Hard Rock Sofa: Iconoclasts and Anarchists in Russian Gardens

Hard Rock Sofa are a three-man DJ-ing outfit from the town of Smolensk, close to the Russia/Belarus border. This far-western location, shown below, meant in the past that Smolensk suffered more than its fair share of military conflict: both Napoleon and Hitler decided that trashing the town en route to Moscow was a reasonable tactic. Nowadays Hard Rock Sofa turn those same destructive tendencies to much happier ends, all in the name of a pithy credo posted on their MySpace page: “The Kindness Is Boundless.”

Let the kindly mashups begin.

That same webpage proudly displays the fact that Pete Tong included Hard Rock Sofa in one of his “Fast Traxx” shows of 2007, when the Russian trio were declared winners of the “Bedroom Bedlam” rubric. This foreign recognition is mirrored elsewhere, too.  Hard Rock Sofa tracks are regularly included in mixes and sets by people such as Armin Van Buuren, Above & Beyond, Kyau & Albert, Judge Jules, Carl Cox, and others. Russian dance radio stations aren’t averse to their charms, either.

The band – if such a word is indeed suitable – was founded in 2005 and from the outset mixed house and progressive cuts with guitar-oriented pop/rock numbers. This led to a sound that is closest perhaps, to the familiar noises of Swanky Tunes, covered on this site more than once.  That parallel is especially valid since both outfits have been connected in the past to Uplifto Records. That Taganrog operation has now morphed into the Stantsiia 2.0 project, at which several of their mixes can be found.

The biggest online venue for their music, however, would be here, offering a great of of individual tracks, both as radio edits and longer forms, destined for dancefloors rather than bedrooms.

As may be already clear, the usual bios of Hard Rock Sofa quickly become a long list of names and places. Even their pages at Live Journal contain almost no personal chatter: they’re simply full of streaming mixes and/or links to more recordings at external venues. Work, work, work.

That taciturn worldview prompted us to simply include four examples from the band’s 2009 discography as an introduction to Hard Rock Sofa and their ongoing labors.

(Too busy to even look up at the camera…)

The first number is a new track entitled “Immersing,” available on the PromoDJ page as both a radio edit and a longer version, remixed by Noiz; it’s the first audio file in this post. It originally appeared in 2008 and is notable for the fact that while available for public downloading at Beatport it almost entered the Top 20 charts for progressive house.

Listeners have already chipped in with their enthusiastic support: “It’s a top-quality track! It sounds really good. To be honest I was a little bit nervous when I found out that you’d be trying your hand at some more progressive numbers, especially after some of the things I ran into about six months ago. It all ended up sounding a bit like electro-house, as far as I remember, but…”

(The band is all ears…)

“…You’ve done a really good job!! As far as the technical side of things goes, everything’s just fine. The only thing I’d suggest is that the violins sound a bit off.  They sound a bit grating… but maybe that’s way things are supposed to be. Maybe they’re not even violins! )) ”

Whenever critics offer their “expert” advice in comment boxes, it seems there’s an enormous amount of local support for the band, since every so often we run into the same remark, posted over and over again: “Smolensk boys are the best!!” “Smolensk, YEAH! Way to go!” And so on.

Should Moscow fail Hard Rock Sofa and they return home, a lasting local renaissance seems assured.  The guy in the front row already has a very broad smile.

It’s not only Beatport that has been used to get these tracks out beyond the Russian border. Numbers such as “You Are Like” (released this year/below on Vibra Macz) broke into the electro-house Top 40 at the Juno download site. Vibra Macz is a Ukrainian operation; their employees give voice to a fittingly enthusiastic work ethic for the always-busy members of Hard Rock Sofa: “Macz is going to be an excellent new place for artists and friends from all over the world! We’re always open for YOU… and ready to work 24 hours a day!!”

These efforts appear to be paying off, especially if we look at other recent releases, like the Kyau and Albert remix of “Be There 4 You,” which you can play at the bottom of this page. Initially published this spring, it has already graced a wide number of download charts in various countries, and popped up into some pretty prestigious mixes, namely by Van Buuren, Above and Beyond, and Markus Shultz.

Since the Smolensk trio obviously have enough confidence now to work side by side with those luminaries, they’ve even turned their diligent hands to classic works of the past, many of which might be considered too sacred for “experimenting.” One good example would be The Sex Pistols’ “God Save the Queen.” If our Russian fan above was unnerved by the prospect of Hard Rock Sofa trying to produce progressive material, you can imagine the reaction from some British admirers to the suggestion that this song might somehow “benefit” from a dance version.

Maybe enough time has passed to let the iconoclasts to do their dirty work.

The band certainly thinks so: ”The track has a real charge of amazing energy! It’ll be a guaranteed hit on the dancefloor! Download it, play it, and leave your comments!”  The fans are already happy: “It’s some cool kind of electro-punk-house, or alternative electro, or… I don’t know which one is more correct.” Some people don’t even bother with the generic categories: “There aren’t many Russian bands I like, really – but you guys really deserve some respect!”

Others go further still and love what the band has done to a 30-year old milestone: “Amazing!!! Fantastic mastering! Really rich sound, too!! The idea of punk remixes is waaay overdue! Punk electro!” 

A two-handed vote of approval.

There is, perhaps, another good reason why Hard Rock Sofa would choose to remix the Pistols, over and above any decisions prompted by a growing sense of confidence. Smolensk was once home to the family of Petr Kropotkin, who would grow up to become Russia’s great exponent of anarchist communism. Kropotkin once wrote that, in an ideal – and chaotic! – world, “houses, fields, and factories will no longer be private property…”

Neither, apparently, will flowers. Anarchy may be an appealing concept in the world of DJ-ing, but it’s less suitable for flower beds. Summertime is now upon us. The members of Hard Rock Sofa will be going to the dacha. Vegetable gardeners of Western Russia, you have been warned.

Download music and images from this site to your smartphone!  Go to www.cloudtrade.com and look for us under far_from_moscow