The gritty industrial area around Alameda and Seventh streets in Los Angeles is a special place for Gary Richards.
That’s where the L.A. native, an electronic dance music heavyweight who performs as Destructo, spent a lot of time back in the 1990s developing his love for the music at underground parties held in the old warehouses that still dot the neighborhood.
And now, after a career that included the creation of a major production company and a massive dance music festival, he’s going back to the downtown L.A. neighborhood to launch what could become yet another definitive dance festival.
Richards will debut the new two-day All My Friends music festival among the warehouses and produce markets at the edge of the downtown L.A. Arts District Aug.18 and 19.
“I know that people who have gone to my events have always said, ‘Oh that first one, that was the one,’ so this is the first of a new era,” Richards said during a recent telephone interview.
It’s Richards’ first major event since leaving Hard Summer Music Festival, a mega dance event he founded more than a decade ago.
All My Friends is taking place at Row DTLA, a complex made up of early 20th century industrial buildings that has been renovated into restaurants, retail shops, galleries and offices.
“One of the biggest factors for me is to be in downtown. I always identified myself with the Los Angeles music scene,” Richards said.
The hip-hop, dance and R&B-focused festival will include about three dozen acts performing on three stages with top names such as RL Grime, Gucci Mane, Jhene Aiko, M.I.A., Jamie xx and Armand Van Helden.
About 10,000 people are expected each day, which is far less than the more than 100,000 fans Hard generally attracted after its move to the Inland Empire.
Smaller crowds and a more laid-back atmosphere are exactly what Richards wants with his new festival.
“Being able to start something new from scratch after all those years of experience is really good, because, you know, Hard got to this level where it was just too big, just massive,” Richards said.
“But to be able to go back to downtown and not be in San Bernardino…it’s much more intimate, much more boutique, it’s actually going to have a much more of a feel like the first Hard when we were in downtown and we closed off streets,” he added.
Richards started Hard in 2007 as a New Year’s Eve party in Los Angeles with a lineup that included French electronic duo Justice, doing its first U.S. shows, and Canadian electronic musician and DJ A-Trak.
The event quickly grew, landing performances by star artists such as Diplo and Skrillex as it moved to bigger venues like the Los Angeles State Historic Park before moving further east to the Fairplex in Pomona and Auto Club Speedway in Fontana .
Live Nation bought Hard in 2012 but Richards stayed on with the event until last year when his final year took place on the grounds of San Bernardino County’s Glen Helen Amphitheater.
This year Hard, which is now entirely run by Insomniac, returned to the Auto Club Speedway in Fontana in early August.
After stepping away from the festival he founded, Richards joined competing music event producer LiveStyle. All My Friends is Richards’ first major event with the company, which was formerly known as SFX Entertainment. All My Friends will be followed by the already sold-out December cruise out of Miami called Friendship. (He previously ran the popular EDM cruise Holy Ship.)
Richards also wanted to set a different tone for All My Friends immediately, so he recruited a few of his friends who are performing, including Anna Lunoe, Jason Bentley and Deux Twins, to create a hilarious line-up announcement video that spoofed the opening credits to classic 1980s TV show “The Golden Girls.”
“We actually got Anna Lunoe to sing the theme, so we created a new recording for the video…I thought it was a good way to announce it. I wanted to do something different,” he said.
The performers act out the famous scenes while Lunoe sings “Thank You for Being a Friend.”
His friends aren’t the only sentimental part of the new festival. While the location’s industrial background and downtown skyline defines L.A. for Richards, the location of the Row means something more to him.
“That’s kind of ground zero for me…that’s really where I heard this music for the first time so I really wanted to be in that neighborhood,” he said.
And even before the first artist hits the stage at All My Friends, the new festival already feels different for Richards.
“The pressure isn’t on to have to deliver 100,000 people and millions of dollars and all these things, it’s just like, everybody come and enjoy the Row, enjoy the city, let’s have a good time,” he said.
If You Go:
When: 3 p.m.- midnight Aug.18-19
Where: Row DTLA, 787 S. Alameda St., Los Angeles
Tickets: $89 for a single-day general admission pass and $139 for a two-day general admission pass, 18 and older only; $139 for a single-day VIP pass and $249 for a two-day VIP pass, 21 and older only.
Information: www.amfamfamf.com
