the year. On October 12, they headline The O2 in London in support of their latest record The Sky, The Earth & All Between.
We caught up with singer Sam Carter and drummer Dan Searle to talk about their roots and all things Brighton! They talk about touring the UK, favourite spots at home, and much more!
Check out our interview with Carter and Searle below:
On the music scene in Brighton when they were kids…
Dan Searle: When we were young, it felt so different from how it is now. I don’t know whether that’s just because we’re in a different situation or we’re detached from it. It definitely seemed like there were a lot more jam bands, and we would play church halls sometimes. There was a lot of genre crossing as well.
Sam Carter: It’s still pretty good, the new upcoming hardcore music scene, I’ve seen friends posting about it. But we are so detached from it.
DS: The scene that we and Bring Me The Horizon came from was like a scene of 15 to 20 hardcore metal bands that all played together and that all knew each other. We all played the same small bars around the UK and went on tour with each other – tours booked through Myspace. We would play those sorts of shows in Brighton all the time. I’m pretty confident saying it’s not like that anymore.
SC: It was a real DIY, and we were lucky in Brighton; there were some great venues. Some smaller great venues like The Pressure Point and Concorde, where we played, it was like a dream at the time.
On touring in the UK…
DS: We’ve always had serious insecurity surrounding touring in the UK, because we barely ever play there. We’ve been putting it off and putting it off and thinking, no one likes us, and then we put on these shows, and it’s like 12,000 tickets sold.
SC: You always feel more pressure at home. There are always more people who want to come and support you and hang out. And you’re just like, I just want to get on with the show. There’s something about being away and being in a bubble in another country.
DS: In a way, we trade to spend so much time everywhere else, like it doesn’t feel like going home when we play there. It feels foreign almost. It probably feels similar to when Americans come to the UK. We’re there so infrequently that it feels really strange when we play there. But we’re massive there, so we should do it more. [Laughs]
Photo by: Liz Ramanand, Secret Media Network On top spots in Brighton…
SC: In Brighton, the best food spots are The Salt Room, Burnt Orange has small plates, and you’re right by the sea. Moshimo for sushi, and they have a good vegan menu as well. In the morning, you go around the bend, and there’s the Flynt House, which is pretty good. Coffee at 33’s is great, and Bond Street Coffee.
The best chip shops in Brighton are…
SC: The small little villages on the outskirts of everywhere have the best chippies.
DS: Bankers Fish & Chops is the big one in Brighton. My first job was working in a chippie, stinking of oil. I did chips, and then I worked a sales job for 10 weeks. I worked at Domino’s [Pizza] for 4 hours.
Sam on more odd jobs…
SC: I did a night shift at a supermarket for a month. I worked in a health food store for a couple of months, and I did some Christmas temp jobs. I basically went from college straight to being in bands because I was like 17 when I joined Architects and spent my 19th birthday on tour. We were fortunate to have parents who let us stay at home in between tours.
Photo by: Liz Ramanand, Secret Media Network On missing family and home life while on tour…
SC: The family, my dogs. I like the slow starts of the morning. The family is the main thing; everything else I can do without. Other than that, I love touring and being away; I just wish my family could be with us. I think that’s it, when you get to this point in your life, really, it’s about your family, isn’t it?
DS: The difficult thing about touring is that the sleep is bad. It’s one of the things we miss: sleeping in the same bed, without being woken up constantly. You have some sense of routine on tour, but just like when you’re home, you get into a simple routine. It’s also nice to know how your day is going.
SC: I feel bad when we miss big dates or birthdays or anniversaries, things like that. I don’t really feel too bad if we miss weddings because they’re a bit of a pain. [Laughs]
DS: It’s so nice to be with everyone, but at the same time, there’s very little time to switch off. You always have to be around people all the time [on tour].
SC: I miss making food at home because we have to eat out every single day. There is something nice about the actual process of making your dinner, being present and feeling like you’re getting something healthy. Then we’ll get a weekend of it and be like I wish I was playing on tour. [Laughs]
On years of friendship…
SC: We’ve seen each other’s different sides, having been friends for about 20 years. We’ve done a lot of growing up together as well, from being kids to being adults to being dads, being people who own homes and have dogs and everything.
When we first met, we were just kids. When we first came to America, we were losing money, we were actively having to call home like, “Could you please send me a little bit of money? So I could spend five dollars a day getting McDonald’s for lunch and dinner?” We’ve seen each other in the toughest moments and the best moments. There’s an enormous amount of love and respect between all of us.
Architects play The O2 in London on October 12. ‘The Sky, The Earth & All Between’ is out now.