As the company's founder on one hand and perennial partystarter Destructo on the other, Gary Richards has been at the center of all the HARD madness since it began in 2007. The festival series has been at the center of dance music's ascent in the US, and has done so with a distinct take on what it is that makes people move. As HARD's Day of the Dead 2014 approaches, we sat down with the HARDfather as he selected his top 5 tracks for DOTD.Knife Party - "Boss Mode""Knife Party have been a pretty big staple for HARD over the years. It's kinda like a tradition that we do this Halloween with them. I listened to their new record and its awesome. This one song in particular stood out – it's classic Knife Party. So I wanted to get something out there from them that's new and pumping. This song is just a banger, can't wait to play it in my set."Calvin Harris - "The Girls""For me, Calvin has been a part of the HARD family for a really long time. Y'know, I was trying to book Calvin when he was with a band. My favorite music from Calvin is his first album and, of course, the song "Girls". Partying isn't a lot of fun unless there's lots of girls…I really love his take on that. The whole first album by him is amazing."RL Grime - "Core""RL Grime, Henry, has been with us from the start. He's an LA kid and he's got an album coming out as well. There's a new track on their called "Core," which has these Arabic horn stabs. It's just so dope and the line's like "That new shit, that shit that we do." It kind of sums up the vibe of HARD – the shit that we do – we just bang. RL Grime's got his own stage at the festival this time – we've been with him from the start so it's dope to see him coming up"Zhu - "Faded""It's Zhu's North American debut playing live at Day of the Dead. To me it's funny cause one of the guys in my office was like, "why are you gonna pick that song? It's played out." – it's a great song! I'm not the guy who won't play something that's been played a million times. If it's good, it's good you know? And Zhu "Faded" is a classic tune, I love it."Ty Dolla $ign "Paranoid"
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"It's an LA classic, you hear it on the radio here every five minutes. It's so cool to have Ty Dolla $ign at the festival. I'm trying to educate my kids on some new stuff. I went in the studio with him and we did a song called "Nobody Else." Being in the studio with him and seeing him come in with a song he never heard before and within 20 minutes writing 3, 40-part harmonies over it and the way he plays a piano and sings – I was blown away – this guy is a serious musician."Bonus!Destructo ft. Problem - "Dare You 2 Move"