DJ Rich:)e Rich
For bookings email hardware --@-- hardwarecorp.com.au
Richie
McNeill, the man behind Hardware - Australia’s largest techno organisation
- is one of the hard working originators of the Australian dance scene.
He is a man of many guises – DJ, producer, remixer, promoter, label
manager, Kiss-FM producer/presenter, record shop/distribution owner and
more recently, has begun venturing into film and television score.
It all began back in 1984, when Richie got into bands like New Order, Depeche
Mode, Spandau Ballet, Human League, Joy Division, Devo, Exploited, Sex Pistols,
The Cure, Sigue Sigue Sputnik, Arthur Baker, Madonna and Grandmaster Flash.
In 1986 Richie and his mates loved hip hop legends Schooly D, KRS One, Boogie
Down Productions, Mantronix, Melle Mel and the Furious Five, Public Enemy
and the UK’s Derek B and at the age of 16, they began frequenting Melbourne
acid house club Checkpoint Charlie. Upon hearing the ‘new’ sound
Richie became besotted and poured all his energy into dance music.
In 1989 he spent a year working as a busboy at one of Melbourne’s infamous
clubs, Chasers. All his money was used to buy records and Richie eventually
got a few gigs at Melbourne’s premier techno clubs, like Xpress at
Chasers and Maze at Commerce. It all really started to happen in 1990 when
Richie and some friends ran a Wednesday night club called Illusion and his
main break came through a residency at Melbourne’s first major weekly
techno club, Pure at the Palace. The rave scene was blossoming and Richie
was working at all the parties - really bringing the techno sound to Melbourne.
He was also DJing around the country with gigs in Perth, Sydney, Adelaide
and Brisbane.
In 1991, Richie secured a job at Mushroom Distribution Services (MDS) where
he started in the warehouse and worked his way up to manage the dance department
from 1991-1996 when MDS were the dance distributors in Australia. Richie’s
father gave him the idea to put on his own parties and on New Year’s
Eve 1991, Hardware was born through a party to raise money for his dad’s
charity, Try Youth & Community Services.
In ten years, Richie has organised over 120 events with Hardware, having
also run weekly club nights like Chinese Laundry. His DJing skills saw him
secure a prime techno show on Kiss-FM alongside guest spots on radio around
the country. Richie also set up Azwan Transmissions, a label which offered
the world top class techno and trance from Oz.
Richie’s studio is finally set up and the first releases from his production
work should be with us soon alongside remixes for fellow Melbourne projects.
Richie has worked everywhere from Big Day Out to Every Picture Tells A Story
to Acid Reign to Gasp and Agent Mad events, Queensland’s Strawberry
Fields Festivals, Teriyaki Anarki Saki, Vibes On A Summer’s Day, the
Apollo Festival and of course alongside many more, his own Hardware parties.
Overseas jaunts have included gigs in New Zealand, Singapore, Malaysia,
Germany, London and USA.
Welcome 2000 CD
Welcome 2001 CD
Hardware 3 double CD
Hardware 4 double CD
Hardware 5 double CD
Hardware 6 double CD
Track 2 (Remix) 48 HOURS Vicious Vinyl
Music advisor and soundtrack for One Perfect Day (Lightstream Pictures,
Australia)
