Buzz on July 25th, 2012

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Gary Richards is a professional party starter. Entranced by the early 1990s warehouse scene, Richards began by hosting a weekly event of his own, “Sundays at 6 AM,” beginning just as the warehouses emptied. Dressed as a priest, Richards hosted “The Sermon,” and began DJing as Destructo, who offered an aggressive mix of Kraftwerk, Daft Punk, Metallica, Black Sabbath, and the like. Two decades later, Richards is still highly invested in providing, as he says, “one hell of a good time for hundreds of thousands of people.” On the heels of agreeing to a new partnership with concert giant LiveNation, the promoter took a few moments with Buzz Bands LA’s Jonathan Buchanan to preview Hard Summer 2012 (Aug. 3-4 in downtown L.A.), reminisce about his lifelong love affair with Bootsy Collins and share his visions for the future growth of Hard as a brand under the LiveNation umbrella.

Can you give me a bit of background about what led you to conceive Hard?

Gary Richards: Well, I’ve always been involved with electronic music. I started DJing events in the early ’90s, and for the last 15 years I’ve been in the music business of record labels and, you know, people don’t buy CDs anymore. It’s like trying to sell oxygen to people who are getting it for free. So I thought why not try and do a concert like I used to do? I went out and tried to figure out a different way of doing an electronic music festival, and it kind of caught on, and I think that every year it just keeps growing, and I feel like the music keeps getting better. So, we try to perfect our events, to make them run better and try and bring in the right artists and just keep pushing the envelope. I don’t even really look at it as a job, it’s more of a passion, I love the music.

Everyone else was frustrated with people no longer paying for music, and you had the foresight to see events like Hard as being the future?

I guess I was kind of banging my head against the wall trying to sell CDs. I just knew that wasn’t it. I didn’t think, “OK, concerts are going to be the thing,” – that was the only other thing I really knew how to do. I’ve always been a DJ, and I’m a promoter, and I kind of feel like all the things that killed the record business fuel my business … The Internet, Twitter, Facebook, MySpace, file-sharing, they all push this scene forward. So it’s kind of like the perfect storm, you know? I’ve been trying to push this music forward forever, no one ever really went into it. I guess, for once, the timing was right where I was just a little bit ahead.

So you guys are doing two days in L.A. this year. Is there anything special about the city or the energy that’s led you back here for two days?

Yeah, I feel very connected to L.A.. I moved here in high school, and I feel that L.A., in the United States, probably has the most developed and best electronic music scene. And I just feel like this is my home. This is like our backyard, this is the spot for it, so I feel very connected to doing these events in this city.

So you’re an L.A. transplant, where are you from originally?

Originally born in Washington, D.C. My dad was in radio. He had a station in D.C., and then New Orleans, and then L.A., so we moved in the ’80s from D.C. to New Orleans to L.A.

The radio business is rough.

Brutal. You know those guys, they love music and they do so much cool stuff, but you always end up getting fired and having to move. It was cool, though, my dad turned me on to a lot of concerts, back then in New Orleans and D.C. you had th No. 1 urban stations when Rick James and “Super Freak” was new, and so when I was like 10 years old I was going to concerts and stuff.

So you had exposure to so many different types of music at a young age?

Yeah, in the ’70s my dad took me to see Led Zeppelin – he was a promoter too, so, you know, we’d wake up and Alice Cooper would be sleeping over at the house or something weird. My dad never really showed up to the soccer game or the PTA meeting, but I got see Led Zeppelin, so I think it’s a trade-off.

The experience has served you well, apparently.

Yeah, it’s worked out. He’s always told me, though, “Don’t fuck around with techno music, no one buys it.” He’s had a change of heart lately, but I never did it because I thought it was going to make money. I just like this kind of music and it’s caught on, you know?

That seems to be the case with many artists booked for Hard. Skrillex, for example – you would never think his music capable of captivating a mainstream audience.

It’s crazy. I don’t know, maybe a year and a half ago I met him and he was telling me that his dream in life was to play Hard Haunted Mansion, and I didn’t even know who he was. Now the guy is like a world-dominating phenomenon. His music is unique and different and you really wouldn’t think all these people would be open to that genre, but the guy’s just broken down barriers. It’s awesome.

And putting him in a lineup with artists like Little Dragon and Bloc Party and Miike Snow is pretty incredible. Did you foresee Hard as having such an eclectic lineup?

For me, electronic, rock and funk is kind of what I like personally, and I think that by adding a second day we can expand more, and have more styles. So there’s Bloc Party, Miike Snow, Little Dragon, but then also Bootsy Collins and Chromeo too. Somehow it all works together, I don’t really know how, but it all has some sort of common theme. I think it’s probably some of my tastes, but also, I think there’s a party to be had with all these people.

Is there anyone who you’re personally thrilled to have in the lineup?

There’s a lot of them, but I think I’m probably most psyched to see Bootsy. My dad’s coming, and that’s part of the deal – I’ve got to get a picture with Bootsy and my dad.

What’s the future look like for Hard as a brand?

We’re trying to expand into other markets, so in Australia we’re doing the Stereosonic festival, we’re doing stuff in Canada, we’re just trying to expand into other markets, but keep the quality control strong. Just trying to grow at a nice pace, not too much too fast.

||| Live: Hard Summer 2012 goes off Aug. 3 and 4 at L.A. State Historic Park in downtown L.A.