Hardy Says Boundaries in Music Are ‘Completely Ridiculous’

Hardy may have gotten his start in music as a country songwriter, but his diverse taste in music proves that he is a true rock ‘n’ roll soul.

There’s been a lot of crossover between rock and country over the last couple of years, and Hardy is one of the artists responsible for helping blend the genres and together. He started his career in music as a songwriter in Nashville for some of the biggest names in country, including Morgan Wallen and Blake Shelton.

His first EP as a musician came out in late 2018 and he’s put out three studio albums since. While his material was generally more country-leaning in the beginning, he argues that the rock ‘n’ roll spirit was always there.

“It’s always been in me and my stuff has always leaned a little bit more on the rock ‘n’ roll side,” Hardy tells Loudwire in an exclusive interview.

It wasn’t until 2020, though, that he noticed his fans were really into the heavy bits he incorporated into his live sets. And that’s when he realized he wanted to keep injecting his love for rock and metal into his music.

Hardy’s latest album Quit!! came out this year and it’s the most rock-centric of all of his releases so far. It features some pop-punk leanings, nu-metal moments and even collaborations with Chad Smith of Red Hot Chili Peppers and Limp Bizkit‘s Fred Durst.

Hardy, “Time to Be Dead”

We caught up with Hardy to ask about his background in rock and metal, his favorite up-and-coming bands, the kind of collaboration he wants to do with Corey Taylor and more.

Read the full conversation below.

Can you name some of the rock and metal bands that you were into growing up and what it was about them that you loved?

Bands such as Creed and Nickelback, all the bands everybody loves to make fun of, 3 Doors Down — they were some of my favorite bands growing up. And I still think they’re incredible.

But at a young age, although I didn’t understand anything about what they were talking about or anything, I loved System of a Down. Come Clean by Puddle of Mudd was one of my all-time favorites. I love Linkin Park, especially early Linkin Park.

Later in my teenage years, I started to discover metal. There were a couple of metalhead kids at my school. One guy made me a burned CD back when that was still a thing. He was just like, “Here, listen to this and tell me what you think.” A lot of A Day to Remember, there was a southern metal band on there called Maylene and the Sons of Disaster that was freaking awesome.

August Burns Red, any of that stuff that was classic Warped Tour or metal tour bands. Any of those guys that were heavy and had breakdowns and were fun. I listened to Born of Osiris… the list goes on and on for the metal stuff. Anything that you could pretty much discover on MTV from the year 1999 to 2007, I was here for it if it was rock ‘n’ roll.

Keith Urban recently recalled that he was in a metal band in high school. Did you ever play with any metal musicians back then?

No, not really. I was in a couple of little garage bands, but we never really played a real show anywhere. There were a few around town, but I was not unfortunately.

It would have been fun though.

READ MORE: Keith Urban Reveals Metal Band He was in Was Named After Ace Frehley Song

How did you get involved with country songwriting as opposed to maybe pursuing a more rock-centric path back in the day?

I grew up listening to rock ‘n’ roll and metal, but I grew up country. I hunt and fish and I’ve done it since I was a little kid. I was constantly spending time outside and catching snakes, so my lifestyle was always there.

In the early 2000s, guys such as Eric Church and Brad Paisley were the first people in country that I listened to.

Country in the ’90s was just the honky tonk thing — a lot of drinking in bars and a lot of leaving songs and cheating songs. That never resonated with me.

Country really grabbed me when Brad Paisley and Eric Church and these guys started singing songs about the good old boy and the world that I grew up in. So I gravitated more toward country and starting writing songs based on the songs I was hearing and my lifestyle.

I grew up in a town called Philadelphia in Mississippi and Nashville was only about five hours away. That was just the move I wanted to make — it was just in the cards to do the country thing.

When did you start coming up with the idea that you wanted to make country-rock music and were you getting pushback from anybody for that decision?

It’s always been in me. My first EP has a song on it called “Four by Four.” I could record that song today and it would sound like something I would do right now. My stuff has always leaned a little bit more on the rock ‘n’ roll side, but there were a few very pivotal moments.

I put a song out called “Boots” back in 2020. We obviously didn’t tour, but “Boots” had a country version of a breakdown in it. It was just very different, but very rock leaning for me.

About four months later, it was the first show back. We played “Boots” somewhere in Florida and that song just went bananas. I remember thinking, Okay maybe I’m onto something here with this whole rock thing. 

A short while after that, I wrote a song called “Sold Out,” and then we started playing that live and that started going off. The reaction from the fans really gave me the courage to jump full-on into the rock ‘n’ roll thing.

I maybe had little bit of pushback from country radio, but as far as my label or anybody telling me that it was a bad idea, I’ve had nothing but support.

Hardy, “Sold Out”

I saw one of your shows back in June and it’s heavy! I was expecting it to be a little more country-leaning, despite having heard Quit!! at that point. But you said it yourself, the fans actually really enjoyed it. It’s cool to see how artists such as yourself and Jelly Roll are blending those audiences together.

It’s really cool. The one thing that helps with that is that even back when I was putting out “only country music,” we would beef our live show up to make it seem like a rock ‘n’ roll show no matter what. Today, the songs are to a point where we just have to play them like they are on the record because they’re a lot heavier.

The fans have gradually gotten used to the heavy show because it’s always been a version of that, but it’s definitely the heaviest it’s ever been right now. And hopefully it’ll continue to be even more so. We’ll see.

As somebody who blends genres and makes a variety of music, what do you think about genres and all the different labels? There are so many and then there are artists who are doing a little mix of everything. Quit!! has pop-punk, there’s heavier songs — it’s a mix.

Music has no president. There is no gatekeeper.

I don’t care what anybody says. Music has no rules. And whoever thinks that there is, is wrong.

Music is a gift that we’ve been given and it’s something that we should celebrate. And the fact that people try to put boundaries and borders up around music is completely ridiculous.

READ MORE: 12 Rock + Country Artist Collaborations That Go Hard

Genres are fine — they matter when it comes to marketing and radio stations. I think that is very important. But at the end of the day, music itself has no rules and anybody who wants to make music should be able to do whatever the hell they want to do with it.

Aside from yourself, what are some other country artists that you think rock fans and metalheads would get into if they gave them a shot?

There’s a country duo called Lakeview that work a lot with Cody Quistad from Wage War. They’re doing a heavy thing.

Lakeview, “Home Team”

My favorite one right now — I wouldn’t put this in the metal category — Stephen Wilson Jr. has his own rock thing. He is a total badass and he’s got a very cool rock ‘n’ roll type of thing. His sound is so unique that it’s really hard to pin down.

Stephen Wilson Jr., “Year To Be Young 1994”

A lot of mainstream artists have been experimenting with country and then there’s artists who are in that direction but moving toward rock. What do you think it would take for rock music to become really popular and mainstream again the way that country is now?

I don’t know, I hope that it happens though. I miss rock being commercial. I think that it was great.

Maybe it’s going to take a generation of youth to fall in love with it again. That is what has always been the fuel for rock ‘n’ roll’s commercial success — a generation of youth that lifted it up and let it stand on their shoulders.

Over the last few years there have been waves where things come back — nu-metal with Limp Bizkit and Linkin Park and now late ’90s/early ’00s hard rock with Creed, Three Days Grace and Crossfade reuniting. It feels like there’s a resurgence in 2000s rock interest again. It just never takes over the way that it did in the 2000s and we’re all just waiting for that.

Social media has replaced radio. It’s a big online presence.

I even noticed that there’s songs on TikTok that have blown up. Superheaven have that song “Youngest Daughter,” but there’s like little pockets where people are starting to exploit that stuff again on a really high fan base level.

It’s just different because it’s not TV and radio, but I think something is going to happen soon and it’s going to come back. I feel a moment soon that rock ‘n’ roll bands are going to be at the front again.

We just got one of our big bands back in Linkin Park. You mentioned earlier that you’re a fan of them. What do you think about their comeback with Emily Armstrong and everything that’s going on with them?

I saw a lot of pushback and people had negative things to say about her joining the band and I’m like, “The show must go on.” I think it’s great.

If anything, it’s just continuing Chester [Bennington]‘s legacy. It’s amazing that they will still get to perform as a band and people will still get to see their shows and celebrate and sing all those great songs.

I wish them nothing but the best.

Are there any other newer and younger rock bands that have caught your attention lately?

Number one is a band called Bilmuri. It’s Johnny Frank’s band and he used to play in Attack Attack! with Caleb Shomo. Caleb does Beartooth and Johnny has his band called Bilmuri. Their whole catalog is sick.

I’m on the Sleep Token train. I know they’re pretty polarizing among the rock ‘n’ roll world too, but I think their last record [Take Me Back to Eden] is fucking phenomenal. They’re huge and that last record is just a work of art to me, I think it was cool as shit.

There’s a guy, it’s like indie rock, called Medium Build. He’s really good.

Number one though is Bilmuri, you have to check them out. They’re super different. They incorporate metal with pop elements, but also a saxophone and random country instruments such as steel guitars and fiddles. It’s a wild sound, but it’s really cool and definitely worth a listen.

Bilmuri, “Better Hell”

You’ve collaborated with Caleb Shomo. Who are some other bucket list rock and metal artists you want to collaborate with at some point?

Mike Shinoda would be super cool. I just want to meet him. I actually know him somewhat, we’ve texted a little bit.

Corey Taylor would be really cool. I love the Stone Sour stuff. If it was even in that vein — I don’t need it to be this heavy, crazy Slipknot thing. If we could write or just have a cool song in that vein of rock ‘n’ roll, I would love that too.

I’m still just such a sucker for all the bands that I grew up with, so even just doing something creative with any of those bands would be amazing too. I’m constantly living in this nostalgia, so anything to fuel that fire would be awesome.

Here’s one more — if you could put together the perfect supergroup consisting of your favorite bassist, singer, guitarist and drummer, who would be in it?

Number on one bass is Les Claypool, Carter Beauford from Dave Matthews Band on drums, Myles Kennedy is the singer, Mark Tremonti on one guitar and Dimebag Darrell on the other guitar.

It would sound interesting for sure.