Interview: Louis Hardy (2 Brane, Higher Power, Big Cheese)

As the guitarist of Higher Power and Big Cheese, two of the biggest bands in UK hardcore right now, Louis Hardy's importance in the scene can't be understated. Higher Power marked 2020 with the release of their major label debut 27 Miles Underwater, a feat which only one English hardcore band has accomplished before, Gallows. After four years, Big Cheese released their debut album, Punishment Park, this year, a ferocious throwback to early-1990s heavy hardcore like Killing Time, Madball and Breakdown. Making this year even more eventful, he made his public rap debut under the name 2 Brane, merging modern trap and grime. I sat down with him to discuss the past, the present and the future.

What first inspired you to want to make music of any style?

I guess I was always creating even as a kid. I used to draw a lot and write stories and try make comics when I was young so when I got into playing different instruments it was just like fuck here’s a whole new arsenal of tools I can use to create things. My family are open minded and used to nurture it, there’d always be music playing in the house or stuff lying around to fuck with haha.

My parents were both punks when they were younger so I grew up on stuff like Crass, The Clash, Bad Brains etc so I had some awareness. I started going to metalcore shows when I was about 14 coz I was super into technical guitar playing and sometimes those shows would have hardcore bands playing and then I kinda got into it that way.

I sang in a lot of local metal bands when I was a kid and then started singing in a couple hardcore bands. I went to music college and studied production and shit so I’d always be messing around tryna make rap and hip hop when I was younger. I released some older demo’s but they’re long lost now haha. I played bass in Blind Authority for a bit which lead to me meeting a bunch of new people. Higher Power was actually the first band I ever actually played guitar in aside from a couple of times I’d filled in for Broken Teeth.

With you currently having multiple musical ventures, when writing how do you decide what to use for what project, is it what feels right in the moment? And how are your influences different for each one?

Honestly, I just write what I feel like listening to at the time. The challenge as time goes on is trying to write something that NEEDS finishing but isn’t necessarily that fun you get me?

I take influence for any project just through life and other experiences. Obviously different music comes into play but a lot of the time I just go with a feeling. If a riff, or a lyric or a section makes me feel something then I’ll use it. Also in a band I guess everyone is pulling from different places so you influence each other I guess.

There seems to have been quite a stylistic change in Higher Power's music from the first album to 27 Miles Underwater, was that a conscious effort you all had in mind or do you think it came about naturally from you all as a collective?

It was definitely a natural progression. We all were trying to pull influence from grunge as well as hardcore for a long time but I think with this new record we just explored unexplored territory. We didn’t really sit down and say ‘let’s make a record like this’, it just kinda came out that way which was cool. It definitely wasn’t forced and was probably the most organic experience we could’ve had.

The album was also released on a major label, which is not something many UK hardcore bands have done and puts you in a very niche category along with Gallows, how did that come about? Do you think it impacted the writing at all? Was the move from DIY to major jarring?

After Soul Structure came out and we’d been touring it for a while we started getting offers from various majors. It was funny because when we were at band practice once we kinda said we’d get signed to Roadrunner as a laugh and it actually happened. The move wasn’t initially jarring, just more over time you recognise the differences. I struggled a lot honestly trying to deal with working in the music industry in that way. I think that’s what lead to me working on my own stuff, just to feel less stifled and not like I’m creating solely for other people. That’s not to say 27 Miles wasn’t written from the heart but obviously when you’ve got investment from big labels there’s other people who have a say and in some ways it’s good and other ways it’s frustrating but we got it done and I’m proud of the record.

Back in July, Big Cheese opened for Have Heart during their reunion run, how did it feel playing such a massive sold out show with such a stellar lineup and playing with a band as influential as them?

It was sick! It’s funny coz I saw Have Heart almost 10 years to the day before and it was one of the first real hardcore shows I ever went to so to play with them almost a decade later was mad. Full circle type shit. It was mad coz we drove overnight from Germany the night before and we were all shot but then seeing all our friends going off made it so worth while.

How did you decide that now was the best time to debut as a rapper and how long in the making was the Kill Yourself Sessions?

It’s been something I’ve wanted to do for a while but never really had the time to sit down and make something coz we were away so much. Kill Yourself Session was mad at the end of 2019 in-amongst one of the worst periods of my life. It was a positive way to release a lot of pent up shit.

How did the pseudonym 2 Brane come about?

Always felt like I couldn’t make my mind up. I live in extremes a lot, my head is fucked. Kinda feels like I’m two people sometimes and then one day I just said ‘yeah it’s like I’ve got 2 brains and that was it really haha.

Hardcore and rap have had quite a prominent crossover recently thanks to groups like Ho99o9, City Morgue and Fever 333, have you made any kind of conscious effort to do something similar, especially in terms of the harsher backing vocals on Darkside?

It wasn’t really conscious I just thought it would be sick to scream on a song coz I was hyped when I recorded it. City Morgue is sick though I love that kinda shit so maybe the influence creeps in subconsciously.

What five albums would you say have shaped you and your taste in music the most?

Tool - Lateralus

Cro-Mags - Age Of Quarrel

Björk - Vespertine

The Streets - Original Pirate Material

XXXTentacion - ?

What would say the height of your career in music has been so far?

I think some of my favourite times were playing in Leeds at Temple Of Boom around 2015 onwards. All those shows were mad. The Snugglefest shows were insane. That period of time was beautiful, I cherish it a lot every band was so on point and the scene was so strong.

Okay, finally do you have any shout-outs you'd like to make? Any great new underground hardcore or rap albums or groups sticking out to you?

All the SOFU lot are killing it up North. Different Life Collective. Bigup Jimmy, Snowy, Window, Kyeza, Shxdow basically everyone putting Notts [Nottingham] on the map. As for hardcore, shout out to all my brothers in Vein. Listen to MM And The Peculiars!