Hardkiss is the group moniker of
San Francisco
San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...
electronic music pioneers Scott (who died on March 25, 2013
), Gavin, and Robbie Hardkiss. The trio formed a record label called Hardkiss Music in San Francisco in 1991. Initially promoting underground raves and dance parties where they would DJ, with Hardkiss Music they began to produce and release a catalog of vinyl records which stirred international recognition and launched DJ and production careers. Scott Hardkiss (real name Scott Friedel) worked under the pseudonym ''God Within.'' Gavin Hardkiss works under the pseudonym ''Hawke.'' Robbie Hardkiss has worked under the pseudonym ''Little Wing.'' They also released music by a myriad of other artists including
Rabbit in the Moon
Rabbit in the Moon is an American electronic music group that formed in 1991. Their style draws from psychedelic trance, house music and breakbeat, along with other diverse influences. They were among the first to mix theatrical stage perform ...
, Symbiosis and TTauri. Their music started as a mixture of
acid house music,
trance music
Trance is a genre of electronic dance music that emerged from Electronic body music, EBM in Frankfurt, Germany, in the late 1980s and early 1990s, and quickly spread throughout Europe.
Trance music is typically characterized by a tempo between ...
, and
breakbeat techno.
Hardkiss Music became a blueprint for DJ owned boutique record labels.
In 1995 Hardkiss released a compilation called ''Delusions of Grandeur'' featuring the best selections of the early vinyl releases. ''Delusions of Grandeur'' was distributed through Caroline in the US and was signed to L'Attitude on Parlophone in the UK. The album was a benchmark in the development of US
electronic dance music
Electronic dance music (EDM), also referred to as dance music or club music, is a broad range of percussive electronic music genres originally made for nightclubs, raves, and List of electronic dance music festivals, festivals. It is generally ...
.
Hardkiss Music stopped releasing music in 1997 in order to sign a recording deal with
(
Sony Music
Sony Music Entertainment (SME), commonly known as Sony Music, is an American multinational music company owned by Japanese conglomerate Sony Group Corporation. It is the recording division of Sony Music Group, with the other half being the ...
).
The label re-launched in 2014 to release a new Hardkiss album titled ''1991''.
References
*http://www.magneticmag.com/2014/04/the-hardkiss-brothers-revolution-of-the-sun/
*http://www.5chicago.com/features/hardkiss-the-story-so-far/
*http://dancemusic.about.com/od/remixersproducers/a/GavinHardkissIn.htm
External links
Hardkiss Music website*
Gavin Hardkiss website
Musicians from California
{{US-electronic-band-stub