Who would have known that the first Hard Fest on New Years Eve 2007 would come to represent the definition for the modern electronic festivals. At its core was an intersection that mixed the electronic genre with the worlds of hip hop and gave a voice to a generation that was post rave and all street. Cut to today and the brand lives on its own in a place that has gone to the stadiums, but what of the street happenings. Gary Richards, the man behind the event, has lived a life devoted to the movement of dance music and the way we consume it. Presenting events and DJing under his moniker Destructo, He is not setting his sights on taking it back to the streets with the All My Friends Festival. We caught up with him before his epic weekend.
BJ: Where are you from originally?'
G: I was born in Washington DC, but I went to high school in LA. So I’ve been here ever since high school.
BJ: How did you get into DJing and throwing parties?
G: Ummm, you know, in the early 90’s when I was in high school I had turn tables and I was kinda like a hip hop DJ and dance and all that crap. And my dad was in music, so I was just always around all kinds of music. In the early 90’s in LA, I started going to a lot of these parties where they had straight up electronic music and it really hit a cord with me and I’ve been DJing ever since under the name Destructo in LA.
BJ: I was actually at your first Hard that was insane on New Years 2008.
G: Yeah, that was my birthday. New Years Eve’s my birthday.
BJ: It was, really? Oh that’s amazing. I puked behind the stage on Peaches while she was counting down.
G: You blacked out?
BJ: Yeah, I blacked out and ended up puking as she was performing.
G: Yeah, she was singing Fuck The Year Away instead of Fuck The Pain Away. And Steve Aoki broke everything on my stage. He ended up paying me to play.
BJ: Oh my god, amazing.
G: Yeah, it was pretty cool.
BJ: I wanted to talk about the fact that there’s this cross intersectional R&B and electronic thing going on that is very much in tune with the way music is going right now. Where do you think that comes from?
G: Well I think ten years ago or even further than that, before my last festival, I think people were really spoon fed through the radio, through MTV, and everything very aligned, you know, alternative, hip-hop, rock. And then with all these crazy things, the Internet, Spotify, and even MySpace back then, Soundcloud, people can kinda form their own opinions of what they like and I’ve learned that people like a little bit of everything. If you just like one kind of music, you’re probably a pretty boring person. So for me, its like, okay how can I put all these flavors together to make one amazing meal? For the one, I wanted to get some R&B in there, you know Jhene Aiko, Ravyn Lenae, Abra, and we’ve got a lot of local LA guys, rap, up and coming people and of course, house music and what my thing is that I do. But I think it just reflects the diversity of what people are in to these days.
BJ: Yeah, and I feel like especially with the roster you have coming out for this particular event, it’s so great having M.I.A. and all these figures that are so important and relevant. It’s great, love that.
G: Right on. Thank you.
BJ: So how did you end up working with The Row?
G: So, you know most importantly, I just wanted to be back in downtown, being on Alameda, there were a lot of parties that I went to on Alameda back in the day and I was very close to where that event was on NYE. And the American Apparel factory, it just felt right and what they’re doing down there is really cool with the Smorgasborg and the team that I’m working with. It’s kinda like, I don’t know if you remember, but the first one of 2008, we closed down streets and it really had that urban feel. So this has that same feel but we don’t really have to impact traffic because it has its own campus. It’s almost like you’re in the back lot of a movie set or something, but we don’t have to impact anything with street closures. I didn’t really know what I was doing at that time. I think I was trying to do a little more than I shoulda been.
BJ: That’s such an amazing thought because I was actually wondering how you were able to create the space. Utilizing space in that way felt very innovative that moment since everyone else was using venues and warehouses.
G: Yeah, it was kinda by accident, but it probably should have been in a licensed venue because at that point, I didn’t really know how to produce an event, let alone close down streets. We shut down Mateo and 6th and Imperial, so I definitely bit off more than I could chew. But that’s kinda my… I mean I just kinda go. And then now, after 10 years of doing those things under my belt, I realize this is a much better option to start (laughs).
BJ: Musically, what have you been experimenting with and exploring? What do you feel like is your next frontier?
G: I’m kinda doing more of the same of blending house, space house, and rap, but just trying to figure out new ways to make house music bang. That’s really kinda the trick.
BJ: And are there any musicians that you’re obsessed with? That you feel are gonna be tomorrow’s new thing?
G: Mmmm, yeah I mean there are always some cool up and comers. We’ve got the Phlegmatic Dogs. I don’t know if you’re familiar with them. They’re like this new duo coming from Russia and they’ve been making these amazing tracks. Chris Lorenzo is on the bill, who’s one of the best producers in the game that’s still on the come up. And then in the rap world, we got Sheck Wes. He’s definitely going to be massive. He’s co-signed by Travis Scott and Kanye. Right now, it’s such a great time to be in music; it just feels fresh and there’s so much new stuff coming out.
BJ: Awesome, and how do you feel like this particular project is gonna expand? Do you want to take it on the road or is it something that’s very LA?
G: Well, I always like to represent LA, but we’ve already done, we had an “All My Friends” stage at this festival in Tampa called Sunset that was really good. And then we’re doing one in New York at Electric Zoo. But we’ll see where it goes, my heart is based in LA. My mission is to spread the LA love all around (laughs).
BJ: And what is next for you?
G: Well, this weekend I’m going to a festival in Canada called DJ, but I’m mostly focused on next week in downtown. And then after that we have our cruise, which is called Friendship which leaves out of Miami. And we’re trying to put that together, and Labor Day we have an All My Friends stage at Electric Zoo in NYC. There are a couple new records that I put out that you can check out on Spotify or on Soundcloud. I did a record with Yo Gotti and one with Busta Rhymes and I got some more new stuff coming soon, one with Problem called Boom.
See more and get tickets [www.amfdtla.com](http://www.amfdtla.com/)
* * *
Written by BJ Panda Bear
Photographed by Brian Ziff
.jpg)
