Today, revered pillar of North American dance music HARD Events announces its new event sub-brand, HARD Selects. An outgrowth of HARD’s tenure as an evolving multi-genre curational force in North America, HARD Selects aims to spotlight the diverse global underground music community while paying homage to and celebrating the Los Angeles scene’s DIY ethos, aesthetic, culture and selectors.
Los Angeles has long been an undervalued contributor to the fabric of the global underground culture, banished from the spotlight and forced into DIY spaces in the city’s forgotten underbellies. HARD Selects positions itself as a spotlight for this culturally rich network, embodying its passion to present authentic dancefloor experiences, pop-ups, and festival stages reflective of the sounds of the global landscape.
HARD has already began this mission in its recent curatorial efforts, exemplified with key festival, club night bookings, and releases on its HARD Records imprint with the likes of Interplanetary Criminal, INVT, DJ Heartstring, Overmono, JYOTY, Panteros666, Bianca Oblivion, AK Sports, Boyz Noize, and more.
In the coming weeks, HARD will announce a series of showcase events in partnership with key promoters from the LA underground, celebrating shapeshifting sounds plucked from the global scene.
The first in the series of showcase events will be Teenage Dreams, the energetic party brand helmed by Berlin-based stalwarts DJ Heartstring. The duo will bring their speedy club-meets-trance sound to LA alongside Aussie producer AK SPORTS, Berlin’s underground maestro Boys Noize, Club Heart Broken co-head Malugi, the infectious Patrick Mason, and Stay on Sight’s Skin on Skin. The bill continues with local favorites Etari, Oscar Osorio, and OZA.
Taking place on November 9, Teenage Dreams is held in collaboration with Stranger Than, Tunnel, and Lights down Low at The SUPER-MRKT, a newly converted venue repurposed from a former grocery store. Led by Stranger Than, The SUPER-MRKT will now be the epicenter for an array of eclectic shows held from September to November, offering a new home for dance music in the city.
HARD will showcase the initial launch of the Selects universe in a series of hosted DJ set streams in partnership with burgeoning LA multi-media outpost Goyo Club. HARD will take over Goyo’s iconic Electric Cleaners series at the end of September, continuing the Goyo Club mission of transforming a family owned Koreatown laundromat into a home for electronic music experimentation. The takeover features an eclectic mix of local underground talent including Warp Mode members Bianca Oblivion B2B Star Eyes, Gyration Station founders Trax Unit, and AUNTIE. co-founder Etari.
Sign up for the HARD Selects SMS list to be the first to hear about new shows, lineups, pop-ups + more at the link HERE.
Teenage Dreams will go on sale Thursday, September 19th at 12PM PST. SMS subscribers will have presale access beginning at 11AM PST.
