Hard is a national music festival, music cruise and concert brand founded by Gary Richards in 2007. The event line-ups consist of high-profile alternative, electronic and rock acts and cutting edge emerging talents. The first Hard Music Festival was held on December 31, 2007 in Downtown Los Angeles and featured Justice (French band), Peaches (musician) and 2 Live Crew. Hard is best known for the Hard Summer Music Festival and Hard Haunted Mansion. Hard is sometimes called 'hardfest' by fans, based on the event's website hardfest.com and social media shortcuts. Additional Hard brands include the Hard Summer Tour, Hard 13, Turkey Soup and Holy Ship! electronic music cruise.

Hard Summer Music Festival

Hard LA

Hard NYC

Hard Miami

Hard Presents Dub Police Tour

Bromance Tour

Holy Ship!

A trio of well-known event producers - Hard Events, the Bowery Presents and Cloud 9 Adventures - announce Holy Ship!, a three-night, electronica-infused, around-the-clock party on an MSC Cruises vessel. The first-of-its-kind event will kick off in Fort Lauderdale on Jan. 6, 2012 on the 2,550-passenger MSC Poesia, and is restricted to adults ages 21 and above. During the voyage the ship will make a stop at a private island in the Bahamas for a beach party with Fatboy Slim, Diplo, and Dillon Francis.

Holiness, or sanctity, is in general the state of being holy (perceived by religious individuals as associated with the divine) or sacred (considered worthy of spiritual respect or devotion; or inspiring awe or reverence among believers in a given set of spiritual ideas). In other contexts, objects are often considered 'holy' or 'sacred' if used for spiritual purposes, such as the worship or service of gods. These terms can also be used in a non-spiritual or semi-spiritual context ("sacred truths" in a constitution). It is often ascribed to people ("a holy man" of religious occupation, "holy prophet" who is venerated by his followers), objects ("sacred artifact" that is venerated and blessed ), times ("holy days" of spiritual introspection, such as during winter holidays), or places ("sacred ground", "holy place").

The word "sacred" descends from the Latin sacrum, which referred to the gods or anything in their power, and to sacerdos, priest; sanctum, set apart. It was generally conceived spatially, as referring to the area around a temple.

Since the end of the age of sail a ship has been any large buoyant marine vessel. Ships are generally distinguished from boats based on size and cargo or passenger capacity. Ships are used on lakes, seas, and rivers for a variety of activities, such as the transport of people or goods, fishing, entertainment, public safety, and warfare. Historically, a "ship" was a vessel with sails rigged in a specific manner.

Ships and boats have developed alongside mankind. In armed conflict and in daily life they have become an integral part of modern commercial and military systems. Fishing boats are used by millions of fishermen throughout the world. Military forces operate vessels for combat and to transport and support forces ashore. Commercial vessels, nearly 35,000 in number, carried 7.4 billion tons of cargo in 2007.

Ships were key in history's great explorations and scientific and technological development. Navigators such as Zheng He spread such inventions as the compass and gunpowder. Ships have been used for such purposes as colonization and the slave trade, and have served scientific, cultural, and humanitarian needs. After the 16th century, new crops that had come from and to the Americas via the European seafarers significantly contributed to the world's population growth. Maritime transport has shaped the world's economy into today's energy-intensive pattern.

Steve Hiroyuki Aoki (born November 30, 1977) is an American electro house musician, record producer and the founder of Dim Mak Records.

Steve Hiroyuki Aoki was born in Miami and grew up in Newport Beach, California. He graduated from Newport Harbor High School in 1995; he was a star player on the varsity badminton team. He is the third child of Rocky Aoki and Chizuru Kobayashi. His father was a former Japanese Olympic wrestler who also founded the restaurant chain Benihana. He has two older siblings, sister Kana (who is sometimes called by her middle name "Grace"), and brother Kevin (owner of Doraku Sushi restaurant). He also has three half-siblings, all of whom are younger: half-brother Kyle and half-sisters Echo, and Devon, the supermodel and actress. As a child, Steve lived with his grandfather,^{[citation needed]} his mother, and his two older siblings.

Aoki attended the University of California, Santa Barbara and graduated with two B.A.s; one in Women's Studies and the other in Sociology. In college, he produced do-it-yourself records and ran underground concerts out of his Biko room in the Santa Barbara Student Housing Cooperative, which was located in Isla Vista, a section of residential land adjacent to UCSB. As a concert venue, the apartment became known as The Pickle Patch. By his early 20s, Aoki had built his own record label, which he named Dim Mak after his childhood hero, Bruce Lee. He has also been in numerous bands, including This Machine Kills, which released an album on Ebullition Records, Esperanza, and The Fire Next Time.

Boys Noize is the stage name of Alexander Ridha, a German electronic music producer and DJ. It is similar to the name of Ridha's label, Boysnoize Records, which he established in 2005. Ridha has remixed a number of other artists work, including Snoop Dogg and Depeche Mode.

Ridha (born in 1982, Hamburg) started producing and DJing at early age, period in which he supported Felix Da Housecat and DJ Hell. Today, Ridha himself is known as one of the most valuable electronic artists, awarded with the Independent Music Award in 2010 as well as 3 years in a row Best Electronic Artist on Beatport. His music is known to merge various styles and having a unique and innovative sound, with influences of hip-hop and disco roots as well as heavy noise and electro sounds. His DJ sets are equally praised and have gained worldwide recognition for the mixing and visuals.

Ridha released his early work on labels such as International Deejay Gigolos Records, Kitsuné Music and Turbo Recordings. In order to retain full artistic freedom however, he established his imprint Boysnoize Records in 2005. Both of his LPs "OI OI OI" and its successor "POWER" were recorded under this label, as well as the singles "Don't Believe The Hype", "&Down" and "Jeffer" as well as "Transmition"