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BiographyName: Joe Hardy
Styles/Influences: I play mostly Rock but I can play Jazz, Funk, and Latin. My influences are John Bonham, Terry Bozzio, Marco Minnemann, and Akira Jimbo, but I listen to all kinds of different guys. I guess my playing would best be described as in the John Bonham style of playing. History: I started playing drums when I was about 11, so that means I have been playing for around 30 years. When I was 11 my parents wanted me to play the guitar but I wanted to play the drums so badly that I made a deal with my dad that if he bought me a drumset I would play the guitar as much as the drums. Well needless to say I never picked the guitar up again. I just wanted to play the drums. So that is how I talked my parents into getting me my first kit. It was a red CB700 5 pice kit, but it was a kit. Anyway, I started playing that drum kit every day in my parents garage untill my mother would make me quit. I used to get so angry with her but I can understand now that I was driving her and the neighbors crazy. By the way I was born a double amputee; actually I was born with leg defects so bad that they decided to amputate both of my legs above the knee when I was still very young, around the age of 2 or so. When I got my first kit I had a friend down the street who knew how to play and he stated to show me some basic beats and stuff. I just loved it; I can still remember learning my first 4/4 beat. I would play along to records in my parents garage like Bad Company, Aerosmith, Led Zeppelin and all the classic rock songs I could get my hands on. I used artificial prothetics for school So I decided to try and play the bass drum using my artificial legs. Well it worked ok but I really could not hit the bass drum very hard or fast. So It sort of made it hard to play a lot of grooves. I could play basic 4/4 grooves but not very good. After a while I got good enough to play with some friends and we started a band. My first band was called "Software" and we started to jam and it was pretty horrible, but looking back at it now I can't believe we even played any shows. But we did and it was cool for a while but eventually we broke up. Then about a year later I joined another band called "Jordan" and this band actually started playing quite a bit. In fact after a while we had shows every weekend. For about 4 1/2 years we stayed together even recorded a demo tape, which was my first recording. After that band broke up I decided to start getting more serious and figure out a way to play the bass drum better. I still could not really hit the bass drum hard enough and there was no way I could do fast bass drum patterns. So I was at the NAMM show and I got an Idea. I would design and build a pedal that allowed me to play with out the use of my artifical legs. I hated wearing the artifical legs as they were hot and uncomfortable and they just were not for me. I started using a wheelchair to get around and it was much easier for me and I could not stand with those hot uncomfortable legs. So here there I was at NAMM and I started asking different drum companies if anyone would be willing to help me build this pedal. Well of course you know how big companies are if you are not some famouse drummer, they don't even want to talk to you. Well I finally found someone who shared my vision. Darrell Johnston from Axis Pedals. After talking to him at NAMM he told me to come to his office the next week and he would try and help me with my pedal. I was so excited. I could not beilive it, someone finally offered to help me. So the next week me and Darell put our heads together and came up with my new pedal design. It would have to be lightweight and be fairly adjustable. I wanted to be able to play any kit any time. I came up with the idea of using the drive shaft of a double pedal and attaching that to a cup that would fit over my stump. The other end would attach to the bass drum pedal. This allowed me the freedom I was looking for. Darell made a prototype and I could not belive it. The first time I tried it I could do stuff that was not possible before. In fact I really don't think I am limited with my bass drum anymore. I could finally do all the John Bonham drum grooves with the fast triplet bass drum parts. So that was about 12 years ago and now I have not looked back. By the way, Darell Johnston is the same guy who built Rick Allen of Def Leppard his electronic pedal setup. So now I have just been playing drums all over the Orange and LA county in all kinds of diffent bands. Everything from Cover bands to original rock bands. My current bands are Unit 287 (www.unit287.com) and Levinstone (www.myspace.com/levinstone). Both are actively giging all over Orange and LA county and I have been in the store finals for the Guitar Center Drum Off 2 times and I had the opportunity to share the stage with some of my idols at a TRAP (The Rhythm Arts Project) benefit concert. Eddie Todurri is the founder of TRAP which is a program to help the handicapped through drums and percussion. I played with Greg Bissonett,Ralph Humphries,Joe Porcarro, and few other amazing drummers at a TRAP benefit concert. It was the highlight of my life, playing on stage with my idols. I have since become friends with some amazing drummers including Atma Anur and Steve Destanislu. Atma played with Journey and Steve plays with Roger Waters. I have also been lucky enough to have a great local drum company endorce me, OCDP (Orange County Drum and Percussion). They were cool enough to build me a one of a kind custom red and white flame kit. You can check it out on their site under artists Joe Hardy. As far as sizes and gear well my main kit is a 6 piece OCDP kit and the sizes are 8", 10", 12", and 14" toms, a 22"x18" kick and a 6 1/2x14" vented snare drum which is the best sounding snare drum I have ever played. As far as cymbals go, I play Paiste. I have a 15", 16", and 17" Crashes, 18 china, and a 20 ride, all in the Signature series. By the way, for my hi-hat's I use two sets: one set open and one set closed, also Paiste Signature series. That has always worked pretty well for me. I use a Pork Pie throne and DW hardware for my stands. I also trigger my kit for live shows using the new Roland accoustic drum triggers which are awesome by the way. I run those through a TD3 drum module. For live trigger sounds. It makes my drums sound huge for live shows. I also have a Roland TD10 electronic kit for home practice. You can also check out my MySpace at www.myspace.com/joedrum. MediaAudio #1 (mp3)
Audio #2 (mp3)
Audio #3 (mp3)
Audio #4(mp3)
Visit www.myspace.com/levinstone for the full version of this song as well as other songs. Gear
Drums: OCDP in Custom Red w/ White Flames Finish
Cymbals: Paiste Signature
Hardware & Misc:
I use all DW hardware as well as Roland acoustic drum triggers run through a Roland TD3 module. I also have a Roland TD10 electronic set for home practice. Heads: Evans
Sticks: Pro-Mark 7A Elvin Jones Signature Model Contact
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