What brings you to the
place you are today and makes an impact on the rest of your life? Well,
for Steve Abbott of The Hard Richards it was high school, surfing and
skateboarding that helped fuel his need for an energetic soundtrack to
his youth. He can still remember riding to Boytnon Public Beach to go
surfing in his beat up El Camino kickin it listening to anything from
Suicidal Tendencies, to The Dead Milkmen, or maybe The Ramones or Minor
threat. And of course after surfing he would rock out to some Specials,
or Sublime, something a little chill to relax after with.
Steve believes this is where the mix and harmony of fast paced Punk rock
with Ska or Reggae in the band's sound comes from. He personally loved
going to all the punk and ska shows during the early 90's and when the
time came for the band to play music, well, punk and ska was the only
thing they wanted. Coming from here in South Florida they believe everyone
feels a little Island love every now and then, and they are pretty sure
thats where the Reggae comes from for this group (along with the fact
that Brian and Alex too are avid fans of all things reggae).
In the beginning they set up some drums in a garage and
began to write music and learn some rough covers (mainly stuff like Operation
Ivy, and The Ramones back then) Since then they have rehearsed in a walk
in cooler that they are pretty sure was used by an underground serial
murderer (before their friend purchased the home of course), an
A/C warehouse that Steve is pretty sure still causes him to itch from
the insulation till They played all the original venues like Happy Days,
and Foundations in West Palm Beach, along with Spankys and Rays downtown
on Clematis. As Steve remembers. Those were the days, we had a
great scene, the music was about to go mainstream, and all of us where
ready to rock all night.
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a timeline of The journey...
The Hard Richards first ROCKED it in 1994. Yeah a long time
ago.. Releasing there first full length album"On The Move"in 1996. Playing
any venue from abandoned homes to opening up for acts such as The Specials,
Agent Orange, Mustard Plug and Authority Zero to name just a few. After touring
the Southeast for the last 15 years or so, The Hard Richards have become "Local
legends " in there own right.... If you have had the pleasure or if you have
been lucky enough to see them play i show live, then you know why. Pure Energy.......
This IS how they do it. You just never know what side of the Richards you are
gonna get..
- The Hard Richards formed in Boynton Beach circa 1994.
Original
line-up consisted of Steve A. (vocals), Brian K. (guitar, vocals), John C.
(drums), and Stevie M. (bass)
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1995 – 2002:
Alex R. (Back -up vocals) and Dennis R. (trumpet) were
added to the mix
On the Move released in 1996. Featuring 11 punk/ ska originals
. Notice, there was no Brass yet in the band at the time of recording
this album so.... this album has no horns on it. Some of our favorite
songs off of this album are "tims
song' and "Dog beach dub" two songs we still currently play.
We rocked all the old venues like "Spanky's" and "Happy
Days" in
West Palm Beach along with "The edge" and the "Fubar" down
in Ft.Laudy. Hell we even rocked "Club Q " in Davie! Along
the way ,we had the pleasure of opening up for some of the greatest
bands to ever tour south florida including Agent Orange, Mustard Plug,
and AAA to name a few. Not to mention we have been a staple in our
local scene here in the 561 throughout the 90's till today,playing
local shows almost every weekend and have no plans of stopping any
time soon.
- 2002 – 2005:
Technical difficulties and side projects.
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2005:
The Hard Richards regroup when Steve A., Brian K.
and John C. are sufficiently bored with not making music. We started
rocking in Johnny's garage , Steve was playing guitar (badly)and singing
,Brian was rocking the Bass, and John was right where he was supposed
to be, behind the drums. we quickly realized we needed brian back on
guitar duty, so we looked in every dark ally and drainage ditch until
we found our answer, soon after Liro M.was rocking the Bass, Brian was
back on guitar and Steve was rocking the Mic full time again
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2006 – 2008:
We brought in our friend Adam B. (Rude Boy vocals),
and John B. (sax) and began rocking shows non stop around Florida .
Our second full length album "What
Did You Expect?" was released in the winter of 2008.
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2008 – 2011:
John had to leave the band due to personal reasons
,so once again we where on the hunt. We knew what we wanted ,but just
couldn't find it, so Evan N. got the job as the next drummer.
Then Brian had to take a break in 2009,So Steve picked up the guitar
for a while,we all know how that sounds , we went searching again, this
time though we played it safe, and found a nice little fellow by the
name of Matt K. We Started working on our current album in 2010. Jon
B had to move on so we brought in our best looking Richard yet in the
form of Christa K to rock the Sax.
Adam B . was getting busy doing his solo work "Teacha" so
, we brought Alex back in to rock with us.
Once again we where busy rocking shows locally and have been playing
with some more greats like "The Slackers" , Authority Zero,
and even Agent Orange again. We also rocked out Busch gardens during
there "Ramp Jam " series
of events .
Oh and Brian came back ,so now we have two guitar players...
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2012 Current lineup:
Steve. A (vocals), Brian K. (guitar, vocals),
Matt K. (guitar, vocals), Liro M. (bass), Evan N. (drums), Christa
K. (saxophone)and Andres (trombone) . Alex had to leave due to personal
reasons , so vocal duty's are once again all Steve.
We are still in the process of getting ready to release our 3rd full
length album ( it is recorded and mixed, we just have to press it.,and
name it..) We are looking forward to a busy summer this year.
Currently the band has been playing shows mainly in Palm Beach
County. They usually rock about 3 shows a month. For the last 2 years they
have been hunkered down at Power station Studio in Pompano recoding their third
full length album. Having just opened up the Vodoo Glow Skulls and Authority
Zero show in February to a capacity crowd at Respectables in downtown West
Palm Beach, the band rocked it and feels this was one of the best shows they
have gotten to play in years. They totally love playing packed venues, and
experiencing the rush of energy you get when the crowd becomes one and everyone
is running around and dancing.
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Generally they just all collaborate on
ideas. On some songs one person will come to practice with an idea, and
from there it can take 10 minutes, and sometimes things never become
anything more then just a cool idea or riff that they end up using in
another song down the line. Steve, elaborates with " All the lyrics
I usually just freestyle stuff over the music as the guys play. Once
something sounds right and i find the "flow" or style of the
song, i usually will have a good hook or idea that will come from that.
Once the hook or idea is found, i will just write around that. I think...."
The latest album is a great step
forward for The Hard Richards. Definitely more mature all the way around
. From the lyrics to the general mechanics and orchestrating of everything.
Still, they have their moments where they don't want to let go of the
past, and they continue to deliver the energy and classic Hard Richard
antics as expected. Steve thinks it is a simple progression that has
yet to peak, and likes to think they have another album or two in them
before The Hard Richards are done.
Steve feels the Internet has made it easier to
reach people everywhere. But it has also flooded our ears with so much
garbage that many give up on "searching" for a new good act
with out a bunch of hype behind them to stand out from the masses.
He believes it would be great to see more D.I.Y. projects and more
musician owned and operated venues. Business people should pay what
the artist deserves and better promote and Artist's need to sometimes
understand, this is a business. |
Over the next year you can expect more shows from the band, and hopefully more
merchandise. Right now they are trying to get their albums and merchandise
out to the people that want it. Steve states, "Maybe getting all our
albums on Itunes is a good next step. Along with some more soundtracks for
movies like we did for "Girls
Gone Dead" due
out this summer (it features one of our new songs from our latest album).
We do not have a management team, or booking agent, so everything we get to
do is from our own hard work, so hopefully we just keep on playing music for
years to come. If some label or team wants to talk, and help us make everyone
a little happier, then we welcome any suggestions or offers.
But after all
these year, the band still keeps growing but is always very content
rocking out to a hundred kids in a small sweaty night club right here in
Florida. Be sure to check them out soon while they are still here in our
backyard... It won't be long before we have to share them with the rest of
the world !!
You can always find us @ Dadas in Delray
the first Saturday of every month for a free show starting at 10 pm .
To learn more about The Hard Richards
check out
www.thehardrichards.com or
www.facebook.com/thehardrichards Yours
in Unity, Steve
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