Hardware celebrates another milestone this April with the 20th Hardware branded party. In honour of this momentous occasion, we wanted to look back on twelve years of Hardware. To help us, who better than the man who started it all and still calls the shots, Richie Rich.

First of all, congratulations! Did you ever see this happening - a huge multi-room party in Altona in 2003 - back when you held the first on NYE 91/92?
Not at all, had no idea. Was doing the party to raise money for my dad’s charity (Try Youth and Community Services) and to do our own thing, the other parties at the time weren’t any good.

A few of our readers may have been at the first party, more may have heard your memorable intro on the 1997 Hardware 3 CD that tells the
story of the Hardware parties to that date. But for the uninitiated, tell us the story of the Hardware brand over the last 20 events.
Oh shit, I won't go into acts, but I guess direction and venue wise, well that’s a big one. We started initially at Mercantile Rowing Club then Number 2 moved to the Powerhouse Rowing Club. Due to sound issues (the hotel across the road), we then moved to a warehouse in the city. That was great, but due to residential development, we had to move to the Showgrounds. I don’t particularly like this place as it is very dirty and run down, so we moved to the Docklands. This was great. From Hardware 5 onwards we actually leased the Shed with the Gay and Lesbian group “ALSO”. It was all good at the Docks, then Future Entertainment got in somehow, and started doing events there. Then I guess the redevelopment of the area made the governing body decide not to run events there anymore. A shame as it is such a great area. Musically, we’ve always prioritised with techno. But we cover all styles of electronic music, breaks, house, trance, electro etc... We’ve now decided to make Altona our home, as it’s either that or some clubs or Melbourne Park and I don’t really like Melbourne Park too often. It’s good for a few dates a year... We do our Belfast events which I personally love, as well as Two Tribes, Welcome... Heaps of stuff.

Among the first guests at Hardware parties were Sydney's Nick the Fish (now Nik Fish) and Jumping Jack. These days they are residents at
Sublime and frequent headliners down here at Bubble. Meanwhile Hardware has created specialised brands like Kabuki. So what's happened in the interim? Tell us a bit about how the music policy at Hardware parties became more focused towards techno over the years.
Well, we always liked techno and house. I like the old trance stuff, well we called it techno back then and it’s what is trance today really, techno from 6-8 years ago. Simple melodies, driving kicks and basslines...

Obviously in its current evolution the Hardware brand stands for multi-arena, multi-genre events. But in the main room we're seeing artists like Joel Mull (Hardware 19) and Anthony Rother (Hardware 20). Pascal FEOS is also an artist that plays a lot more than techno. To
you, in terms of the music in the main room, what does the Hardware brand represent today?
It’s a bit of everything, it’s more a rave than a techno event/concert. We cover all styles of music and try to do it the best in terms of production. From lighting, sound, décor, artwork the lot. We are perfectionists and try to put on the best value for money. I guess the mainrooms are now techno and trance, with smaller areas covering all styles of music really.

Thumbing through the old Hardware flyers one of the first things you notice is the way the artwork mirrors the way the scene grew exponentially. What involvement have you had with the flyer design over the years? And what one's your favourite?
Well, I decide what we do in terms of direction and art. The artists usually help with ideas as it’s their speciality, but the art tries to capture the essence and feeling of the event. My favourite would have to be... Hardware 9, CJ Bolland.

You've watched the scene grow from its infancy into the huge part of society and culture it is today. With Hardware it's undeniable you've been crucial to the scene's development in Australia. How does that make you feel?
I guess it's all good. I feel good about that. There are loads of other people as well. It’s good, but also works against you as everyone knows who you are, everyone knows what you do and you become a target for blame sometimes. Otherwise, sure, I feel good about it.

Are you one for reminiscing about the 'way it used to be'?
Yeah, but not in a bad way. The times for me was when I was going a little crazy, met lots of new friends I still hang with today, 10-12 years on. But there’s new times ahead now and all is good. The only thing I dislike about the future is the people who have fucked things up or are fucking things up. Event organisers in particular who leech of our hard work, like Oracle with Kryal. We had that ripped from right underneath us. The older days this never happened. People built their business and parties on hard work. These days more and more people are building their businesses up by fucking people over for market share etc... Not good. That’s the only thing I dislike about today.

Given your position I imagine you're regularly roped into 'back in the day' conversations (not least by pesky interviewers!). What, if anything, do you miss about previous parties?
Not much. They are all special. Just these days my mates are getting older and not coming all the time. But otherwise, I guess I miss them as much as ones a year ago. I still get to see all my favourite DJs, and it’s all good!

What has been the most memorable event, or incident at an event?
Um, probably having 4 guys paddle from Shed 16 to Shed 14 across the water in a Dinghy to sneak into Hardware 8. They were caught paddling away, they had plans to climb up under the pier and sneak in. I let them in for free just cause I though that was the most ingenious way ever to sneak in and wondered why I hadn’t thought of it first. Hats off to them.

What has been the most valuable lesson you've learnt through the Hardware parties?
All people are equal. That’s why I “hate” VIP areas at bigger raves!

And most importantly, where is Hardware (both brand and company) going in the future?
Good shows. More production. More areas. We are just working closer now with Altona to make it work, it’s the last good “rave” venue for these types of things.

Thanks for your time and best of luck for the 17th!

For more reminiscing, check out the Hardware website and navigate to the Event Archives.

For more info on Hardware 20, check out the event details below.
Event Details : Hardware 20, Melbourne.