Interview: Getting to Know Paul Archer (Written)
The are many ‘firsts’ with Art: the first Paul Archer solo album in a 30-year recording career; his first vinyl album (conceived as such from the start); and the first time his visual art has intersected with his musical world, featuring on the cover and inserts. It is also the first album of a new career phase back home in Northern Ireland after many years in East Anglia with Burning Codes – and fans are already telling him it’s the best thing he’s done.
After 30 years of rock ‘n’ rollercoaster travails – major label deals that happened but nothing eventuated, management meltdowns, publishing disasters – Paul’s positive energy is undimmed. Art is not the lonely drinker in Edward Hopper’s Nighthawks, wondering how it all slipped away – it’s an explosion of power, passion and grace, the sound of a man with fabulous melodic gifts still seeing chinks of light whatever the darkness.
In this interview we get to know Paul Archer a little better.
1. Hello! Thank you for taking the time to chat to us. First things first, tell us a little bit about yourself and how you got started.
I am a Belfast born singer and songwriter, abstract expressionist artist and solo-collaborative musician. My new album called Art brings my sonic and visual art together in one project.
Paul Archer – Art
(Think Like A Key, 8/25)
Biography
Paul’s music journey began in Belfast in the mid-90s with Disreali Gears, a soulful psych-rock experience beloved on the then thriving local scene. One album and a lot of great memories remain. Out of that, the Ghears [sic] emerged (1998–2003, four albums) – a new band, a relocation to England and a sound that incorporated Paul’s love of Krautrock locked grooves with his deeply compassionate worldview, crunching guitars and rich vocal gifts.
The Burning Codes era (2008–18, six albums) ended on a high with the album Liberator and single ‘Loss Leader’, with the valedictory East Anglian line-up of the band widely celebrated as a thrilling live experience.
Returning to Bangor, NI in 2018 for family reasons, Paul rode out the impasse of Covid and its long-tail damage to the NI live scene with a series of digital singles, including an embryonic version of the song ‘Art’ (2021). This approach had begun with the glorious one-off homage ‘Belfast (Place of My Soul)’ in 2017 – attributed to Burning Codes but effectively a Paul Archer collaboration with various luminaries of the place where his music began, including ‘Godfather of Punk’ Terri Hooley, Snow Patrol’s ‘Nathan Connolly and Paul’s brother Iain Archer, an award-winning co-writer to the stars.
2. Someone comes to you and asks you to sum up what kind of music you play – what do you tell them?
I would describe my music as “cosmic soul”.
3. What’s currently keeping you busy? A new album/EP/single release? A new video? Playing live, or planning ahead?
My new album called Art is currently released on American record label – Think Like A Key Records and features Nathan Connolly of Snow Patrol, Iain Archer (James Bay / Snow Patrol, Jake Bugg…) & Terri Hooley (Undertones – Teenage Kicks / Good Vibrations Records).
My new single Fear Destroyer is currently released. We have a fabulous video shot by Mark Case and directed by Marry Waterson for current single Fear Destroyer:
We also have plans for further recording in November 2025 at the wonderful Nave Studios in Leeds and our next show is at The American Bar in Belfast on 6th September 2025 (2-5pm).
4. What is about this current period that is particularly exciting for you?
My new album called Art is the first ever solo Paul Archer release in my thirty years of writing and recording and the first release ever on vinyl. It is also on cd and download.
5. Tell me about the work that has gone into making it a reality and what it means to you.
I was extremely grateful to have the mentorship of Colin Harper ( local author, musician, songwriter, force of nature and friend of Jonny Marr https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colin_Harper) and Karen Smyth (Irish artist and musician). Colin was instrumental in this new solo record in that Colin (and Karen) worked with me to secure Arts Council N.Ireland and National Lottery backing for this project and Colin also encouraged me to bring my visual and my sonic art together for this record. He also brought in the Roger Houdaille and his fantastic team at Think Like A Key Records in America. I also worked with Andy Hawkins (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andy_Hawkins_(music_producer) ) who produced and played on the songs on Side A and these songs were recorded at the beautiful Nave Studios in Leeds. The current single Fear Destroyer was recorded with Andy Hawkins at his amazing studio in Leeds.
Side B was recorded at home in Belfast with Rick Bleakley who also plays live with me and with Gary Must who plays drums in my other project and on all of Side A of “Art”. Gary is another genius and always a pleasure to collaborate with.
6. Who produced the release – what did they bring to it? If you produced it yourselves what do enjoy most about producing your own material?
Andy Hawkins who produced my current single Fear Destroyer (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andy_Hawkins_(music_producer) ) is an absolute sonic genius and he is a multi-instrumentalist and I have worked with Andy collaboratively on my previous bands and projects The Ghears, Burning Codes & Giant Collapse. It is always a fun and joyful and profoundly creative collaboration working with Andy Hawkins.
Rick Bleakley who I recorded Side B of the new record brought his own distinctive creative genius to the new record with the idea from Colin being that Side A was more of a full sonic pallette where Side B is more introspective and stripped down reflecting the different aspects of my writing and performance.
7. Making music and being creative can be a very positive experience and can be very good for the mind. In what way has making music had a positive impact on your mental health?
I find the whole process of writing, recording and performing transformative and and profoundly cathartic and helpful, bringing further meaning, hope and purpose to my life. I also am passionate about the mental health Personal Recovery movement and I worked in this field and in the field of childhood trauma support for many years.
8. It can also be incredibly challenging, more so in the modern times. What have been some challenging aspects of making music and how have you overcome them?
The big challenges for me have been getting my work out to the listeners with a focused approach on the marketing aspects of the music I make as it frequently crosses familiar genres. However now I work with the superb Liberty Music PR who are amazing and I am delighted and honoured to be working with such a fantastic team!! I am also honoured and delighted to be working with Roger Houdaille and his fantastic team at Think Like A Key Records in the U.S. They are a fabulous, pro-active and creative record label. I have also had the mentorship of Mr. Colin Harper which I am very grateful for.
9. How do you handle the online aspects of being in a band? Having to put out content constantly, promoting across several different social media platforms, and having your success measured in likes and follows?
Having had and been in bands for many years I wanted to look at a new, potentially more flexible approach and that is why I became a solo-collaborative artists as I generate large amounts of work, both sonic and visual and being collaborative enables me to work with many and varied fabulous artists and musicians such as Andy Hawkins, Rick Bleakley, Nathan Connolly, Iain Archer, Jim Lockhart, Terri Hooley and many more…
10. How do you make this part of things enjoyable, and fulfilling, for yourself?
Writing, playing, painting, recording and performing are all a huge joy and an honour and a privilege in my life and I am forever grateful to be able to do these things twelve albums and I don’t know how many singles later. Music and art in general for me are profoundly creative, cathartic and healing.
11. Speaking directly to listeners – what would you ask they do to help support you?
I would first of all like to thank each and every one of your listeners for taking the time to read this and for their support, interest and encouragement. Making art requires time and, at times courage and struggle as I am sure your listeners know only too well. Thank you to you and to all of your listeners for their interest, time and support. Please do look into my work and I’d love to hear your thoughts everyone. My catalogue of work is varied sonically and creatively with some of my work being hugely choral and voice based and some being more of a “band” approach so I would hope that there is plenty of depth there for different approaches and tastes.
My website which was created by the brilliant Mr. James Dunne and incorporates all aspects of my work can be found here.
12. Outside of music, what do you like to do to relax?
I like to go running and walking. I like to read and watch films, hang out with friends.
13. Where can people find you?
