H.A.R.D Interview: The Nashville Rockers Get Provocative and Discuss Booze, Drugs & Other Nonsense

Let us introduce you to, or if you’re already familiar with them, help you get to know the band H.A.R.D. a little better. The Nashville, Tennessee-based rock four-piece is all about guitar harmonies and hooky choruses. You may be wondering what the acronym H.A.R.D. stands for, which is a good question since it may not be what you think. The name stands for “Have a Rad Day” which is emblematic of what their music is about. The members are all of the belief that life consists of having as many “rad” moments as possible; which in turn makes for an energetic sound and vibe that’s fun to jam along to with good friends. The group recently released their debut EP HaveARadDay and took some time to catch up with us and answer some, well, not so ordinary questions…

Describe your worst hangover, ever.
Thomas Sweat: Me and Dan passed out on this couch on a porch in New Orleans one time. We were so plastered it rained on us and we didn’t even wake up. The next day we had to drive to SXSW and I wanted to die.

How long can you hold a Keg Stand?
Sweat: About four……..ever.

If you had to name your band after an alcohol/specific drink brand, what would you call yourselves? You can combine names/mix & match if you want!
Sweat: The pickle backs. We would be a pickle-themed Nickleback cover band.

Preferred drink, if you had to put it down on a rider for the whole band!
Sweat: Screwdrivers.

Which city has your best drunken memory… and what is it?
Sweat: We did a full band crowd surf in Starkville when we were opening for The Weeks. That was rowdy-as-fuck. I think Cody hit the floor and everyone threw him back up.

How many drinks until you start picking fights with your bandmates?
Sweat: We’ve never really fought. When we get real drunk we just try to pay each other’s tabs and tell each other we love each other too much. Strange, I know.

What’s the worst (or best) dive bar you’ve ever gone drinking to?
Sweat: Frans in east Nash. We stared going years ago because it was the closet bar to our house but then we realized they had Karaoke and we’ve never left.

If you met an alien from another planet, what drink would you chose to explain alcohol, and how would you describe it?
Sweat: Probably.

If a drink could define your life so far what would it be and why?
Sweat: A buttery nipple.

What do you think about kids soaking tampons in alcohol then inserting them up their asses to get drunk?
Sweat: Damn kids are partying way harder than we used to. Haha. We just funnelled beers and not even in our butts. I don’t even know if I’ve ever partied.

Who is the absolute shittiest drunk in the band?
Sweat: Dan. He just perpetually falls everywhere. It’s like he’s on an escalator that he can’t quite figure out.

What’s your favorite “guilty pleasure” drink? (ex: pina coladas)
Sweat: I love all the girly cocktails, but my particular favorite is a buttery nipple.

Hey! You! Why not stream the band’s new EP and Have A Rad Day?

Most public situation you’ve projectile vomited?
Sweat: We were playing this tattoo festival at this casino and I got food poisoning and had to run off the stage to puke. I ended up laying in this bathroom for like two hours because the rest of the band couldn’t find the promoter with our room key. It was a real turd sandwich of a time.

Weirdest place you’ve ever taken a shit?
Sweat: I could write a novel on this one. Brady won’t poop for like three days on tour sometimes. His body is like really efficient or something.

If someone stole all your band’s gear, then you caught the dickwad and no one would ever know what happened next, what would you do to him?
Sweat: Eat his flesh.

What scares the absolute shit out of you?
Sweat: Windows.

Have you ever been too wasted to play live? What happened?
Sweat: I don’t know. I don’t remember.

Name some of your biggest pet peeves. You know… that ones that make you want to wreck shit!
Sweat: When people don’t like Limp Bizkit.

If there were zero repercussions to you, what one thing would you do that’s illegal or morally wrong?
Sweat: I’d like to try some human flesh done medium rare with a little truffle butter. Dan said he wants to eat his own butt.

What is your stance on the legalization of marijuana?
Sweat: 420. Blaze it.

Describe when and how you lost your virginity.
Sweat: Dan lost his on a trampoline and got kicked out of his Christian band because they were about to play a “true love waits” event and the whole school found out.

When was the last time you cried and why?
Sweat: Got real baked and watched 50 First Dates by myself and teared up the other night. Adam Sandler gets me every time.

Who is the biggest asshole you ever met and why?
Sweat: Probably Jacob Willis. I love the guy, but damn he’s an asshole. He was the centrepiece of the first real touring band I was in back in the day.

Describe your wildest drug experience.
Sweat: I ate a bunch of acid one time right after I graduated high school and ended up in the hospital. I’m still not 100 percent sure I didn’t die that night and my life since has just been some strange waking dream. Either way things are pretty tight. I don’t do LSD anymore.

What’s the creepiest thing a fan has ever done to you/creepiest encounter with a fan?
Sweat: Will you be our fan?

9/11 was an inside job… comment on that statement.
Sweat: Dank memes melt steel beams.