Chris Hardy is a songwriter/solo artist who is influenced by such varying artists as Sting, Del Amitri, Devo, Beck and Steely Dan, among others. His "4-stringed Little Friend" is an instrument known as a piccolo bass guitar, a bass guitar tuned higher than a standard bass. As well as his unconventional choice of instrument, Chris tries to manifest this avoidance of convention in his writing & music. He also plays all the other instruments in his recordings: drums, fretless bass, keyboards, percussion as well as all vocals. His lyrical subjects usually involve his mental observations about things that many people don't even notice and sometimes he prefers to write songs that border on silliness. As Chris puts it: "There are way too many negative songs out there. I'd like to offset that by keeping things light."