Robert Byron Hardy (born on 16 August, 1980, in Bradford, West Yorkshire) is the bassist of the Glaswegian band Franz Ferdinand.

Hardy came to the Glasgow School of Art from Bradford in West Yorkshire in order to study painting. While mastering his brushwork he also spent a certain amount of time in The 13th Note Café which was how he got to know Alex Kapranos.

Apparently, for the first couple of years, Kapranos hated Hardy as he’d heard him telling some jokes about dead babies that he thought were in very poor taste. Nevertheless, by 2001 they were friends and Kapranos was seriously plotting a new band. He’d been given a bass guitar by his friend Mick Cooke, a member of cult Glaswegian popsters Belle & Sebastian on the condition that he “did something useful with it.”

Kapranos asked Hardy if he wanted to play it. Hardy had no intention of becoming a professional musician - he was a painter, an artist. He was however a big pop fan, and it was the music that had drawn him to Glasgow in the first place. Particularly, in fact, the records of Belle And Sebastian, so Hardy didn’t need too much convincing in order to take up the bass, although he still considers himself a painter first and a musician second. The main point though, is self-expression, in whatever medium you choose. Guitars, like paintbrushes, are just tools and the important thing is to have something to say. Bob Hardy probably has a girlfriend too, how he mentioned in an interview after the german festival Rock am Ring.

Hardy plays 1974 and '78 Rickenbacker 4001s / Hagström / Fender Jazz. Hardy used to use a SWR Goliath bass cabinet but now uses an Ampeg SVT Pro head and Ampeg 8x10 cabs. Hardy uses Ernie Ball strings - roundwounds, medium gauge.

English bassists | English musicians | 1980 births | Living people | Natives of Bradford | Glasgow School of Art alumni

Robert Hardy (Musiker) | Robert Hardy (baixista) | Robert Hardy (musiker) | Bob Hardy