Archive

The Archive are a musical collective formed in South London, England in 1994, led by two keyboardists Darius Keeler and Danny Griffits. They were born in the mid-1990s as a trip hop group, on the same scene as groups such as Massive Attack and Portishead, but the evolution of their project has led them to overcome the limitations of their early style and move away from it, although some echoes are present in some of the pieces. Their sound is now much broader, ranging from acoustic to electronic, ambient to psychedelic, and progressive rock, which is probably the definition most frequently used by the band members to describe their music in interviews. Elements such as the mélange de genre, the complexity of the musical writing, the long instrumental parts and melodic elements have created their own distinctive sound. Although the actual band is Darius Keeler and Danny Griffiths, they prefer the term 'collective' to 'band'.