Photo & Biography: © 2011 Century Media Records
True musical pioneers grow, evolve, and aren’t afraid to follow their hearts. Driven by self-belief and inner strength, creative greatness and artistic progression means being unafraid of challenges and not relying on past glories and sticking to the status quo. It’s a notion that ARCHITECTS understand more than most, and that’s why the Brighton quintet have created the most ambitious and enriched album of their career.
“I can’t think of anything I’m more proud of in my life,” smiles frontman Sam Carter. “It feels like the whole time we have been a band we have been working towards something, and this is it. ‘The Here And Now’ sums up ARCHITECTS and the last four years in one, 10-track record.”
And the 21-year-old vocalist isn’t kidding. If 2009’s critically acclaimed “Hollow Crown” pushed back the boundaries of their metalcore roots, then “The Here And Now” is a leap forward of massive proportions. While initial ideas began straight after the completion of “Hollow Crown”, the catalyst to making “The Here And Now” the awe-inspiring fourth album it is, came while the band were midway through an American tour. Downtrodden from a punishing schedule, ARCHITECTS found themselves collectively questioning their existence; tired and burnt out. But then the penny dropped... “We were fed up and it felt like everything was getting to us,” reflects Sam. “We were fed up of being in a band, fed up of being away from home, and then one day we were all sitting around and it clicked and we were like ‘shit, we’re really, really lucky to be doing what we are doing, we are living our dreams and we should be having the most fun ever! Tom was like ‘we need to live in the here and now, and enjoy every day we have’,” continues the frontman. “And his comment made sense to all of us. We realized we should grow up and stop moaning about what we haven’t got and enjoy what we do have. We forgot the fun side of everything we were doing as a band - we were in America, five mates together having a massive laugh and doing what we love.”
A flurry of activity ensued, songs were demoed on laptops, rehearsed during soundchecks and ARCHITECTS’ newfound positive mental attitude culminated in the creation of “The Here And Now”. Recorded at The Omen Room in L.A. over the course of six weeks with Steve Evetts (Hatebreed, The Dillinger Escape Plan), “The Here And Now” is not an angry album, nor is it a negative one - it’s an album that’s steeped in positivity. The motto Carpe Diem couldn’t be more apt. “The new album is our first positive record,” explains ARCHITECTS’ Dan Searle. “Every band is negative and angry, but we’re not angry people this record completely reflects that. The whole record is about how us and everyone else should enjoy their lives and enjoy what they are doing ‘cos it doesn’t last forever.”
“Year In Year Out” is about not putting off until tomorrow what can be done today - living every day as your last; while the 2nd single that will be released – “Learn To Live” is an anthem reflecting ARCHITECTS’ resilience and determination to survive – flying in the face of musical fads and trends, as Sam sings: “We are the ones you left out in the rain, come back tomorrow and we’ll be here again”.
“The Here And Now” also features guest appearances from two of rock’s finest frontman: Comeback Kid’s Andrew Neufeld provides a lashing of hardcore purity to “Stay Young Forever”, while The Dillinger Escape Plan’s Greg Puciato’s piercing attack adds bite to the powerful closer “Year In Year Out”. Still, ARCHITECTS most groundbreaking moment arrives in the guise of “Heartburn”. A rallying call to everyone who has experienced hard times, its sentiment is summed up perfectly in the chorus line: “hold out your hand, lean upon me, I’ll be the one to make you smile”.
For a band in their early 20s, mature is not a word that applies to ARCHITECTS. Instead, “The Here And Now” is yet another step in their evolution both as individuals and as a band. Since the release of 06’s debut “Nightmares” and the follow-ups - 07’s “Ruin” and 09’s “Hollow Crown” – ARCHITECTS have never stood still. Touring the world constantly, sharing stages with the likes of Parkway Drive, Bring Me The Horizon, Gallows, Comeback Kid, Atreyu and their numerous festival appearances including UK’s Download and Sonisphere, Germany’s With Full Force and Australia’s Big Day Out, ARCHITECTS know about hard work and the sacrifices they have make to take their music to a global level. They also know that with “The Here And Now” they have made an album that will show the world just how good they are, beginning with the success of their first single “Day In Day Out” that was released ahead of October 2010’s headline UK tour culminating in a sold out show in London’s prestigious Koko; “Day In Day Out” was championed by both BBC Radio 1’s Zane Lowe show and Dan Carter’s Rock Show and was accompanied by a Stuart Birchall produced video which UK’s Kerrang TV jumped on.
“This is the most real record we have done, it’s the most honest musically and it’s just exactly what we want to do,” says Dan. “The fact we didn’t hold back makes it 10 times better.”
Forget what you ‘think’ you know about ARCHITECTS. This is not metalcore, it is not hardcore, it is not tech metal – this is, quite simply, ARCHITECTS. Right here, right now.
