Chimp Hardy releases debut LP ‘Animal’

Born in Austin, Texas, based in Berlin and inspired by underground scenes on both sides of the Atlantic, Chimp Hardy is a DJ and producer who’s earned a reputation as a performer who turns the dancefloor into something more than a place to listen. Part club kid, part urban shaman, Chimp Hardy creates immersive environments where audiences are encouraged to disconnect from everyday restrictions and embrace something altogether more primal.

Known for his body-painted, partially naked performances and unapologetically expressive style, Chimp Hardy transforms his sets into a post-apocalyptic tribal utopia. His aim is to create a shared experience where people can let go and by moving across Chicago house, G-house, breaks, rave and techno stylings, his sets revolve around movement, energy and unpredictability, taking listeners through a journey that celebrates freedom and collective release.

Chimp Hardy’s relationship with music began when he started out playing in punk bands, developing a connection with performance and underground culture before discovering the possibilities of electronic music. In Austin, he became involved in the city’s underground house scene, organising DIY potlucks and small community parties that reflected his belief in music as a way of bringing people together. During this period, he also opened for Erasure, before eventually relocating to Berlin and taking his sound into darker, more experimental sphere.

With more than a decade behind the decks, Chimp Hardy has developed a fiercely original style built around energetic mixing and old-school influences. His work has earned releases on legendary Chicago House label TRAX Records, Berlin’s Kaiser Wilhelm Records and his own K Willy Records imprint, helping confirm his status as an artist connected to both electronic music history and its future possibilities. In 2021, Chimp received a merit-based grant from Music Board Berlin and performed livestreams and online sets while clubs remained closed.

Now, Chimp Hardy presents his most ambitious project thus far, bringing us his debut full-length record titled Animal, arriving as a full-scale rave opera that expands his output from individual tracks into an entire interconnected world. Bringing together influences including 90s rave, house, techno, jungle, breaks and UK bass, the album recounts the tale of a society transformed by the dancefloor; set in a collapsing city, Animal follows ravers who begin slowly transforming into animals, eventually taking over the city and creating their own new society. The story begins with an eerie “Public Service Announcement” warning of a spreading infection before gradually progressing into a journey through chaos, transformation and survival.

“Toxin” gradually forms with the patter of percussive shots, building up the rhythmic arrangement with vocal shots and deep low end energy before stabby synth textures add flashes of colour to the moody dance jam. “Release Your Animal” follows with a grooving soundscape featuring GLOR1A that rolls with pulsing beats and intricate synth flickers capped by a lively vocal performance to offer an engrossing listening experience. Tracks like “Unbound” brings hypnotic rhythms and atmospheric instrumental textures that develops with rattling percussive breaks to craft a spellbinding slice of tribal dance music.

“Emergency on the Dance Floor” and “Breakdown of Public Order” capture the feeling of collapse and disorder, reflected in intense beat-driven that inject charging energy into the record. The album closes with “Dawn of the New Age,” a house-driven finale imagining a world rebuilt through connection and the freedom found on the dancefloor that builds from the soft pulse of kick and hazy vocal sample towards a spacey scene brimming with shimmering synth tones and metallic percussive timbres.

With Animal, Chimp Hardy brings together years of underground experience, adventurous performance and a steadfast mission of creating something bigger than a collection of songs. It’s a wild, high-octane sonic voyage through electronic music’s past, present and future, mapping out a world where the dancefloor becomes a place of transformation, liberation and new beginnings.

Commenting on the release, he shares, “I hope folks find it as transformative and empowering to listen to as it was for me to make. Most importantly, I hope they fuck it up on the dance floor and lose their minds.”

Listen to Animal below