Architects’ singer briefly wanted their guitarist to be dismissed from the band last year.
In a new interview with The Guardian, frontman Sam Carter admits he initially hoped for Adam Christianson to be dismissed after the guitarist shared a transphobic post on X (formerly Twitter) in January 2024.
The post in question contained a video of American MMA fighter Sean Strickland, who criticised beer company Bud Light for a 2023 social media promotion featuring trans activist Dylan Mulvaney.
Strickland says in the clip (via Loudwire): “Here’s the thing about Bud Light – 10 years ago, to be trans, was what, a mental fucking illness? Now all of a sudden, people like you fucking weaseled your way into the world. You are an infection, you are the definition of weakness. Everything that is wrong with the fucking world is because of you. And the best thing is, the world's not buying it.”
The reaction to the post included Spiritbox singer Courtney LaPlante reposting a statement from Silent Planet vocalist Garret Russell lambasting Strickland’s words. Architects drummer Dan Searle appeared to call Christianson a “knob” in a since-deleted post.
Christianson deleted the repost and apologised in a since-deleted post, calling his sharing of Strickland’s words “accidental”. Carter later addressed the controversy onstage, telling an audience in Paris, “No one on this stage judges anybody for their gender, their race, and whoever they are in love with. We never have, we never will.”
Now, Carter admits he was a “mess” during the situation. “I was thinking: he [Christianson] has to go,” he tells The Guardian. “And then he wakes up and we have a phone conversation.”
However, the singer also criticises the people who went after Christianson via social media. “They wanted Adam crucified in the street, with no job,” he says. “Anything less than that would be an act of blatant transphobia.”
Elsewhere in the interview, Searle, who also writes Architects’ lyrics, admits he finds it “harder and harder to find authentic places to be angry from”. That includes the climate crisis, which the band have addressed on several songs in the past.
“Do you really need to shove this down the throats of these kids?” the drummer says of the perceived pessimistic messaging that surrounds climate change. “You’re just scaring everyone; there’s already loads of terrible mental health. There’s this constant message of: there is no future. At a point, it feels counterproductive.”
When the interviewer points out that Architects themselves have expressed such views in their lyrics, Searle counters: “But our music isn’t for six-year-old children!”
Architects release their new album – The Sky, The Earth & All Between – on February 28 via Epitaph. The band are playing a series of UK release shows starting Thursday (February 27), then will tour Europe from March 10. See dates and details on their website.
