The defining gift of the precocious child is his instinct for making other people ill.
The defining gift of the precocious child is his instinct for making other people ill.
Rob Hardin is a studio musician and writer who lives in a potentially lethal sector of the Lower East Side. Recent music projects include Cherry Red (Feralette), Pillbox (Feralette), 22 Brides (Zero Hour) and "Save Yourself," a video for Arthur Baker's Nation Of Abel. He has played live or in studios with Nation of Abel, Saqquari Dogs, Pitch Black, PIL, Orchestral Maneuvers, and members of the Psychedelic Furs. He was interviewed in the Cyberpunk (May 89) issue of Keyboard Magazine.
The son of music and English teachers, I began to study classical piano at age six. In 1984, I graduated from Marylhurst College with a degree in composition. Among my teachers were Bela Nagy, (Bartok's protege) Dennis Esselstrom (Roy Harris's former assistant) and Anne Cecille Daigle. In California, I played with Narada Michael Walden and formed a band, The Trance, with Lyle Workman (Todd Rundgren, Bourgeois Tag). After I moved to New York in 1985, I played at The Savoy with Orchestral Manoeuvres. In 1986, I formed the band The Saqquari Dogs with Bond Bergland. In 1987, I formed my own band, Pitch Black, with producer Godfrey Diamond. From 1988 to 1991, I was an in-house keyboardist for Daiichi Kosho/Rock Video International. In 1989, I was profiled and interviewed in the May 1989 issue of Keyboard (GPI Publications). The interviewer dubbed me "a nimble-fingered keyboardist and composer with a disk-drive mind and the ability to spin out ringing phrases with the speed of a Macintosh." In 1991, I was commissioned to write, arrange and record music for Alex Proyas's film, The Crow (Edward R. Pressman Productions, Warner Bros), with Godfrey Diamond. In 1992, I recorded with Smashed Gladys and Monica Nelson, and Virus (with Michele Amar). I In 93, I recorded with I.F., played excerpts from my Orlando Concerto at the Unspeakable Practices II Vanguard Narrative Festival at Brown University (February 24-27, 1993), performed with Arthur Baker's project, Romel, and wrote an aria for singer John Kelly. For recent projects, see Thumbnail and Discography.
