Hardcore is a genre that has been a part of my life since I was a teenager. I’ve always loved hard and aggressive music and still listen to metal, punk, or whatever gets my adrenaline flowing on top of my daily hardcore headbanging. To be able to be a part of the history of this amazing genre is incredible. Here are five of my top picks from Hard Kryptic’s catalog.
“The Pit” is the record that started it all for Hard Kryptic and the next step for me in my music career. I remember first writing the melody on “The Pit”. I had the kick drum and was playing the melody on loop. It was one of those melodies that I played out of thin air and that was it. It’s a simple and chromatic melody, but catchy. The overall theme of the song is fun, but when the melody and kick came together, it’s aggressive. Ten years after that album’s release, it was beyond exciting to re-create the song with my buddy J Root. The original mix of “Return To The Pit” is a complete re-imagining of the original track. I recorded new, original vocals and guitars with my buddy Spikey Jay. I’m still blown away by the magic we had on it. Then the remixes are beyond incredible! Ophidian took the melody and worked his magic. I can’t get enough of it! Braincrushers were the first guys I wanted to put their touch on the track and they didn’t disappoint, taking those guitars and making a headbanger! Vi Ta Lee came through with a unique, low tempo remix that bangs. Section IX dropped a strong rawstyle remix utilizing “less is more” when it comes to making a banger. Silent Humanity came through with a doomy, techy version that made a lot of use of the original Pit melody with the new vocals. Finally, we remastered the DJ Delirium remix from the vinyl record. There’s also a re-release of two remixes of two tracks that appeared on the original vinyl (“Suck A Fuck”) with a Neural Damage remix and a Neverlution remix of “Revenge” on the digital bonus edition.
It always exciting to see how an artist can interpret another artist’s work. You could simply rearrange channels, add a few elements to it, or go all out to create something completely new out of the original song’s elements. The idea of RMXD came about as a fun way to have artists remix another. First, I did a remix of Komarovski’s track “Viva La Revolution”, and in return, he did a remix of my track with J Root called “Origin Unknown”. Another remix, also with J Root, called “Listen!” was done by none other than Dither. I forget at what point Hard Essence came into the picture for this project, but I’m glad it did! That didn’t leave my bag for who knows how long! Overall, this is a release where every track was constantly on my setlists. Even to this day, I’ll pull out Dither’s remix or Hard Essence’s remix with no second thought that it will rock the dancefloor.
“Defined By The Melody”, Hard-Tex’s first release with us, is an incredible EP, but his 2016 Art of the Melody album is what really makes him really shine. Hard-Tex is a melody machine, and this shows it! “Opposites”, “Trapped In Despair”, “Art Of The Melody”, and “Out Of The Ordinary” are stand-out tracks. When you look at the album as a whole, there isn’t one filler track on this release. There’s collaborations with people like Outrage, Psychoforce, and even li’l ol’ me, plus remixes by Embrionyc, Komarovski, and Neverlution. This album proves Hard-Tex has the talent that is in-line with the best out there.
Braincrushers, E-RAYzor, & How Hard – Worldwide Movement
Braincrushers – Awakening
Braincrushers – Automatic Leg Spreader
The title track on “Worldwide Movement” is the one track that even if my name wasn’t on it, would still be a song that continue to be on my tracklists for years and years. It was an incredible project to be a part of with Braincrushers and E-RAYzor, and something with a positive message behind it. Hardcore and music in general bring people together. No matter who you are, someone in another part of the world could be listening to the same song as you and feeling that same inspiration. This track was our way to celebrate that. The music video that accompanied the project had footage of hardcore events from different parts of the world. The rest of the release with the two Braincrusher solo tracks is also great. “Awakening” has a dark, trancey melody that I love and reminds me a bit of Miss Hysteria—who I’m a big fan of. “Automatic Leg Spreader” is a slower but bouncing track that is a great set starter. With the recent release of “Worldwide Movement: Remix Project”, we took this already amazing track and added some incredible remixes by artists like Re-Style, Dark Headz, Trinitite, and more.
Komarovski’s first release with HKR “The Melody Within Me” really blew me away—right from the moment I was first given the demos. I always loved the marriage between hard and melodic, and Komarovski is a master at this. Like Hard-Tex, Komarovski is a pro at uplifting melodies on top of aggressive kick drums. Before Hard Essence did their remix of “We Don’t Give A Fuck” on RMXD, the Braincrushers boys remix was in heavy rotation when I played out. Even if you weren’t a fan of hardcore, this EP would still make your ears perk up. All of Komarovski’s tracks have been great, but when I look back at releases that made me stop in my tracks, this was one of them. Can’t recommend this one enough when talking about the history of the label.
About the author: How Hard is a hardcore DJ/producer from NYC who co-founded the hardcore label Hard Kryptic Records and its parent company Hard X Music in 2006. He enjoys long walks on the beach and is totally not afraid of flutes despite what you might have heard. It’s called aulophobia, and it’s a real thing.
Hard Kryptic Records is a U.S. based hardcore techno label formed by founders Howard “How Hard” Grene and Jimmy “Jimmy X” Navarro. The label celebrated its first decade releasing music in September 2016 with an explosive remix project entitled “Return To The Pit”.
I sat down with How Hard to get a deeper look into him and the label more.
Well, there’s no better place to begin then when it all started. When was Hard Kryptic Records formed?
The label itself came into existence officially in 2006, although there was a year leading up to the first album’s release. Jimmy X and I were working together on music, and I was helping him on some of the more business side of music for his own work.
All good ideas usually spawn from a moment of inspiration or idea, right? So, what was the driving force or reason why the label was founded?
The label came to fruition by circumstance. It wasn’t something we originally planned for. Simply put, I had two friends—a married couple—that wanted to put together a vinyl record for fun. They asked me to take one side, and they’d take the other side, and we’d split the cost. Jimmy and I had finished up a song of mine called “The Pit” a little before that, and I decided that’s what I wanted to use on the record. Long story short, my friends ended up dropping out of the project, but Jimmy and I already were still ready to go. So, we threw on a DJ Delirium remix of “The Pit” as well as had another original track, and the next thing we knew, we had boxes of vinyl sitting in my house!
Hard Kryptic founders How Hard and Jimmy X in Canada.
How did you come up with the name “Hard Kryptic Records”?
Jimmy was releasing DJ podcasts under the name Kryptic Music, and I had been releasing my band’s demos under an unofficial How Hard Records name—basically keeping the name around in the hopes of eventually launching it for real when the time presented itself. As to represent the both of us, we combined the two named into one entity. We did the same thing with our main company that houses HKR—Hard X Music—which combines How Hard and Jimmy X.
Were there any other label creators or artists that helped you out in the beginning of the company, or gave you inspiration/motivation/ideas for Hard Kryptic Records?
DJ Delirium was a great help in the beginning. He was happy to lend his thoughts and connections to get the first release out there and get the second release “Blazin’ Out Your Speaker” put together. Lenny Dee and I had some discussions in the early years as well. He was someone who was happy to give his advice. I mean, when Lenny speaks, you listen! Plus, because I was already working for some labels, I was taking a lot of knowledge from that experience.
The Pit record release party, NYC, 2006.
I can’t imagine just anyone being able to start a record label. Are there any particular skills or education would you say aided you the most in managing one?
I was fortunate to have already been working in the music industry for a few years at that point. I think doing your best to understand how all the moving parts work is beneficial. I often find that people who want to start a label are focused on getting the music out but have little-to-no understanding of how usage rights work. I’ve seen quite a few artists and label owners get upset because music of theirs gets taken down by copyright strikes on SoundCloud or YouTube because of a blatant sample, or releasing bootleg remixes. I find more often than not artists who haven’t given any thought to publishing, which is an important piece that gets overlooked.
What was the first official release on Hard Kryptic Records? And looking back on it, what are your thoughts on how it felt when that release first went out? Was it exciting to finally have something concrete to say, “Here’s something brought to you in part by HKR”?
Our first release was the 12″ of “The Pit” by How Hard & Jimmy X. It was exciting, for sure. It really all went fast too! Once the product was in my house, we already were sending it out to DJs. We sent a whole box to the Netherlands to be distributed to shops. We threw a record release party. Soon after, some labels were contacting me about licensing, and artist demos were coming in. It was one thing after another!
HKR001: How Hard & Jimmy X – The Pit
Who were the first artists you signed to your label?
DJ Delirium was the first artist we signed for two records. After that we signed Triax, who has put out some big releases in his career. Sadly, even though we looked to do more work together, he only did one record with us. After that, we starting to pick up talent in the U.S. and overseas: Delta 9, Angry Tolerance, Forsaken Is Dead, CAP, and so many many more in those first few years.
In the beginning, it couldn’t have been easy. What kept you going with Hard Kryptic Records that first year?
Fortunately, the first year was only “The Pit” and slowly putting together “Blazin’ Out Your Speaker”. We didn’t intend to go out and make this a full-time label, but DJ Delirium remix generated some attention, so we figured we’d go for round two. Obviously, we didn’t expect “Blazin’” to really throw us into high gear, but when it did, it did!
Would you describe managing a label as being very difficult? What are the hardest parts? Do you manage every aspect of the business on your own, or do you work with a team?
I find running the label more time consuming than difficult. The hardest parts I would say are trying to get all of the back-end pieces done. I’m fortunate that 99% of the artists we’ve had on the label have been amazing to work with, so ego hasn’t been too much of a problem.
I manage the label as a whole but I have some amazing help, too. This includes Stefan—my promo manager for the last year and a half—has been my sidekick. Our artist Komarovski was a big part of helping with the label for a few years in different areas. My brother Jonathan, works with me on the financials and business affairs-type decisions. Plus, interns who have tediously sat and inputted lines upon lines of data into different websites for their 3 college credits. And you [Jai] have also helped in the past with licensing and income tracking.
Would you have any advice out there for people who may be considering founding their own labels?
I would say get your ducks in a row. Learn as much as you can about the ins and outs about how a label operates. I always try to take my time to help friends looking to launch labels or help them gain a better understanding of things from the artist side. There are countless labels putting out product. A lot of it is excellent music, but things get lost in the mix. Make sure what you have stands out, and you’ll have an arsenal of music ready to go so your name doesn’t get forgotten. Also, network! Know the other labels who do similar music as you, and maybe even those which don’t. Speak to DJs who will support your music. Oh, and don’t be a jerk. That’s one way for me and so many others to never want to work with you.
What are some characteristics that stick out about Hard Kryptic?
I think that we are very open about style. A lot of labels—big and small—have a particular “sound”, and the artists on their rosters perfect those sounds. For us, our sound is eclectic. I enjoy having a release that is heavily melody-driven and then another release that is dark and a bit noisy. Overall, I enjoy releasing interesting music by talented artists. Another thing that I try to push to artists is DIY.
In this style of music, sampling is prominent, and there’s lots of chances for similar-sounding results. I prefer to find someone to create something new that’s unique to that track. I’ve recorded or hired others to perform on drums and guitars, to sing, do voice work—even foley effects. With vocals, we can change words around, play with style an phrasing. Another part that I’ve been happy to see is our artists moving on to bigger parts of their careers after working with us.
How Hard, Jimmy X, Integrity, DJ Choke
What are some of your personal favorite releases?
It’s hard to say. I mean, how do you choose your favorite child? “The Pit” launched it all. “Blazin’” made us take the label seriously. So, those two really stick out in the beginning. My collab with Braincrushers and E-RAYzor—“Worldwide Movement”—was a big track for me. It’s one of those songs that even if I wasn’t a part of the song, I’d play it for years to come. When I play that track live, I get this big jolt of energy. I must look like a maniac behind the decks screaming my head off! What else? Oh! My release with CAP called “American Rebels” was a fun release to do. I flew to Arizona for a week and worked on that in CAP’s studio. I love writing tracks which represent hardcore, so this was my track celebrating American hardcore with two American artists from different parts of the country. Sh*t, Komarovski’s first release on HKR “The Melody Within Me” was great. Love those melodies! Same with Hard-Tex’s first release “Defined By The Melody”. Both are masters of melody; so much so I made sure their album titles pointed that out! The first Scathatch EP is something I still play out. The title track is great and the Braincrushers remix of “Time” is forever a go-to track for me. But, all in all, I can’t believe how many great tracks and releases we’ve put out.
Do you have any particular artists that you enjoy working with the most as an artist as well as on the label side?
It’s a different experience working with different artists. J Root and I have been working together in the studio for years. Usually I head down to his studio for several days and hang out. He and I have a great work method which boils down to trying not to kill each other by day two. But in the end, we both come out excited for what we’ve done. He’s an overall great guy, and I like to find projects to work on with him—partially as an excuse to drive a few hours to his place to chill. D-Version/Section IX has been a recent collaborator with me musically. It’s a bit harder to collab from a distance since he’s in the Netherland, but we’re both trusting of each other’s contributions we pass back and forth. I wish CAP lived closer. We had a blast working side by side when I was out there. Broadly, I’ve done vocals on a bit of projects both on HKR and other labels, so I enjoy that ability to add something to someone else’s tracks. I’m a hands-on person, so I enjoy artists who allow me to be a part of the final production of the song.
On the label side, Komarovski was a great guy to have a part of the team. Simply talented in the studio and put in a lot of his time to help me out in many ways. Hard-Tex is great too—another one who I know will go far. Mr. Madness is a cool dude and putting out some great work on Industrial Strength these days. Scathatch, CAP, and Braincrushers are the super easy artists to work with—I’ll wake up with demos in my inbox and pass back some notes. Next thing I know, I have releases ready to go, awaiting mastering and artwork. Can’t ask for a smoother process. Vi Ta Lee and Kostia from Angry Tolerance/The Illuminati/Apex Mind are awesome at getting me awesome music both as a team and solo tracks. They also manage the sublabel Dark Like Hell so they are very much ingrained in the company. I like being a springboard for artists. We’ve had some great talent go come through us early on and move onto bigger labels. That’s really exciting.
In September 2016 you released the 10-year anniversary release “Return To The Pit”.What work went into it?
For the anniversary release, I wanted to bring in some remixers that would take the original and have some fun with it. I started my own remix first: recorded new vocals, recorded a guitar melody that I heard in my head with my man Spikey Jay. I called up J Root to see if he wanted in on the new remix. He took the elements I had, and we brainstormed a bit. As we worked, I realized that this was more than a remix, but a whole new take on the song! I remember getting a text from him with a link to our Dropbox with the updates he made, and I was so blown away at what it turned into.
From there, I reached out to guys on the label. First pick was Braincrushers—they’re the top breed on the roster and such mainstays for years that I couldn’t NOT have them on this! The same thing with Vi Ta Lee who I knew would go in a totally different direction than anyone else on the project. Section IX had just came back to the label looking to do rawstyle which I thought was cool to add into the release. Then Silent Humanity who was releasing on the Dark Like Hell sublabel and starting to work on HKR was excited to be a part of the mix too. The biggest coup of them all was having Ophidian come in on a remix. I can’t tell you how honored I was to attach his name to the project. His remix is simply untouchable. I got the first draft of it and I was so blown away! I passed back some ideas and the guy took it a thousand levels farther. Then, because “No Clownin’” was on the original vinyl, I had Scathatch come in on a remix. We remastered DJ Delirium’s remix of “The Pit” and included previously released remixes of my tracks “Suck A F*ck” and “Revenge”. Alina at Second Idea Design did a kickass job on the cover too. If this was my last release as an artist or a label, I’d be okay with it. Just an overall rad release!
HKD074 – How Hard, J Root, Jimmy X – Return To The Pit
Have any releases come since “Return To The Pit”?
Oh yeah, totally! J Root did a cool solo release “Project Disclosure”. Can I say how unique J’s style is? He’s another one whose melodies stick out and production is so his own! CAP did two releases back to back “I Have No Friends” that included a remix by [crisis] who has done work on HKR as Deotys and then “Machine Music” which has a remix by Nekrokick who I met earlier in the summer at Gabberfest. Both CAP releases showcase his different styles. The dude has grown so much since joining the label. Mash Manson did an aggressive techno release “The Bad Man“, Vi Ta Lee had a hardstyle single that was a collaboration with Marina Borodina and General Guyble titled “Blow Your Mind“. Section IX contributed vocals to that one. So, our most recent release, which came out end of July, is “Worldwide Movement: Remix Project” by Braincrushers, E-RAYzor, and myself. This is a big release for HKR and me. I’m so amped for this to be played everywhere!
What else can you tell us about “Worldwide Movement: Remix Project”?
The original theme of the song was hardcore being a musical uniter for artists and fans around the world. In 2014, we released the original with a music video that had clips of hardcore artists and events from different countries. This remix project took that idea to the next level. We enlisted remixes from on and outside the label—people we felt would represent their countries well. Similar direction like we did with “Return To The Pit”. I know Re-Style is the name that will stand out to many. His remix is right up there in that mainstage style. A headbanger for sure. Other remixes we have are Trinitite from Sweden, Dark Headz from Switzerland, SOTUI from Spain, Round Wave Crusher from Argentina, Hard Versions (the collaborative name I am using with D-Version), and Kortarow in Japan. Everyone came through with fantastic remixes—each one is so unique.
HKD078 – Braincrushers, E-RAYzor, How Hard – Worldwide Movement: Remix Project
What’s next, or what’s in the future of Hard Kryptic Records? Do you foresee it ever changing into something mainstream or radio-friendly? Where do you see yourself going with this? What changes or evolutions do you predict for yourself and the label?
To be honest, I’m not even sure. Sounds change and artists come and go. I hope we have longevity and we continue to represent underground hardcore techno. I have no problem releasing non-hard music, and we’ve done so on some of the Hard X labels. It’s not a direction I am trying to steer the ship towards completely, but overall I enjoy interesting music and want to help push talent. In the end, hardcore and harder music is my #1, and I look to continue to do that!
