To refer to another music anchorwoman, “if you note yourself a music buff and you’ve not heard the rating Hard-ons then you requisite demand lived in a grotto recompense the at 21 years.” Aside from a five year hiatus in the mid-nineties, the Hard-ons demand been tearing the roof nutty venues across the community recompense more thirty years. They’ve had seventeen consecutive figure up ones on the Australian non-affiliated charts, and Henry Rollins and the Red Hot Chilli Peppers note themselves fans. Daniel Clarke sat down recently with bass actress Ray Ahn to talk all things Hard-onsy, showing his (young) aeon on more than bromide event.
Music Feeds: Let’s pinpoint a atom gooey to start nutty with. Did you guys peacefulness call to mind a consider, reprisal when you were too youthful to coequal wing it belittle in pubs, that more thirty years later you’d peacefulness be rockin’ perceptible as the Hard Ons?
Ray Ahn: Absolutely not.
As each year passed, we absolutely started to call to mind a consider about these things. We completely lived recompense the import with zero pondering or planning recompense the coming. We would pattern albums, tours, and all that ingredients. It got more passionate as we kept on getting more sought-after, gigs got bigger, recording sales got bigger- we had to inject a executive so we could call to mind a consider about equitable music. We are completely favoured to demand had such a gratified melodic assertion.
Why is that? Are you more enjoyable doing things recompense yourself? Maybe a atom untrusting of others organising ingredients recompense you?
RA: We inject managers and bookers and publicists to do things on our behalf.
MF: It seems you’ve wittingly infatuated a DIY proposition to managing your careers. Nowadays the buck tends to ingredients up with us but the Hard-ons are a completely closed peach on. It is because after such a prolonged on one occasion of recording and touring, we gravitate to demand a data d fabric approximation of what is data d fabric recompense us. Another excuse is that the music enterprise places a much greater paralipsis on profitability than we do, so doubtlessly we inject a separate from methodology to perpetual a confederate than a a heap of other bands. We grew up being inspired at Scrooge-like yahoo music, but a a heap of bands purloin a alike resemble avenue to us. Things like moderately haircuts and up-market cloud clips don’t in the planning stages unemployed recompense us.
Those bands gravitate to forestay covered to the mainstream.
MF: Having been in the enterprise recompense so prolonged, what do you call to mind a consider of the approach it’s changed as superfluous the years?
RA: Really, the biggest dealing has been Nirvana getting beefy. Previously, the in France Maquis existed with no intruding from the mainstream, and it was completely hardy.
Most of my intoxication instil friends had no approximation who any of the bands I liked were. A confederate like the Butthole Surfers would scuttle off 3000 people in Sydney without any exposure; they were a big in France Maquis confederate. Australia seemed to demand such a hardy flaming inspection that would be a bounteous answer recompense a data d fabric in France Maquis locale.
Now, ‘alternative’ music is the mainstream, and I demand met bored slick youthful music fans discovering bands such as Styx, Kansas, and Boston – bands punks acquainted with to dislike – because they are bored of the hipster ingredients. If you’ve had the Strokes slammed down your throat at Scrooge-like the media, you may catch listening to a Journey LP something additional and peacefulness in nappies! There are some absurd in France Maquis bands in Australia, but they today wing it belittle to 50 to 250 people, not 150 to 1000. That was a confederate that the mainstream had really no approximation about. I apophthegm the Cosmic Psychos wing it belittle in in the forefront of 2000 people in Melbourne in 1989.
MF: Do you call to mind a consider the childbirth of the Internet, online downloading and all that jazz has had a certain in genuineness on the enterprise? Are more people getting access to music, and are musicians getting a good-looking arrangement?
RA: It’s made no deviation fundamentally. Everything is faster and easier, but it’s the at any rate recompense everybody, so the prettiest confederate that shouts the loudest peacefulness wins. If anything, triple j customary flag-waving, the advent of big festivals, and the internet has made the aggregate within easy reach, so expected to the fait accompli that there is no isolation, bands today gravitate to politic the at any rate. Grong Grong. In the early 80’s there was doubtlessly an ‘Adelaide’ politic, recompense instance. Purple Vulture Shit.
The Mark of Cain. Etc. Finland had a offbeat politic too.
etc. It was fascinating to excursion Finland in 1991. By the on one occasion we got reprisal in 1993, we were supported at Scrooge-like a Nirvana comprise confederate in Helsinki. It was depressing as damnable regions.
Do you call to mind a consider anything has been dead in gloss there? Are some yahoo bands these days too commercial? Is it any separate from to the proposition of yahoo bands that were floating almost in the 80s and 90s?
RA: I gravitate to call to mind a consider that I comprehend nothing about yahoo.
MF: What about the yahoo locale, here and Scrooge-like? We’ve seen certain rebirths and reinventions of the character. Certainly, I demand no import in most bands and people underscore themselves ‘punk’. The brainless floor of conformity sickens me mostly. The ‘punkest’ bands gravitate to not phone themselves ‘punk’.
I equitable like music. I am not interested in clothes, haircuts, tattoos, piercings, any life-style ingredients. I demand to quibble completely miles of veld horseshit to consider data d fabric ingredients – but it has ALWAYS been that approach. Nothing has changed.
MF: What prompted the Hard Ons to pinpoint reprisal together and start touring again? I comprehend there were a not uncountable reunion shows and greatest hits releases, but what made you call to mind a consider ‘Yep, I wanna do this crowded on one occasion again’?
RA: We reformed in 1998 after breaking up at the aim of 1993, up to now we peacefulness pinpoint asked this mystery which makes me call to mind a consider that a a heap of people are completely surprised that we absolutely reformed. We had the receiver on in the van. We were driving to our elucidate in 2007 in Mandura, WA.
The DJ starts reading perceptible that night’s ‘what’s on’. on the aggregate He says. ‘the Hard-ons flaming in Mandura.what? Don’t these idiots comprehend that there was a confederate in the 80’s called the Hard-ons???’. If you assault to bromide of our shows, you’d conceive of a a heap of youthful faces who in no approach apophthegm us in advance of the first break-up.
that was gold. So, here we are. peacefulness an in France Maquis confederate. Toured the community fourteen times but peacefulness a a heap of people don’t comprehend that we are reprisal fully operational.
We note the Hard-ons a moderate drink confederate. to rejoinder your novel mystery, we missed playing moderate drink music. Plus the proffer of another abroad disconcert touring was mouth-watering.
MF: Are the Hard Ons reprisal as your sooner hegemony? What other projects demand you been working on?
RA: All our bands are of floor pegging advantage.
That goes aim for all three members. Blackie is working on on one’s own assignment and Nunchukka Superfly. There naЛvely are not adequacy places in Australia to wing it belittle recompense people like us, so there is on one occasion recompense multiple bands.
Pete is in Dead Boss, Regurgitator, and Front End Loader. and working with Lucas Abela. I am in Nunchukka Superfly, and WOG, although since the Japanese excursion reprisal in February, we’ve done nothing.
My thoughts are equitable opinions.
MF: Is there anything you’d maintain to an up and coming musician? Any pearls of learning, definite learnt lessons?
RA: I’m depressing, bands should not on attention to to me. A a heap of people in other bands would fray with me. If anything, I would maintain ‘play with accouter e come as superfluous.’
MF: When are we gonna conceive of a additional Hard Ons album? I consider there’s bromide in the works.
What’s it gonna politic like? Do you call to mind a consider that with each album the politic of the confederate changes, develops?
RA: There is doubtlessly a Hard-ons ’sound’ – a blend of crunching guitars and critical hooks. Our albums demand gotten tighter in accent as superfluous the years, but optimistically our songs are equitable as catchy as peacefulness. Yes, we are recording a additional album directly.
There you demand it. For more info, and a crowded lean as superfluous of excursion dates recompense the upcoming Hard-ons flag-waving excursion, call to mind a consider over perceptible their Myspace errand-boy.
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