Artist description I have been influenced by an appreciation of AM radio pop standards from the 50's & 60's offset by the power pop/punk of the late 70's & early 80's.

Music Style Styles ranges from 50's standards pop to modern day punk with old school influences.

Musical Influences Bowie, Johnny Thunders, Cheap Trick, Blind Boy Fuller, Hagfish, Elvis Costello, The Kids from Widney High, ELO, The Figgs, The Ramones, Stiv Bators, Jim Carroll, The Plasmatics, The Muffs, Adam & the Ants, The Clash, Johnny Cash, Smoking Popes, AC/DC, GenerationX, The Lords of the New Church, Travoltas, Wesley Willis, Devo, The Cars, Bad Brains, the Stones, the Beatles, the Carpenters and many, many more.

Similar Artists We don't sound like anyone popular.

Artist History HARD8 evolved from the same persistance it takes to sit by the radio and wait for your favorite new song to play when you were a kid. The band was something that really evolved as a result of having to do something with the songs I was writing. I was making recordings, but having no luck finding musicians locally to work with in a successful band. I kept on writing and recording some of my ideas even just experimentally to learn. The bulk of material has been written within the last two years, except for one song, "Saccharin", written in `94. Evenutally in in April of 2000, I began collaborating with my friend Joe on drums, arranging the songs and making crude recordings as a way to gauge the progress. I met Joe as a friend through work. There's an 8 year difference in age, but there has always been a strong rapport that made ours a very workable situation. Pasco had the energy and attitude to drive the old school style of rock and roll pop I had in mind. With Pasco's musical tastes weighing heavily in the more recent blitz of over-the-top pop stars and brash west coast punk, the happy medium has evolved into what is now HARD8. While playing on and off for the past 2 years and I recorded the material for their debut 4 song Stay Hard EP. It wasn't until an ad was placed about a year ago I met Fred Bentzen who instantly got the idea I was going for with the band. There was a lag in time there after losing a bass player Joe and I were working with, Mark Kozuback of Vehemence, where Pasco had other responsibilities and I just continued to write and record. It was sort of a lull and I wasn't really sure that we were going to ever play again... I guess this is the point in the VH1 "Behind The Music" when they bump the sad promo music and build the drama with clever black and white stills of the band members fading in and out? Sorry. No overdoses or tragic sudden deaths due to autoerotic asphyxiation here. No wild rides on expensive motorcycles off of Hollywood hills, no religious awakenings that mysteriously puts the best guy in the band into hiding and most importantly, no Leif Garrett. So for the meantime, Bentzen was on the back burner, but after joining recently became the hinge that made things swing. We kicked around numerous names and finally settled on one I said I offered up in the beginning, HARD8. After two months of rehearsal, HARD8 was presented with the opportunity to play the locally legendary Nita's Hideaway (Tempe, AZ). It was through a friend of Fred's named Reid who manages the headlining band, Reid rocks. We decidely jumped at the chance to open for west coast veterans, Wise Monkey Orchestra. Their sound being very different from the whapping drums, ripping guitar and bouncing bass pop rock that we had to offer the Nita's Saturday night crowd. At any rate, I was told the show was a minor success and well-accepted by the crowd, my more perfectionist side has yet to believe it. I will say it felt good and we all feel like it went way better than expected. Video from the show will be used for the band's upcoming video for the "Don't Start Evil" single. I'm also kicking around the idea to release a 4-5 song live EP from the show too, thanks to John the sound guy at Nita's for his production that made a decent recording possible. Final note, the band is thinking of the possibility of breaking up now to create more interest and raise the value of band mechandise. No final decision has been made as of yet.

Group Members Aaron Becvar - ( Vocals and Bass) / Joe "The Fiasco" Pasco - (Drums) / Fred "The Big F" Bentzen - (Guitar)

Instruments Guitar, drums, bass and a crappy Casio keyboard.

Albums Stay Hard 4 song EP

Press Reviews No reviews as of yet, but I'm going to go out on a limb and just say "amazing!"

Location Phoenix, Arizona - USA

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