Founder / DJ / Festival Creator / TechnologistFounder and CEO of HARD Events a concert brand that has put on popular music festivals since 2007, which was acquired in 2012 by Live Nation Entertainment. Gary Richards has performed professionally as a DJ under the name Destructo for over 20 years, having toured worldwide. He is credited with being a leader in the Electronic music business in North America, and through his events, has helped bring artists like Deadmau5, Skrillex, and Justice into the mainstream. Richards is included on Rolling Stone's "50 Most Important People in EDM"list, Billboard's "EDM Power Players" lists from 2014–2017, and inthemix's list of the "50 Most Powerful People in EDM". As Destructo, he has created music with Snoop Dogg, Busta Rhymes, Yo Gotti, Ty Dolla $ign, Chris Lake, Idris Elba and remixed for Dolly Parton officially.In the 1990's Gary Richards was handpicked by Rick Rubin to handle A&R duties for the Electronic music division at Def American Recordings, where he signed and developed Lords of Acid, XL Recordings, Messiah, Digital Orgasm, Harthouse Records and God Lives Underwater. He went on to establish his own record labels Nitrus Records and 1500 Records which released music from Kill The Noise, Whitey, David Holmes, Überzone, Dub Pistols, Ugly Duckling, the critically acclaimed Depeche Mode tribute album For the Masses, and the original motion picture soundtrack for 15 Minutes.