Avi Roig of Harsh R

We first got to know PNW noise-punk-industrial-synth promoter and musician Avi Roig through his excellent blog about Scandinavian music, the departed-but-never-forgotten It’s a Trap!. Despite being incredibly busy putting on hella shows, Avi has recently launched a new punky-industrial project Harsh R, whose first cassette release comes via Russian label Strudel Tapes. Being that he’s one of the most knowledgeable music cats we know, we thought it would be a cool idea to tap him for a So Fragile mix. He had this to say about it:

“I guess I’ve been listening to industrial music for nearly 30 years at this point, but I barely comprehend synthesis and the open-endedness of music software paralyzes me, so I’ve never actually performed in the genre until Harsh R aside from a short-lived project doing auxiliary percussion in the mid-90s. I had been toying around with a few cheap synths the last couple years, but then my band Soggy Creep fell apart and all of a sudden I had no artistic outlet and a lot of free time so I did what came naturally: I took a bunch of lunk-headed punk riffs I was sitting on, sequenced them, and ran the results through a battalion of distortion boxes (I’m up to 6 in my current live rig) while I screamed and pounded on garbage. Voilá! Art!

Anyhow, my goal for this mix is to expose the roots of my sound, so I start off with some raw industrial/EBM comfort food before diving deep into the type of abrasive punk/hardcore/noiserock that truly informs my songwriting. Don’t worry though, I still drop in some oontz here and there and you also get a (very) rough version of a new Harsh R track since I figure that’s what you’re supposed to do with these things. You’re welcome! Enjoy!”

Tracklist:
//TENSE//, “Disconnect Me”
Dive, “There’s No Hope”
C.Aarmé, “Bodybuilding”
Star Pimp, “Richie”
Nitad, “Rastlös och Vild”
Okkultokrati, “Ragnarokian”
Geneviève Pasquier, “Lines”
Grotus, “Edward Abbey”
Harsh R, “Live in Fear” (demo)
Montys Loco, “Criminal”
Tyrant, “Tyrant”
The Psyke Project, “Partisan”
Steel Pole Bath Tub, “Christina”
Ontal, “M134”
Breach, “Path of Conscience”
ADSR SPQR, “Shared Sickness”
Hebosagil, “Pian Tämä Kaikki On Ohi”