WHAT IS ARCHITECT ROCK?

The concept of Architect Rock can be heard throughout Rich & Royal`s repertoire.  The term was developed to help explain the group?s sound which was not living up to "The Smiths meet Led Zeppelin" or "Radiohead meets Pink Floyd meets Pearl Jam" And other such confusing smash ups.

Instead, Architect Rock provides a suggestion of where our music is coming from.  We don`t think this is a new or unheard of place, but as we`ve noticed many comments suggesting that we "sound like something familiar, but it can`t be placed".  Architect Rock, or proto-Architect Rock can be heard throughout music history.  Like Rich & Royal, artists have come from a place where structure, foundation, attention to detail, innovation and functionality have been the starting point for composition.

David Bowie, for example, recorded, perhaps, the greatest Architect Rock song with Life On Mars?.  The song begins with piano, vocals, and bass (the foundation), the song then builds as Bowie harmonizes the verse.  Then a massive string section enters from below, supporting the structure.  Then the chorus comes, like entering a massive lobby of an Opera House.  The details are overwhelming.  You can`t quite catch them all, but the elegance is palpable.  As you travel through the guitar solo section, the second verse, and the finale, the sections all come and go like walking from room to room.  Finally, like leaving church, in the distance the reprise fades away.

This is Architect Rock.  While it would be incorrect to say we sound (or are trying to sound) like David Bowie, it is not out of bounds to say we are aspiring to come from the same place compositionally.

A characteristic element would be the building nature of the sound.  Many Architect Rock songs begin with an intro, verse, then chorus, structured like a typical Rock song, but as the elements build and build, more often than not, you`re left with some sort of finale, as opposed to just a simple conclusion.

This building, or constructivist, process is also apparent in the compositional phase, during which the foundations - that is the rhythm section and rhythmic guitar or piano accompaniment is tailored to produce the best carriage for what will carry the details of the vocal or solos.

You might say, doesn`t everyone do this?  Well, in fact, no.

This is where Architect Rock differs from bands that we may be influenced by, but don`t really sound much like.  For example, Bob Dylan.   OK he`s folk, we`re not folk, that`s easy, but, let`s say - YES.   You might, think YES handles their songwriting in the same way, constructing in advance, building to climaxes, positioning contrapuntal melodies over carefully blueprinted rhythms.  Isn`t that Prog Rock?

Indeed, Prog follows a similar process, but the intentions are different.  A progressive rock song may begin with an idea, then switch to another one, then switch to another.  There is often no intention of connecting the front and back ends of the song.  Additionally, the term Prog, while initially designed to be a signature of innovation and challenging to the audience has settled into a stagnant realm of Dream Theater and other derivations of Rush.  To give Yes a small amount of credit, songs like Siberian Khatru do not do this, so we`re only generalizing.   Among modern bands who also draw their influences from Prog, The Decemberists, Sufjan Stevens, and Radiohead similarly tend to avoid the label by remaining consistent once they start a particular song or theme, but still borrowing the structures and stylings of many genres, particular classical, electronic, and alternative to create their own unique sounds distinct from the unfortunately, stigmatic label, Prog Rock.

Since we listen to so many genres and artists, this exercise could be done dozens of times to demonstrate how we`re not exactly Alternative, or Indie, or Hard Rock, or whatever.  But indeed, many of these labels don`t apply to many of the artists plopped into them.  Here are some that could just as easily be Architect Rock.

Led Zeppelin - while certainly the most important Metal/Hard Rock Band ever, the actual content of their albums is quite diverse.  Often neglected by modern Metal knockoffs who recreate the high vocal and loud drumming, Plant and Page included on their albums songs like No Quarter, Black Mountain Side, and Friends.  The overall picture is more complex than the Classic Rock radio on repeat would suggest.  Get the Led out!

Pink Floyd - Similarly framed by Classic Rock radio within post-Dark Side of the Moon material, before and even after this period, Floyd produced many different styles of music.  And their early albums like Saucerful of Secrets, The Soundtrack to More, and particularly the song, Echoes hold many terrific examples of the building quality of Architect Rock.

The Zombies - Instead of mentioning The Beatles or the Beach Boys, let`s say the Zombies, since they are just as good of a fit into Architect Rock.  (Even Argent is pretty good).  While straddling the line between pop, rock, and psychedelic music, The Zombies took all those genre`s advantages: harmony, organ, melodic intervals, etc. and turned it into a unique recognizable sound.  This is something that is often overlooked regarding why these bands from the late sixties are so distinctive.  Pay attention, and you`ll notice that they don`t often sound like each other, though they`re all categorized as "Classic Rock" now.  The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, The Doors, and some of our forgotten favorites, Spirit, Donovan, and The Nazz, all sound very different and unique from one another.

Continue a few decades to consider Grunge and you have the same thing.  What does Alice in Chains have to do with Pearl Jam or Soundgarden or Nirvana other than they`re all from Seattle?  They sound nothing like each other.  This is an important characteristic of Architect Rock that we always strive for.  Uniqueness.  Internally(from song to song) and Externally(as a whole relative to other artists).  It ultimately lends itself to misgenrefication, or unfamiliarity.  Unlike Creed, Switchfoot (is that a real band name or is that made up?), Lit, or Live which can all be easily popped into the Alternative genre that`s now been clearly defined, the original alternative artists in the 80`s included Echo and the Bunnymen, Black Flag, REM, and other legitimately "Alternative" artists.

It`s been suggested that Architect Rock is Retro, which is not quite right.   Belle and Sebastian and Isobel Campbell are retro.  Wolfmother is retro.  Interpol is retro.  They are intentionally harkening back to an earlier era they admire and recreating it enthusiastically (and extremely well in our opinions).  While Eric, in Rich & Royal, may admire and try to recreate Eric Clapton`s Cream guitar tone fairly regularly, the songs do not sound like Cream.  When Andy does a fill reminiscent of John Bonham or Dave Grohl it`s often in a song that is neither grunge or even hard rock at all.   Instead, Architect Rock is coming from a place, musically, that artists had come from in the past.  Such as when The Doors wrote and recorded The End or Queen wrote and recorded Bohemian Rhapsody.

The songs are meant to be accessible and universal, but they are not "normal"  They haven`t been made before.  This is why Architect Rock is so hard to categorize and yet has that Retro feel.

Only a few musicians today still strive for this innovation and advancement that was so prevalent in the late sixties and early seventies, and without forcing any unwanted labels, we`d like to list some modern artists (relatively recent) who seem to have Architect Rock qualities in case you`d like to compare and listen.

The Raconteurs
Dungen
Spoon
Devendra Banhart
Andrew Bird
Bjork
Beck
The Decemberists
The Beta Band
Gnarls Barkley
Jeff Buckley
Muse
Radiohead

Is it coincidence that many of these artists are often characterized as retro?

If you think you know another Architect Rock Band let us know via our Contact section.  We`d probably enjoy listening to them