British metalcore titans Architects make a long-awaited return to Australia next week, having released their tenth studio album, 'The Classic Symptoms Of A Broken Spirit', last year.
For the band's drummer and chief songwriter, Dan Searle says when he's writing material for an Architects release, he never has any preconceived notions of how the band should deliver the songs, nor how the audience should receive them."When I'm not sat down writing, I can have all sorts of ideas like that, about how a song could be perceived or performed in a live setting, or I can have an idea of how I want the song to sound," Dan begins.
"But as soon as I sit down to write a song, it kind of happens as it happens. The mystery of how it comes over live is always quite exciting.
"One of the greatest things about being in a band is seeing how the songs are met by an audience. It's the only way you have any connection with an audience.
"That was the hardest thing about the pandemic, the hardest thing about releasing music in the pandemic. You were left with numbers on the screen or comments or whatever, which to be honest, don't invoke any feeling.
"But when you see it live and people are singing and you see what it means to them, the looks on their face, you get a glimpse into their relationship with your music, and that's something that's really profound. Everyone can relate to that."
Dan has a fascination, he admits, with how Architects play a part in releasing music that connects with people in every corner of the planet.
"The people that write the songs I love, they don't know how I think, how I feel, that their songs remind me of moments in my life," he says, "and the people that listen to our music, I think about it a lot, that when we play live, we get to see that.
"Since the pandemic, it means more to me – I take the time to look around, look at people in the crowd.
"Before I would play, get in my zone and concentrate on playing. Now, I always take the time to look at people in the crowd and see how much the songs mean to them."
Nearly 20 years since Architects formation, plus 10 albums in – "We made it," Dan remarks – and the artist says he has never, and will never, get over the sense of incredulity that comes from seeing the affect his band's music has on others.
"I only took the reins on the songwriting [in] 2016 when my brother [Tom] died. So for me, when I'm on stage, seeing people sing words I've written, it's a total head spinner and a massive buzz.
"To me, it feels I've only been doing the band for six or seven years, because the dynamic of the band changed so radically after my brother passed away.
"It's insanity. We just played in Dusseldorf in Germany; 7,000 people came to see us. That feeling is the most surreal experience, the most bizarre feeling that I get from being in a band."
Another element that Dan says he struggles with, even after accounting for Architects' tenure, is that of imposter syndrome. "Massively," he says.
"'I shouldn't be here', 'How did I get here?', 'I don't know how to write a song!'" he adds laughing. "I feel like there are still folks out there who are masters – I'm just a student.
"I will say, and I think you see this a lot in lots of bands' catalogues and it's something I think I need to be careful of moving forward with the band, there is a little bit of magic in naivety in songwriting; I think you often see a band's best work when they're at their first, second or third album.
"They're still figuring it out. For some reason that creates something special sometimes."
Dan's observations continue, turning to the scene at large. "I've been quite excited recently to see a whole wealth of bands coming to Britain.
"I haven't seen this many suddenly appear. The whole metal scene internationally, is probably the healthiest it's ever been.
"When we were starting out, you could maybe get a thousand people to a show and you'd have made it. It's a different world now, so many bands breaking through, doing things really fast, it's exciting to see."
Architects 2023 Tour Dates
Fri 17 Feb - AEC Theatre (Adelaide)Sat 18 Feb - Festival Hall (Melbourne)
Sun 19 Feb - Hordern Pavilion (Sydney)
Wed 22 Feb - The Fortitude Music Hall (Brisbane)
