Hard‐Ons

The Hard-Ons are an Australian punk rock band that formed in 1982 in Punchbowl, New South Wales. Its founding members are Keish de Silva on lead vocals and drums, Peter "Blackie" Black on guitar and backing vocals, and Ray Ahn on bass guitar. The band issued five studio albums before disbanding in 1994. The band reformed in 1997. In 2002, de Silva announced his departure from the band. He was replaced on drums by Front End Loader's Peter Kostic, while Black took over on lead vocals. Kostic was replaced by Conation drummer Murray Ruse in 2011. De Silva returned as a guest vocalist in 2014 and permanently rejoined the band in 2016. This version of the band stayed together for an additional five years and one studio album, prior to de Silva's second departure in 2021. You Am I frontman Tim Rogers has since taken over as the band's lead vocalist. The band recorded two singles, two EPs, three studio albums, and one greatest-hits compilation, all of which peaked within the ARIA Top 100. They have sold more than a quarter million albums. The Hard-Ons' origins are traced to Western Sydney's Punchbowl Boys High School, where three founding members were students. In 1981 the first version of the band, then-known as Dead Rats, included Peter "Blackie" Black on guitar, Brendan Creighton on drums and Shane Keish de Silva on guitar and vocals. In 1982 Creighton left to form Thrust, and Raymond Dongwan Ahn joined on bass guitar with de Silva taking over on drums. The group began playing as The Plebs before being renamed as The Hard-Ons by the end of that year. Initially too young to play in pubs, the band performed at birthday parties and school dances. On 20 June 1984, The Hard-Ons played their first official show at the Vulcan Hotel in Ultimo. Black later recalled: "We wanted to be punk rockers ... We didn't want Keish's parents to see, so we had bags full of these jackets and chains and stuff and went around the corner of the street and put all these clothes on. Keish's dad busted us". Quickly gaining a considerable following, in August 1985 the band released its debut extended play Surfin' on My Face on ViNil Records. This was the beginning of a series of releases for the band that netted them a run of 17 consecutive No. 1 listings on the Australian alternative music charts. The band demonstrated an independent punk spirit, with the members deliberately controlling their own careers: recording, booking, and promoting themselves, creating their own artwork (mostly by Ahn), choosing support bands, and even managing the merchandise stand while on tour. During 1987 the group was promoted as part of the Australian skate boarding scene. While maintaining a solid if underground following in Australia, The Hard-Ons were popular in Europe, scoring a Top 10 hit in Spain and a Top 5 slot in Greece with their 1989 album, Love is a Battlefield of Wounded Hearts. That album also reached the Top 5 on the NME chart; this made The Hard-Ons the third Australian band after Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds and the Go Betweens to do so. In 1989 the group recorded a split EP with British band The Stupids. Two years later they teamed with Henry Rollins and released a cover version of AC/DC's hit "Let There Be Rock", which was released in a limited edition on 10-inch vinyl. In January 1992 the group performed at the inaugural Big Day Out and were joined by Rollins on four songs. Following the release of 1993's album Too Far Gone and after recording a live album for Your Choice Records, the band announced their break up to pursue projects outside The Hard-Ons' style of music: "After more than 10 years of playing the same songs, they were just not interested in doing so any more". After the break-up, Ahn and Black formed another punk band, Nunchukka Superfly, with Pete Allen of Massappeal on drums and, a short time later, James McCann from Harpoon on vocals. Meanwhile, de Silva created Malibu Stacey. Nunchukka Superfly released their debut self-titled album in 1999. Black compared Nunchukka Superfly with The Hard-Ons as "a much heavier and experimental outfit, citing psychedelic, avant-garde, progressive rock, free jazz, funk, and dub among the usual inspirations of punk and post-punk". In October 1997, The Hard-Ons played a reunion gig which was followed by the release of a new EP, Yesterday and Today, in 1998 and a compilation album, The Best Of, in 1999. In August 2001, ABC TV broadcast the rock music series, Long Way to the Top. The Hard-Ons featured on "Episode 6: Gathering of the Tribes 1984–2000" where they were described as "an eclectic band of misfits that took up where punk had left off in the early 80s. Their challenge was to make that sound relevant and exciting in the 1990s. There was nothing left but to get downright offensive". In 2001 they played simultaneously with the Austrian noise musicians Farmers Manual as part of the What is Music? festival at the Newtown RSL. Following This Terrible Place... in 2000, the band's first line-up change in twenty years occurred, with de Silva deciding to leave the band during 2001. Black took up full-time vocals and Pete Kostic (Front End Loader, Regurgitator) was brought in on drums. In 2002 The Hard-Ons and Boom Boom Kid issued a shared EP, Split!.[citation needed] In 2003 The Hard-Ons released Very Exciting!, their first album for Chatterbox Records.[citation needed] In 2005, the 21st anniversary of the band's first pub gig was celebrated by Australian and European tours as a four-piece, with Kostic drumming and de Silva on vocals. Although technically a three-piece band, de Silva maintained a close relationship with his old band.[citation needed] Recordings were made in 2006 with contributions from all four – though primarily Black, Ahn and Kostic – with the intention of releasing a double album. This project was eventually released as two separate albums: the 'poppier' Most People Are a Waste of Time (2006) and the 'heavier' Most People Are Nicer Than Us (2007), with subsequent tours around Australia. The band recorded with United States comedian Neil Hamburger on guest lead vocals in January 2008.[citation needed] In April 2011, the group announced via their website that Kostic had left. On 5 August that year Murray Ruse (Conation, Captain Cleanoff) played his first show as their new drummer. In 2012, the band began re-issuing their early catalogue as bonus re-packagings featuring unreleased songs and live tracks. The first to be released was a new 60-track version of Smell My Finger and The Hard-Ons promoted it with a national tour. While working a shift as a taxi driver between legs of that tour on 18 May 2012, Black suffered a severely fractured skull when he was assaulted with a skateboard. Several fund-raising shows were held to raise money for his care and recovery, including special Hard-Ons shows in Sydney and Newcastle on 1 and 2 June that featured the line-up of Ahn, Kostic and de Silva on vocals and guitar. Within three months, Black had recovered sufficiently to perform a short tour in support of his solo album No Dangerous Gods in Tunnel that was followed by a Hard-Ons tour of Europe and Japan. Another Australian tour to wrap up the previously cancelled shows was completed in October, with a 51-track re-release of Dickcheese coming out around the same time.[citation needed] Keish de Silva was removed from the Hard-Ons in March 2021 following allegations of sexual misconduct. A planned documentary on the band was also cancelled. In August 2021, it was announced that Tim Rogers was the group's new lead singer. The band's thirteenth studio album was released on 8 October 2021, titled I'm Sorry Sir, That Riff's Been Taken. The album debuted at No. 4 on the ARIA charts, becoming the band's first to enter the ARIA Top 50. In April 2023, the band announced a new album titled Ripper '23 and an accompanying Australian tour. The album peaked at No. 28 on the national chart. During 2024, the Hard-Ons toured Australia with The