Hard-Ons' Ray Ahn On New Single "In Falls Everything," Touring, You Am I, KISS, The Chats & More
it's the palro cast now with Daren Bel let's get ready to listen to your favorite artist outro thank you for taking the time uh good morning right it's the absolute earliest morning for you right now right 6: a.m. yeah 6: a.m. is not too bad at all it's it's uh I wake up early anyway so that's fine wow were you always this way because punk rock people usually get up at two or three uh I have to tell you Darren I'm I'm not punk rock at all um I've got two kids and I've got a family so I wake up early to make lunch uh like you know um breakfast and lunch for them and stuff and get them ready for school anyway so fine well stylistically you're still punk rock even though you're showing Thin Lizzy influence on one of the new singles oh we love Thin Lizzy um yeah I think we're we we just happen to play punk rock but um uh I think as people we're not really pure punk people um a lot of a lot of my friends are like that we grew up in the suburbs we don't have that you know we don't have that punk rock um uh mentality we I I think we we're we're more like classic rock people that happen to uh like a lot of punk so we just kind of drifted into it Punk was happening because it was kind of uh a lot of fun you know right well my first exposure to your band was the very exciting album I was sent it to be reviewed for this punk rock scene here in New York and then a couple years later I saw that you were collaborating with one of my favorite comedians Neil hamburger and then suddenly you realize wow hardons is a Legendary Legendary band and this is fantastic stuff but in the US unfortunately it's a cult thing when's the last time you got over to the states sadly we haven't been there since 2006 um which is uh hell of a long time ago when you think about it it's like 17 years ago um yeah yeah it's it's just too uh we'd love to go there again really soon we love we love playing the states um because it's like a parallel universe it's uh very similar to Australia in a lot of ways but it's um I don't know if you've been to Australia but it's completely different uh the the states is a different to any other place we've ever been to but at the same time it's very familiar because we've seen it on TV and it's it's like obviously the world's uh most influential country so um we know all about it but at the same time it's still a shot when we get there how different it is to Australia some of our best friends here in New York originally from Australia and the way they describe Australia they're from New South Wales originally is that there's the coasts and then there's the middle of the country politically uh culturally Etc and it's the same kind of thing in the states where what happens on the coasts is usually very different than the whole middle of the country um yeah I I I noticed that too I mean I've Got Friends in uh Portland Oregon I've Got Friends in um Los Angeles and I've got lots of friends in New York actually um and they think quite differently to um uh they what they're saying is they they they they don't really I think similarly to people from say uh Mobile Alabama for example but I have friends in um also Austin Texas and they seem like they seem to be very similar to people from New York to me yeah they say that there's Texas and then there's Austin so is the outlier so uh you know back to the fact that you have these two new singles are they from a forthcoming full length album or EP th those two singles are from um uh that that an album called Ripper 23 which is um that that should be that should be coming out very soon in in the state as far as I know through Golden Robot records in the states that that's right yes Golden Robot is fascinating to me because it's full of artists who have toured at a big level ours who've had big record deals but now they own their master and call their own shots so in in other words Legacy artists who are still making great music like yourself when did you kind of realized hey let's control our own career and not worry about the charts uh that was when um I think I think the hardons have been like that from day one uh we we've never worried about the charts because um uh we called the band The hardons which um which just meant that when when we first started we just could not um crack the charts at all I mean we we sold enough records to uh make the charts at the time but um uh the charts you know I mean we didn't get played on radio we were never on television because of the name of the band especially 40 years ago it was considered reasonably offensive um but and also also the fact that um uh by and large just in Australia the the the music industry showed um you know we we although we were at one stage quite popular more popular than the bands that were appearing on TV really um we just didn't really um get um much interest from the mainstream um music industry so you know we we've always felt like we were not really a part of the of anything we just always felt like we were just on our own even even with the whole idea of punk rock I mean um when when we started most of the Bands had um you know kind of like spiky hair and stuff like that for punk rock we we just didn't have that kind of stuff and we always had long hair and stuff so it just felt like um we didn't really belong anywhere but um uh I I don't think it's the most important thing uh belonging somewhere it's it's good to it's good to be like um what's the word um your own Island yeah yeah or an outcast or whatever right a cottage industry a niche uh whatever you want to call it your band is still doing that all these years later and with uh Mr Umi himself joining the band One thing I could never figure out how exactly did that happen um well when when we started um uh playing a lot of shows and stuff one of the one of the young kids that used to come and see us play was uh Tim from Umi he he was like a fan of the band and um so we became friends when he was a teenager uh and I guess we would have been in our early 20s and he was a teenager he's he's a few years younger than us and so we've been friends for like 35 years maybe longer so uh we've had a friendship for a long time but uh we kind of didn't see each other for a long time because um I'm not sure about um the the his profile in in the States but in Australia he's quite quite um busy you know uh because he has a high profile so um uh we our path didn't cross too much if you know what I mean um so uh uh when we do catch up when we did catch up every now and then it was always really good to see him so uh one day just sh of the blue I just called him and said look I um I haven't spoken to you for maybe uh you know a whole year but um would you want to uh sing on our new album and he he said yes straight away but we've been friends for a long long time and he knows the band really well um so he he's very familiar with um the our our that catalog he knows all the songs from you know I mean the bands had a had a lot of record out but he he he seemed to know every song from every record so he was a perfect person to join the band except for the fact that he's actually obviously really busy so yes um yeah he's always doing something um which is I mean which is a great thing as well I mean um uh he's um yeah he's a very talented uh young man well this is not that young anymore but um is are you am I um uh quite popular in the States and I think they should be because uh they they seem to tour there reasonably often it's the kind of thing where whatever the profile is in Australia and the UK it's more of a niche thing so in other words if you're playing to 15,000 people a night in Australia it's probably playing to a thousand people here but the records came out on major labels uh situations here in the states it's just it didn't crack and I I my theory would be it's very expensive to get a ban from Australia to the states and put them on tour when all the equipment has to be freighted there's crew salaries Etc so at a certain point the major label goes are we going to put our money to this or put our money into the band that is already here so I think that we have a history of Australian bands who are Arena bands in the native land and then come over here and it's a club band like for example The Living End uh Club Band here in the states G Club Band but if you you know do your research you see wow these bands are playing to 30,000 people at at festivals and stadiums and then 300 people here in the states it's this weird existence where you're Legends here and cult Heroes here you know yes yes yes that that that does make a lot of sense but um uh and also um in a lot of cases I think um Australian bands are so um uniquely uh a Australian and they sing about Australian things and and um they they sound Australian so that that might not resonate on a ma u m major scale with um people from other countries but uh they they're very popular here I mean greenspoon and uh living and uh like I mean almost every single person in Australia know knows the names of those bands here but in the case of the chats uh I think they are so overthe toop Australian that it appeals to everybody if that makes sense oh yeah that would be that effect would be something like crocodile dunde you know yeah so it's by taking crocodile dunde and um uh people's uh idea of uh what Australia is in a in a a caricatured and cartoon kind of a way and apply that to um very catchy punk rock uh and then uh give it to the rest of the world and they understand it because it's been presented in a uh direct um caricatured way there there is no um little nuances that uh that that that might be lost it's it's completely um uh in yourf face and understandable uh it's similar to what you know um um well Paul Hogan and um um uh the the movie was about but I'll have to say I'm a big fan of the chats there yeah firstly they're incredibly nice people and secondly the music is so catchy that it you know it's hard to dislike you know yeah I I if I was going to do the mount Rush more to use an American term of Australian stereotypes that people think are real but aren't I would say crocodile dunde the chats Foster's beer and the back steakhous and yes yes but but hey back to you in the hardons what's coming up besides the new record in the singles is it Festival season coming up within the next six months that steady touring well we we have to basically quite frankly we have to regroup uh we have to um uh we have to figure out when at the moment Tim's touring a lot with his other project our Lee singer so at the moment uh We've uh retreated to all all of us have retre to um our personal music projects other than the hardons and also um uh the three of us uh me the guitar player and the drummer are in the studio um getting new songs together um all the time um we're just waiting to uh figure out what we we're going to do uh based on Tim's um uh availability so at the moment uh we're unsure about um what shows we have coming up but the moment uh Tim is able to tell us I have this time available we we'll just do whatever uh we can whether it might be going to Japan Europe or the states um but we' we'd love to but a big plan would be to come to the states for sure um uh we we'd love to go uh we haven't been there for such a long time and uh uh even if we play like one show I'd like to go there because um it it's such a fascinating place for better and for worse it is so if we can summarize Tim is basically uh in exess to Jimmy Barnes is uh to hardons to Tim where you go I don't know what he's doing can we get him I don't know um well we kind of do know and he's he's very um do know what he's doing and his calendar seems to be very full so i' I'd say there's a uh we're trying to um shoehorn him into maybe touring uh the states later in the year uh next year yeah we'd love to go um uh we don't necessarily have to go to uh say de Mo Iowa unless there's a really good offer if there's a really good offer only de Mo you're doing a casino residency in De Mo okay well the reason I say this is because um uh we we it's looking like we can't to the last time we toured USA it was for four weeks but it's more likely that we could already go for say two weeks because of um schedule of everyone's lives and things like that right so but um I've looked at the map of uh the states and uh it's a very big country and uh there are a lot of big big cities to travel to so I I think what we would do is probably stick to places like New York and um uh places where we know um there will be interest in the band like Baltimore uh we seem to get a lot of emails from people there uh uh San Francisco Los Angeles we we would probably play if we could we'd go to Austin because we seem to get a lot of last time we played Austin it was really successful um uh it was very successful in places like our I mean it was very successful in places like um Portland Oregon for example that we seem to do really well there um so we'd like to play places where we know there' be people turning up I mean um so no disres to um de Mo iy at all I mean I've only been there a couple of times in my life and um uh um but yeah we just we just wanted to go to places where um we we know we could um do reasonably well if you know the same places s to interrup the same places Neil hamburger would do really well because people get it and that's that oh exactly and um I mean Neil Neil's he's my all-time favorite comedian and um even even now when it comes to Australia when people don't understand him they get really offended and they yell Abus and stuff and it just EGS him on and you know um you know um you know the one somebody was I remember 10 years ago somebody was absolutely giving it to him from the crowd and screaming at him to get off and and Ne Neil hamburger just replied please spit the come out of your mouth before speaking to me sir so funny yeah the before I ask my last question here they he was brought on tour by Tenacious D at the peak of them playing Arenas and I think the point was just to incite and anger the audience because most of the audience did not know what that was that Neil was doing so I think when you get it you're a fan for life and not everybody gets it but yeah no no no but you know when um when the uh the the hardons did a show and um uh tenacious they were in town and both of them turned up to our show and um I went up to um both of them and gave uh the the the seven in record that we did with Neil hamburger I gave that to Jack Black and the other guy I come his name yeah Kyle yes and I and um Kyle just looked at it and and grunted and walked away but Jack Black was like oh thank you thank you and he and he was really grateful you know yeah uh and Jack Black's wife most people don't realize great musician from a musical family who's had a lot of record deals so they know music in that the black household oh right right yeah well he he seemed to know the hardons you know he um the the the editor from um the editor from Rolling Stone rang me and he said guess who's going to your show and I said who Tenacious D I said oh oh do you want me to put them on the guest list I said no they' have already contacted the venue they're already on the guest list and and I and I said I didn't think they would know who the hard were and I thought oh wait a minute they've been touring the states with Neil hamburger so they would know us through Neil hamburger and the editor said I Know Jack Black already knew you he was really looking forward to seeing you play so I was a bit shocked there's a chance when we eventually see you in the United States that a large percentage of the crowd is just celebrities we'll put that rumor out there that you're the uh American celebrities favorite punk band and have been all these years oh that'd be great I'd love to meet I'd love to meet more American celebrities I like I like well my last question which is a a dumb one but you said before that classic rock has been a big part of your musical DNA as opposed to punk now kiss there were years when kiss could only tour Australia they had no following in the US and they couldn't really get tours was kiss one of those bands that made you want to play music early on oh yeah that that were my first love I love kiss um they they um when I was young I put out a I help put out a a tribute record to kiss uh with um lots of different bands um doing kiss covers the hardons did one Nana did a song for it and the Melvin the come on and uh is it called to believe Do You Love Me by Nirvana was on that compilation yes that was a first time that song appeared on that uh compilation you did that so I'm sorry yes yes I put that together I put that together for the hardons record company at the time Waterfront records because uh that was specifically referenced I think by Dave Gro in an interview a week or two ago he was on Conan O'Brien and they were talking about how Steve Albini prank phone called uh Jean Simmons pretending to be Kirk Cobain so you're responsible for that Ray yes that's right so you just created musical history Without Really realizing that no no I I I I didn't even really know who Nana were I I'd heard of the name of the band but um our record company uh at the time Waterfront records in Sydney they said uh there's a band in in in this in um um Seattle called Nana they want to be on this compilation so so they're going to be on it I said yeah let's hear it and and I heard the tape and I thought it was fantastic and um they actually bleach was actually released in Australia on the same label so we were label mates with Nana but at the time not many people knew and and we knew Dave of course we knew Dave Gro um from um uh his his other band Scream because hard on played with scream in in um uh uh in um London uh Birmingham we played with him in uh couple of times in in the states as well in 1988 so um but at the time when that single came out Dave wasn't in in Nana so I didn't really know any of the people in Nana at that time at all but uh and they were the there were some offs School band from Seattle at the time um and when when Dave joined um when Dave joined um uh Nana he he came out to Australia uh and we caught up and uh and we play with them at at this big festival called the big day out festival and um and uh our lead singer for that show was Henry Rollins from Black flag so he was our L singer for that show and uh uh so um it was um a pretty pretty great uh a festival to play at but yeah we just um yeah we we real the record with Henry Rollins are doing an ACDC cover so Henry came out and and he he was singing for us at that Festival um so it was really bizarre when I when I think about it I'm thinking well yeah it was such a long time ago but it happened and um it was it was weird I still think about I think it's really weird how uh popular um Nevada became because you know you just I just wouldn't have thought that you know any of the people that I knew personally would become that famous and and that's what happened I mean I I I saw um food Fighters play um um and I I went backstage to say hello to Dave and I said did you see how many people people watching you play uh this is a couple of years ago in in Australia maybe maybe um five or six years ago before Co and he said yeah I said I think there were 50,000 people there and he said and Dave Gro said to me yeah I know every now and then I'll look at in the crowd I think what's going on and and and uh he said because I'm still the same guy and I said yeah I know it's just really yeah it's it's it's hard to believe yeah so same guy so summing that all up the the ray story here is a lot of bumping into Geniuses that you find out are kind of fans and peers of yours so Tenacious D Nirvana Rollins Etc so it seems like uh things are just exciting still all these years later for the hardons that the best is yet to come in a lot of respects oh I I think I think we're we're um I think we're we're lucky um um that we got a good attitude towards the band I mean um we've never um thought that we would make a career out of it we thought it would just be something that we did because we we really enjoyed um you know playing music was something that we really enjoyed and we NE never really thought about um uh this being um anything other than uh a a lot hell of a lot of fun you know something that's really important to do but really fun and um uh so we we didn't put a um any sort of uh pressure on ourselves to become you know uh famous or anything like that and in fact we got rid of that pressure from day one I think by calling the band The hardons you know um For Better or Worse um but I you know the whole idea that um a band has a lifespan or you know somebody has a used by dat is you know not necessarily true for a lot of bands I mean some some bands uh can continue for a very long time and still play really good music and I and I hopefully the hard on of one of those bands I mean I'm I'm in my 50s now and um I don't feel that old I mean I think the band's better than ever um so you know I'd like to continue playing well thank you for the many years of great art that's the best way I can sum that up Ray oh thank you Darren thank you for um having a quick chat with me outro cast
2023-11-14 16:08
