NEW HAWKE ALBUM “LOVE IN STARS” 

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DJ GAVIN HARDKISS “LOVE IN STARS” TREASURE HUNT CAMPAIGN TAKES HIS NEW HAWKE ALBUM UNDERGROUND 

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ENCRYPTED ALBUM ON GOLD USB DRIVES HIDDEN AROUND THE SF BAY AREA WITH CLUES FOUND AT RECORDS STORES, COCKTAIL BARS AND ONLINE

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HAWKE PLEDGEMUSIC DRIVE LIVE NOW

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DJ/Producer Gavin Hardkiss dropped his new HAWKE album LOVE IN STARS this week with a treasure hunt and PledgeMusic campaign. Inspired by the spirit of 90’s rave culture, he says "I buried this new album with all my music in the ground and hid it in a tree on the top of a mountain for it to be discovered. I want my music to be rare, like an endangered bird of prey.” 

 

By hiding encrypted gold USB drives all around the SF bay area, Hardkiss has taken LOVE IN STARS underground, literally. After growing frustrated with how music fans consume and experience music today, “when music is everywhere it isn't valuable anymore so my music will not be available on Spotify, Pandora or iTunes.”

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Fans who participate in the Love In Stars Treasure Hunt will discover the catalog of Hawke albums which are a history of electronic dance music in the Bay Area. The first clue that leads to the gold USB drives can be found in gold envelopes inserted in original '90s Hawke vinyl including the underground classics '3 Nudes In A Purple Garden' and 'Acid Funk' at eight record stores throughout the Bay Area. 

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Gold envelopes can also be found at select cocktail bars in San Francisco. Find the gold USB drives and you'll get the albums Love In Stars, Namaquadisco, Heatstroke, Love Won Another and Plus Plus Plus and other unreleased rarities from the infamous Hardkiss library that are not available on the Internet. “If you find the gold then you know you have something valuable,” adds Hardkiss.

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As one of dance music’s most influential DJ/Producers coming out of San Francisco’s legendary '90s rave scene, Hardkiss carved a foundation for much of today's dance music culture with his music brothers Scott and Robbie Hardkiss. Original pioneers like Hardkiss are making a comeback among dance music fans and rising above the ashes of EDM’s fall. “Push button DJs and Tech have killed the fun,” says Hardkiss, “I believe dance and electronic music fans want to get back to something more authentic. Love in Stars is my soundtrack to what’s happening now.”

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“LOVE IN STARS” is the 5th Hawke album. Produced by Hardkiss, it's a mix of indie dance, deep house, ambient and funk. It pays homage to bands he is a fan of like The Stone Roses, The KLF, Bonobo and MGMT.

Hawke, the band project created by Gavin Hardkiss, is a series of sound clashes, musical experiments and collaborations that steer off the path of convention.  Hawke albums are not genre centric, and Love in Stars is no exception. It runs riot through indie dance, deep house, ambient and funk modalities.  Previous Hawke albums have followed a similar adventurous approach.  Entertainment Weekly observed that Namaquadisco “draws unlikely sources into its house-music impressionism.” The Orlando Weekly described Love Won Another as “thick with the stoned-out, everything’s-cool-man optimism.”

 

Collaborating long distance and in the studio with musicians including Michael Kandel, Robbie Hardkiss, Tiki, Daniel Lippencott, Will Sumsuch, Robin Applewood, Trent Berry and Conn McCraw, Hardkiss fills Love In Stars with classic songwriting bumping with dance beats. There are songs for DJs, songs for chilling and songs for loving.

 

Love In Stars includes the song Divine Secret which has 100K SoundCloud plays and WarPeace which was remixed by Lee Reynolds from Desert Hearts.  Gavin sings on several songs including Stand Still, This Love’s Appetite and Blood Is Thicker Than Water.

 

To promote the new album, Hardkiss has created a Bay Area treasure hunt which leads to encrypted gold USB drives containing the new album plus the Hawke catalog of over 50 songs.  A map with record store and bar locations with the first clue will be shared  at www.hardkiss.org and at www.facebook.com/gavinhardkiss.

 

Gavin’s music is the story of San Francisco electronic music from before the first tech boom through today. The first Hawke’s single ‘3 Nudes In A Purple Garden’ was featured on the seminal Hardkiss album ‘Delusions of Grandeur.’ In 1995, Wired Magazine described it as "culled from the singles and unreleased catalog of San Francisco's Hardkiss - the royal family of American experimental electronic pop music - Delusions puts forth a soundtrack for MIDI sex in outer space."

 

Hawke’s recordings trans navigate the Bay Area with albums recorded in San Francisco, San Rafael, Calistoga and Oakland. Each album was released through independent labels on vinyl and CD, and in 2016, with rights reverting back to the artist, the digital imprint of the Hawke catalog was removed from the Internet. With new improved mixing and mastering of the earlier albums, Hawke’s music is being re-introduced in a non-conventional way.  Foregoing iTunes, Pandora and Spotify, the music is only available through PledgeMusic, on vinyl and through an interactive treasure hunt that leads to gold USB drives that contain the Hawke music catalog.​

 

LINKS

PledgeMusic Campaign: http://www.pledgemusic.com/projects/hawke

Website: www.hardkiss.org

Facebook: www.facebook.com/gavinhardkiss

Email: hardkisslives@gmail.com

 

Treasure Hunt Map: https://drive.google.com/open?id=1IuzC31RaNlLL5hQnBVrrH7EPoIo&usp=sharing

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