As the event conglomerate HARD turns 10 years old, and with announcement that its head cheese, Gary Richards — aka DJ Destructo — is set to leave the brand for good, DJ Mag takes a trip down memory lane with a remarkable picture diary from the pages of our US magazine.
A selection of hand-picked images from Richards directly mined from the HARD archives, Richards makes running festivals such as HARD Summer and Haunted Mansion look like a lot of things, but hard isn’t one of them. And that’s the trick and panache of Gary Richards!
Check out some of his favorite moments spanning a decade...
"DJ AM was the first to breakthrough for so many of us DJs. Makes me feel good I was able to provide him a forum to channel his inner Daft Punk."
“Always nice when the homie Jared Leto stops by HARD Summer. He did the 2012 recap for us; it what an honor.”
“Dave (from Chromeo) shredding as he does at HARD, looking fly as always.”
“Nice to be recognized by City Councilman Ed Reyes for HARD bringing good to the LA State Historic Park in downtown.”
“A-Trak and the legend, one of my personal favorites, Armand Van Helden, bringing the Duck Sauce to HARD.”
“The Club Soda boys dressed as Justice for the Haunted Mansion, pretty solid costumes.”
“Bassnectar blowing up our dB limits at HARD.”
“Skrills and Ellie. Old friends and new at HARD Summer.”
“Bob Rifo is on another level musically. He should be making classical stuff. Here he is shredding at HARD as the Bloody Beetroots.”
“Dillon [Francis] and Anton [Zedd], what can I say? I feel like I watched them grow from little baby chicks all the way to the top of the game. These two will always have a special place in my heart both musically and as all around solid human beings.”
