Scott Hardkiss

A leading member of the San Francisco-based Hardkiss collective, Scott Hardkiss was a prominent house DJ/producer during the early to mid-’90s West Coast rave scene. Born in the Bronx, NY, he moved around the East Coast (i.e., New York City, Washington, D.C., Philadelphia) while growing up and first got into music during the early ’80s. He later studied at Oxford University in England, where he experienced the burgeoning U.K. rave and alternative dance scenes of the late ’80s. Upon returning to the U.S., he began organizing DJ parties of his own on the East Coast before making his way to San Francisco. There he co-founded the Hardkiss collective with Gavin Hardkiss (aka Hawke) and Robbie Hardkiss (aka Little Wing). The trio started a label of the same name, inaugurating it in 1992 with the San Francisco: The Magick Sounds of the Underground 12″ compilation. One of Scott’s early productions, “Joy,” was included and credited to the moniker Tree of Hearts. He subsequently released a couple singles under the God Within moniker, “Raincry” (1993) and “The Phoenix” (1994), the latter of which was especially popular. In 1995 some of his production work was included on Delusions of Grandeur, a full-length compilation of Hardkiss material released to date. Yes (1996), also released on Hardkiss, marked his first commercially released DJ mix. The Hardkiss collective splintered shortly thereafter, though Scott remained fairly active throughout the remainder of the decade. After the turn of the century, he released the mix album United DJs of America, Vol. 17 (2001) and remixed the Flaming Lips’ “Do You Realize??” (2002) before fading away. Years later Scott returned with the full-length album Technicolor Dreamer (2009), self-released on his Brooklyn-based God Within Recordings label, along with the accompanying You’re the Star EP (2009). ~ Jason Birchmeier