Getting to Know… Paul Archer | Interview

In the 484^th Q&A in our Getting to Know… series, we get the inside scoop from Irish singer/songwriter and visual artist Paul Archer.

Thought-provoking, Paul Archer.  Archer, a Belfast-born singer/songwriter and visual artist, provides the inside scoop on his artistic genesis, goals, musical influences, and current and future artistic and musical endeavors. So, without further ado, let’s jump right into Getting to Know…Paul Archer: Interview No. 484!

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For those who may not be familiar with you, what would you say makes you distinct or unique? How do you rock the audience’s socks off?

I am an Irish, Belfast-born singer/songwriter, and as well as my sonic art, I am also a visual artist, and I make abstract expressionist visual art as my approach to both my sonic art and my visual art emanates from the same feeling and instinctual approach, with feeling and expression being pre-eminent and music second.

I have been making records for over 30 years and have made 12 albums to date under various monikers, projects, and bands (Disreali Gears, The Ghears, Burning Codes). I have had numerous publishing and record deals over the years, including a major publishing deal, and my songs have been used on a CBS Hollywood Studios movie and a movie that is currently available via Amazon.

With this new album, which is appropriately called Art, the record incorporates both my sonic and my visual art on the cover and inserts of the vinyl version of my new solo album.

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Okay, let’s explore some juicy backstories. How did you musical journey begin, and what were some of your goals or visions early?

My 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 my love of Krautrock locked grooves with a deep belief in the value and importance of compassion, crunching guitars, and the power and versatility of the human voice.

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 an exciting live experience. Returning to Bangor, NI in 2018 for family reasons, I 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 my brother Iain Archer, an award-winning co-writer to the stars.

The story of Art

Early in 2024, at his debut visual art exhibition (Castle Espie Gallery, NI), Paul reconnected with another of his old friends from the mid-90s Belfast scene, Colin Harper – a Q/Mojo/Irish Times writer then, subsequently author of acclaimed books on Bert Jansch, John McLaughlin and others. Colin realized that the brief but deeply soulful, purely solo guitar/vocal performance by me at the exhibition opening was the acorn from which a whole new phase of my music-making could grow.

With Colin’s advice, National Lottery funding was secured towards the goal of a new album with new directions – an unexpected blessing in hard times for music creators – and Side A of the album (bar the addition of the 2017 single “Belfast”) was recorded swiftly in late 2024 at Nave Studios, Leeds with producer/multi-instrumentalist Andy Hawkins, Mark Ringer (guitar) and Gary Must (drums).

At this point, US label Think Like A Key came on board. TLAK MD Roger Houdaille was bowled over when Colin played him, in passing (while liaising on other projects), one of my new recordings. The planned vinyl-only project now had an opportunity to be CD/DL as well (with two fabulous bonus tracks from the sessions).

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Let’s talk more about goals.  Have your goals or your perspectives changed since first starting? What do your aspirations or goals look like now?

My goals center around my continuing journey, search, and quest to express and connect through the art that I create and to try to share empathy, compassion, hope, empowerment, light, and love. I am so very grateful to have been able to continue to write, play, paint, perform, and record throughout my life, and this continues for which I am ever grateful. I am delighted to also be working with a great U.S. record label called Think Like A Key Records and a great PR company called Liberty Music PR, and I have never been more excited about the future and about this new solo album!

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Everybody is influenced by somebody else. Who would you consider some of your biggest musical influences, and how are they influential?

My biggest musical influences would be 60’s Soul and gospel music, bands like Pixies, The Velvet Underground, The Smiths, The Verve (Storm In Heaven, A Northern Soul eras), Indian Classical music, Cream, NEU!, and Krautrock in general, Sonic Youth.

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Ah, the fun stuff.  What’s your craziest tour story or the wackiest thing that’s happened during a performance?  Feel free to be creative.

In one of my previous bands called The Ghears (with an “h”) we used to play a song called “Innate Strength” about resilience and how when we get metaphorically “knocked over” by stress we pick ourselves up and go even harder into the fray so every time we played this song live, I would essentially perform a martial arts breakfall going from standing to the floor immediately and then slowly pick myself back up off the floor. One gig where we were playing at a festival in Peterborough (UK) we played this song and, as I always did, in the little pregnant pause between the verse and chorus, I hit the deck and then the huge wall of distortion came in for the chorus but the St. John Ambulance thought I had collapsed from ill health and they came running up to the stage to try to help to find me slowly returning to my feet!

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To this point in your career, what would you describe as your favorite song you’ve recorded or performed live? What makes that song special?

I really enjoy performing a song on the new album called “Fear Destroyer” as it has a profound resonance for me. This song is written in response to how my journey is changing and has moved towards real, tangible freedom from anxiety and fear to faith and belief in a loving higher power, which identifies deeply with each of us and wants to heal, nurture, protect, and liberate us from fear by means of profound love. This love permeates the subatomic fabric of everything beyond even the quantum level. This song encapsulates my message to my belief in a Creator who loves us so much and The Logos – Jesus Christ, who willingly sacrificed His life out of a profound love for us all.  This song is a joyous explosion of light, love, and liberation, and becoming spiritually, physically, emotionally, and mentally whole.

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Is there anything else awesome, cool, or left-of-center we should know about you? Secret talents or surprising tidbits?

As we’ve been mentioning previously, I am also an abstract expressionist artist and I very much enjoy the work of artists like Barnett Newman, Jackson Pollock, Gerhard Richter, and also Turner’s amazing work! I write with my left hand but I cannot play guitar left-handed; rather, I play it right-handed!

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What are you currently working on or promoting that you can share? We love secrets, but there’s no pressure. 

My brand new album called Art was released worldwide via Think Like A Key Records on 8th August 2025. It is available in 14-track CD, 12-track vinyl, and download formats via Think Like A Key Records and Tower Records in Ireland.

https://www.thinklikeakey.com/release/495859-paul-archer-art

My current single – Fear Destroyer is out now:

My website is: www.paularcherofficial.com

Thank you so much for sharing and taking the time to answer these questions, and best of luck moving forward. 

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Getting to Know… Paul Archer: Interview No. 484 (2025) [📷: Paul Archer]

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