FUELED BY LESSONS LEARNED FROM HIS BROTHER’S DEATH, GARY RICHARDS, AKA DESTRUCTO, THRILLS TO A MANIC SCHEDULE AND A QUEST FOR GENRE MIXING

BY TIA KIM

BORN AND BRED: Washington, D.C.

EARLY INSPIRATIONS: His dad, Barry “Reazar” Richards, worked in radio and as a concert promoter, so Gary was listening to the likes of Alice Cooper and Led Zeppelin from the age of 10.

BIG BREAK: Organizing his first major music event in 1991 “Magical Mickey’s Holy Water Adventure” at Wild Rivers in Irvine, California. By the mid1990s, he had launched his DJ career under the name Destructo.

NOTABLE GIGS: Gary has spun everywhere from Australia and Fiji to Tokyo and Ibiza, in addition to crossing the country on the go HARD Tour with A$AP Ferg, Rae Sremmurd, and Dillon Francis.

NEW STUDIO WORK: The 2017 EP, Renegade. “That title stuck because I felt like a renegade while creating this music,” he explained. “The people who listen to my songs are renegades. The fans that come to our shows are, too, because they don’t adhere to formula. They’re not into pre programmed bullshit. They’re digging deep. They want something more. They want something creative. We’re trying to mix up genres and do something different.”

NOTABLE TRACKS: Our favourite is “Hard,” which, Gary observed, “serves as my signature sonic call to arms.” The track’s guest list includes no less than Snoop Dogg, along with fellow chart toppers Kevin Gates and Yo Gotti and rising stars Denzel Curry and Tink.

PHILOSOPHY: “Snoop summed it up; ‘Yodo,’ meaning ‘You only die once,’ so live life. I related to those lyrics back to when my big brother, Rocker, died of brain cancer. Until he got sick, I never thought about dying or even being sick. I just thought I was unstoppable. I think that’s why I’m so manic with the way I work, because I know this isn’t a rehearsal.”

STYLE: Gratifyingly unpredictable, but typically bed rocked by “a haze of house, hip hop, and funk,” as he puts it.

Destructo
Friday, October 12 at Premier Nightclub, Borgata Hotel & Casino,
1 Borgata Way, Atlantic City / premierborgata.com