Alexander James Hardy (born
21 July 1980,
Waratah Newcastle, New South Wales) is an
Australian musician,
composer and
educator.
He began piano lessons at a very early age and after excelling in music at primary school, he gained entry to the selective Broadmeadow Performing Arts High School (now known as the
Hunter School of the Performing Arts) in 1993 where he continued study of the
piano and
saxophone.
In 1998 after touring
Australia and
New Zealand, he led the Broadmeadow Marching Band as
Drum Major at the
World Marching and Drill Band Championships in
Sydney.
He studied a double
Bachelor Degree in Music (Piano Major) and Education (Secondary) at the
University of Newcastle and the Newcastle
Conservatorium of Music, graduating in 2002.
After a short time teaching music in various NSW High Schools, he moved to
Sydney to begin a Post-Graduate
Master's Degree in
Audio Engineering finishing in early 2004.
Although intensely private about his life, Hardy has been heavily involved in the Australian music scene for a number of years composing and/or performing with groups such as:
Grinspoon, Midnight Oil Silverchair &Delta Goodrem After working pre-production on
Delta Goodrem's debut album
Innocent Eyes, he and fellow band mate
Jason Handley (1980-2006) landed a
record deal with
SonyBMG in early 2005.
Their debut EP due for release in early 2007.
Since 2002, Hardy has composed music and sound design for various television advertisements with major clients including:
SBS, Channel 9, Hoyts, Toyota, Löwenbräu & Fox 8 (Foxtel).Hardy has worked on
film scores for various Short Film Festivals and is rumored to be linked to
New Zealand born
director Jane Campion's latest project
8, a
feature length film made of a collection of eight short films.
Hardy is currently working on sound design for the upcoming
PS3 title
LA Noire, which is being developed by Australian game development company,
Team Bondi.
In January 2007, Hardy obtained the role of
Roger Davis, in the new Australian production of the musical
RENT, which is due to open in
Sydney in December 2007.