Biography
Hardy grew up in Wyke, Bradford, where his father was a local baker famous for his pain au chocolat and experimental brioche. He attended Bradford Grammar School and gained a place in Bradford College's BTec foundation course of art and design in 1998 after representing his synaesthesia (through which he can hear smells) in paint on canvas. He earned a place in the Glasgow School of Art in order to study painting. He completed his first year in 2000. Keen to sample all that Glasgow had to offer he visited the 13th Note where he met Alex Kapranos, now the frontman of Franz Ferdinand. There, he told a few vulgar "dead baby" jokes. So horrific were these baby jokes,that Kapranos was astonished by the filth this man could spew. Kapranos, insulted by the jokes, ended up talking to Hardy and learning that he needed a job and money. Kapranos then got Hardy a job with himself as a dessert chef.
Hardy was an artist interested in music while Kapranos was a musician interested in art; this helped the two become firm friends. Through Hardy's friends from the Art School, Kapranos developed an interest in the work of the Dadaists and the Russian Constructivists. After Hardy had met Nick McCarthy, whose girlfriend was also at the art school, the two began to date members of Hardy's year. Many of the earlier shows of the band would come about thanks to the band's art world contacts.
Kapranos had been given a bass guitar by his friend Mick Cooke, a member of the cult Glaswegian popsters, Belle & Sebastian on the condition that he "did something useful with it". Some time around the end of 2001, Hardy was sitting in Kapranos' kitchen in Glasgow. Kapranos had just been given the bass. So he asked "Do you want to learn to play the bass then, Bob?", to which Hardy replied, "No, I'm an artist, not a musician." Alex responded, saying, "It's the same thing," which led to Hardy eventually giving in.
Hardy has cited Will Smith, particularly during his 'Fresh Prince of Bel-Air' years, Kate Winslet, Dennis Quaid and Missy Elliott as personal heroes of his.
Hardy is the author of several graphic novels all sharing the themes of documentation, memory and loss. He recently completed a detailed history on the development of the viaduct and has completed an illustrated almanac with the astrologer and musician Françoise Hardy. Hardy's next project is to involve the construction of a life-sized robot. The project was proposed to him by DENSO Corporation after Hardy contacted them with sketches and designs. Hardy has also spoken of a keen interest in teleportation machines.
Read more about this topic: Robert Hardy (bassist)
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