Richard Archer decided to return to his hometown of Staines, crushed by the lack of success of his former band Contempo and the death of his father from cancer.

Steve Kemp was already an old friend of Archer, while it took Kai Stephens little persuasion to leave his job as a "pest killer" at Rentokil.

[12] When Stephens played guitar before joining Hard-Fi, he liked to copy chords from bands such as Led Zeppelin and Pink Floyd who are two of his favourite artists along with The Clash and hip-hop acts such as Run-DMC and N.W.A.

The majority of Stars of CCTV was recorded in a variety of unusual acoustic environments - in bedrooms, in pubs, and played back in their producer, Wolsey White's, BMW.

However, it quickly sold out, receiving critical acclaim and radio play, proving a lot more successful than the band had imagined.

The band used to try to make their music sound more atmospheric by putting a microphone in the corridor to add echo; listening closely to the record reveals that this also picked up passers-by humming and whistling and the occasional aeroplane flying overhead.

[16] The band were one of the acts opening for Green Day, alongside Taking Back Sunday and Jimmy Eat World on their two-day residency of the Milton Keynes Bowl in June 2005.

Their debut album's launch party was scheduled to be 7 July 2005 at Cheekees nightclub in Staines, however this was cancelled due to the ill health of Richard's mother, and the London bombings also occurring that day.

Richard spoke about the nominations, "I don't think we'll win it, especially best group when you've got Coldplay, Franz Ferdinand and Gorillaz in there, they're kind of big hitters, but you never know, Burton drew with Man United".

"Last week I would have probably said 'nah it's all rubbish', but now I'm nominated it's great but what is good is that there's a real wide spread of stuff there, but there's no Best Dance award and the urban category is more pop than what's quality.

"[20] Hard-Fi expanded the "Cherry Lips", their taxi cab office which they used to record, making more room for equipment after having searched fruitlessly for a space.

The album Once Upon a Time in the West was released on 3 September 2007 when the band launched it at midnight in Virgin Megastore in Oxford Street, London with a live performance from a selected set list followed by a CD signing.

The artwork has received criticism, however, top cover art designer Peter Saville has described it as "a 'White Album' for the digital culture.

[32] On 2 February 2009, Phillips released a blog on the band's official Myspace page, saying "me and the boys are now back in the cherry lips recording facility working hard on the new tunes.

[34] On 14 February 2011, Archer posted an update on the band's Facebook page, which revealed that six of the eleven album tracks had been mixed.

Archer posted a status on Facebook, saying "going back into the studio to mix the final tracks for the album, we've got two weeks booked to finish off and tweak a few bits and pieces from the last batch.

On 28 April, Hard-Fi's latest single "Good for Nothing" was premiered on Zane Lowe's Radio 1 show receiving airplay as the 'Hottest Record in the World'.

[36] Having been made available for listening on Hard-Fi's website since 22 May, "Good for Nothing" was finally released on 17 June and debuted on the UK Singles Chart at number No.

In January 2022, a photo was posted from the band's official Twitter account from inside a recording studio, possibly hinting toward an end to their nearly eight-year hiatus.

[45] On 24 April, during a Facebook Live stream, Archer shared details of the gig, which will take place at London's O2 Forum Kentish Town on 1 October.

[49] Hard-Fi's lyrics are based mostly on working class life, the band themselves coming from a self-sufficient suburban lifestyle in Staines.

Once Hard-Fi were becoming successful, Richard's mother died and the song "Help Me Please" is about how difficult it was for him having his dreams come true after many unsuccessful bands but realises he has no parents to share the joy with.

[52] "Hard-Fi" is the name given to the sound produced by Lee "Scratch" Perry, a reggae and dub artist, at his Black Ark[53] recording studio.

[56] After the success of the Stars of CCTV album and of hit single "Hard to Beat", it allowed them to end up in a mini-reunion of The Specials, performing "Ghost Town" with Jerry Dammers and Neville Staples at the Love Music Hate Racism gig.

[57] Mick Jones of The Clash is a renowned fan of the band, while Paul Weller[57] came to their rehearsal rooms and jammed a version of "Town Called Malice", something of which Kaichen Stephens says "gives us bragging rights over all of Staines".

Jones had previously helped produce tracks by Archer's prior band, Contempo who had recorded a cover of "London's Burning" by The Clash.

[57] Hard-Fi supported Green Day at their two gigs at Milton Keynes Bowl, performing in front of approximately 65,000 people.

It also comes with CCTVersions – a CD featuring dubbed versions of album tracks, produced by guests including Roots Manuva and DJ Wrongtom.