Northern Irish singer-songwriter Paul Archer unveils the official music video for “No Fear,” an uplifting and life-affirming track taken from his acclaimed debut solo album Art. The video marks another milestone in the veteran musician’s remarkable creative rebirth, whose 30-year career has spanned multiple bands, genres, and artistic reinventions.
Hi! Could you introduce yourself, your genre, and your musical influences?
“I am a Belfast born singer and songwriter. I am also a visual artist and I paint abstract expressionist “instinct led” visual works. This approach is carried through into my sonic art which is also feeling and instinct led. I am grateful for the blessing on music and music and art creation in my life. My song “Four Minute Mile” from my previous band called The Ghears has been used on movies including the 2007 CBS Hollywood tv movie Aquaman (Mercy Reef) starring Ving Rhames (Mission Impossible), Justin Hartley (The Arrow series) & Lou Diamond Philips (Longmire). My music has also been placed on movie “A Patch Of Fog” which can be seen via Amazon.
I was privileged to be asked to contribute backing vocals to Snow Patrol’s Eyes Open multi-platinum album and I sang on five songs on that record. I was born into a musical family and my father played with Van Morrison in his early teenage days. My parents both sang Gospel music and my father wrote, recorded and produced for Gospel groups. Musically I love everything from Gospel to Indie to Soul to Indian Classical music and my favourite band musically are The Velvet Undergound.
My music journey began in Belfast in the mid-90s with my band Disreali Gears which I started with my brother Iain Archer, 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 (eg. NEU!) locked grooves and my deeply held beliefs in The Logos and the importance of compassion and light with crunching guitars and vocal exploration and harmony..
My previous band Burning Codes (2008–18, six albums) ended on a high with the album Liberator (2018) 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, 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), I then re-wrote the melody of this song for my current and first ever “Paul Archer” solo album of the same name. This approach had begun my humble 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.”
What inspired you to start making music and what inspires you to keep going?
“I was born into a musical family and my father played with Van Morrison in his early teenage days. My parents both sang Gospel music and my father wrote, recorded and produced for Gospel groups. I began writing songs from my teenage years with my brother and we then formed a band called Disraeli Gears and after my brother decided to go solo I kept Disraeli Gears going and we played Ulster Television and many local and national festivals. In my own journey I realised fairly early on that sonic and visual art and music writing, recording, creation and performance were going to be the main creative work and focus of my artistic and creative life.
I had become a music “lifer” and, for me this was the result of a spiritual experience I had whilst I was on stage at a festival playing songs I had written in a band with my brother. I felt that I was no longer there on stage but was in a profoundly safe and nurturing place like my mother’s womb. I felt the presence of profound love and peace and belonging to something so much greater than myself.
I am forever grateful for this creativity and the gift of music and Art which I believe comes from The Logos. This experience altered the course of my whole life and still does to this very day. I continue to feel the same way even after twelve albums, countless singles, recording,publishing deals, industry events and encounters.
I think that a deeper sense of connection, my continual state of searching, a deep humility and gratitude and a love of awe and a joy in the searching and being are helpful in this journey and I am ever grateful for these things and so much more besides.
These things help to connect me to a deeper form of understanding, living and personal, spiritual, emotional, mental and psychological resilience and my heart is forever grateful.”
Where do you, in general, get inspiration for your music and song-writing?
“This is often more organic for me where the moment and my constant state of searching and reflection can cause me to write or paint. Sometimes (but more rarely) words and melody come together at the same time.
I get this sometimes when I am outside running and exercising or relaxing. Sometimes songs can take years and verses and choruses can evlove, change and I have found myself in recent years completely re-writing some of my songs after years of feeling and seeing them in completely different contexts than where they now are and this is fascinating!
I have also found this process liberating and it has enabled me to see melodies and lyrical concepts in hugely different ways and from many diverse perspectives!
Inspiration comes from spirit, mind & body, life, friends, family, mental health (I have worked in Personal Recovery approach in mental health which is incredibly powerful), the inner journey and how it affects, influences and changes the outer journey, compassion, deep empathy (I also work with traumatised young people, children & adults), hope, meaning, purpose, developing resilience, reality confrontation, light and the power and depths of profound love and connection, The Beatitudes.”
Who would you like to work with in the near future and where would you like to perform in the next three years?
“I’d love to work with Kevin Shields of MBV and I’d love to perform beyond Europe having toured the UK and Europe previously including an incredible set of dates in the French Alps!”
Which musical achievements are you most proud of?
“I was honoured that my song Four Minute Mile was used on the CBS Holywood Tv Movie 2007’s Aquaman (Mercy Reef) album and I was honoured that Gary Lightbody from Snow Patrol was instrumental in my song “The Road” being placed in a movie which is currently available on Amazon called “A Patch Of Fog”
Gary also very kindly played my song “New” on BBC Radio One Evening Session and I was also very honoured by Michael Rother from NEU! cited my song “Cloak and Dagger” in the top five songs he was listening to in a Mojo Magazine interview.”
What do you hope to achieve by releasing music with followers old and new?
“I hope to reach out in empathy and to try to connect, empower and create a dialogue both sonically and visually. A lot of my music also comes from a place of deep spirituality and I have a profound gratitude for the compassion and love of The Logos. I seek to share this love, peace, joy, compassion, connection and liberation in and through my work.”
What are your plans for the new year and what are some of your goals and dreams?
“Going forward I am hugely excited about upcoming gigs at Sound City in Liverpool in May and in London in May for our wonderful PR company Liberty PR’s birthday celebrations. I am also playing Peterborough Beer Festival MainStage on 26th August 2026 and we are looking at some tour dates involving art galleries bringing together my sonic and visual art.”
Aside from music, what are some of your hobbies and interests, we’d love to know more about you as a person!
“I am passionate about mental health and particularly Personal Recovery approach. I enjoy keeping fit and healthy physically and I love painting my abstract expressionist work. I also enjoy photography and martial arts.”
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