British band Hard-Fi looks to "Cash" in Stateside

LONDON (Billboard) - When London rock band Hard-Fi hits the road in America this month, it will mark the continuation of a journey that began exactly one year ago.

During its first U.S. visit for shows at Austin's South by Southwest Music and Media Conference in March 2005, the quartet was largely unknown even in the United Kingdom. Now, its debut album, "Stars of CCTV," is certified double-platinum in Britain for shipments of 600,000 units.

In late January, the album hit No. 1 in the United Kingdom in its 28th chart week. This was in part spurred by continued aggressive discounting of the title at retail and after Hard-Fi had earned a BRIT Award nomination.

But this is no everyday tale of first-time-lucky teenagers. Lead singer/songwriter Richard Archer had been on the periphery of the industry for several years, and Hard-Fi recorded the album for next to nothing in low-fi locations before securing a modest release on independent label Necessary Records.

"Eighteen months ago, I was 1,000 pounds ($1,757) overdrawn releasing this record, my budget for putting out (the album) was 500 quid ($879)," says Warren Clarke, Necessary owner and subsequent band manager. He estimates total worldwide shipments to retailers at 800,000 copies.

Clarke secured a two-album worldwide licensing deal with Atlantic in November 2004. Atlantic U.S. CEO Craig Kallman traveled to London to see Hard-Fi several times before the deal was signed.

"They're self-starters with a point of view and great influences. Their appreciation for everything from punk rock to dub reggae and being a kick-ass rock'n'roll band, it's all there," Kallman says.

"Stars of CCTV" was released in the United States last July, and lead track "Cash Machine" is currently No. 17 on Billboard's Modern Rock chart.

Hard-Fi's experience at the sharp end of the music business gives the band an unusually hard-nosed outlook about its U.K. success and U.S. prospects.

"At the end of the day, the U.S. label didn't (directly) sign us," Archer says, "but we're quite lucky, because they seem to be genuinely up for it. But all the money doesn't count for anything if you haven't got some passion."

Of the U.K. success, Archer says, "There are still times where I think we're not home and dry yet, that it could all go wrong at any minute."

Reuters/Billboard

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