Punk's Hard Men to Complete Tour

FOR more than 20 years THE HARD ONS have remained at the forefront of Australia's punk movement. Known for producing straight up, no-nonsense punk, the band's signature sound has won over a faithful following of fans both in Australia and around the globe. After wrapping up a successful two-and-a-half-week tour of Europe in December 2003 with Norway's TURBONEGRO , the Hard Ons are back on home turf and set to complete its current tour this weekend. While European audiences are shocked to learn that the Hard Ons are not a household name in Australia, the band's drummer BLACKIE said he was content with the band's success. ``It is a bummer sometimes but, after 20 years, I'm in it for the music,'' Blackie said. ``I don't really care about whether our sales are really high in Bangladesh. I'm just interested in making music and hopefully trying to live off it as well. ``What's that saying? Find something that you'd do for free and see if you can get paid for it as well.'' Blackie said he was hoping to get a long-overdue side project off the ground later in the year which he described as ``pop'' but not the BRITNEY SPEARS kind. ``I don't class y that as pop. I wouldn't even class y that as music. ``It's entertainment that's a real big d ference. ``Calling it pop is like an oxymoron because it's not pop.'' The Hard Ons will play at the CAMBRIDGE HOTEL on Friday night with CONATION and THE STOCKHOLM SYNDROME .