Today we’d like to introduce you to Kirsten Kirk.
Hi Kirsten, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today.
I started singing after I saw The Little Mermaid on Broadway with my dad when I was five-years-old. I joined my elementary school’s music club, went on to join my middle school choir while doing musical theatre outside of school, and participated in my school musicals and community theatre shows all throughout high school while also singing in the choir and competing in all-state. I am so very grateful that I had such a supportive family in the DFW theatre community during some middle and most of high school – for any toxicity in the community that definitely exists and should be addressed, I needed that community during those years from ages 13-17. I would not be where I am now, studying music and audio engineering and business, had it not been for surrounding myself with adults in theaters who I looked up to, and who were stable for me during the rough parts of middle and high school. I started writing songs the summer I graduated high school (2020), and released my first song in March 2021 during a year between high school and undergrad that I spent serving AmeriCorps with CityYear Dallas. That was the year I realized I needed to be a musician, despite what I had been telling myself all throughout high school. I applied to Berklee, and am currently on my fourth semester studying Music Production & Engineering and Music Business with a minor in Instrument Repair.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall, and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
I’ve been very fortunate to be able to study at a music school, so I am able to learn from industry professionals every day. That being said, I’ve already found it difficult at times to be taken seriously as an engineer, a self-managed artist, or just a non-male in the industry as a whole. I’ve been asked, “where is the engineer/producer” on sessions that I am running. I’ve had male members of my band asked questions that are clearly meant to be directed towards the front man (me). I’ve been told that it’s “impressive you got into such a male-dominated major”, rather than just being congratulated for being accepted into a competitive program. It’s difficult to not be immediately dismissed as an assistant, or a token, or just a try-hard who will never be as successful as my male-presenting or identifying peers.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
I am still trying to figure out exactly what I do and specialize in – it’s a necessary part of your 20s to discover that as you go (or so I’m told). Right now, I’m working on a few projects, including my solo project, producing for some Boston-based artists, a wedding band gig, my management projects, a reoccurring feature with an incredible rock band, and my newest venture with my best friend: Berklee Hot Ones. My solo project is most dear to my heart – I have an incredible band (Wesley Gordon on drums, Emilio Bowen on bass, Ethan Mathews on keys, and a rotating cast of guitarists including Joyie Lai, Nathan Mayne, and Rocco Ciarmoli). We gig around Boston at bars and clubs, and have some exciting opportunities coming up that I’m super excited to share a bit later! I am also currently engineering and producing my album, with the help of some super talented co-producers and engineers, and I’m super excited to bring in some other instrumentalists in addition to the band – at the moment we have a string section for a few songs, as well as a saxophone feature. I think this is what I’m best known for at the moment, I’m lucky to play on bills with a super diverse array of artists and bands, so I’m able to get to know lots of different people and expand my network almost every weekend.
I’m producing for a reggae band and a punk band as well – I mostly assistant engineer on their recording sessions, and engineer the vocal overdubs. Then I work with the band leaders and my co-producer to mix and add it some more layers in the post-production.
I recently signed on to a wedding band, which is super fun. We only do covers, which the band leader chooses, and it’s really nice to do a project where my only job is to show up and sing.
My management projects started as a business plan for a management company for a business class; then some friends asked me to help them out with booking gigs, and before I knew it, I had seven different folders with spreadsheets and phone numbers and venues and the bands I was helping out were calling me their manager.
Another band that I’m not officially a part of, but that I work with often is called Reverie, and I sing background or featured vocals with them at a lot of their gigs. They play classic rock tunes from Journey to Styx to AC/DC to Heart, and I love letting people who are used to my country/pop music see the heavier side of my voice.
While I have a lot of music-based projects that I love and I think are super cool, I do go to a music school, so sometimes it feels like I’m drowning in other people doing what seems like the exact same thing as me. What sets me apart right now (I think) in my school and community in Berklee Hot Ones *not affiliated with Berklee, not affiliated with Hot Ones*. It’s a project I started with my best friend Ana Schon (who is another incredibly talented musician whose music you can find on Spotify and Apple Music and all streaming platforms), and it’s essentially a spoof of the popular internet show “Hot Ones”. We bring guests in the Berklee community on every week, and I interview them over chicken nuggets from the cafeteria smothered with hot sauce. The sauces get spicier as the interview goes on, and we’ve added a few of our own twists. For example, we interview entire bands together instead of one guest at a time; we have Berklee Hot Ones Heat Off (Versus Battle), where we pit two artists against each other to see who can take the heat in an interview; and we do a championship round where we drag a chicken nugget through all of the sauces at once and right after the guest takes a bite, they have to do an a cappella version of a song as the spice kicks in.
Right now, my main focuses are keeping my grades up, working on the show (@berkleehotones on Instagram), getting a band I manage into a festival (more on that soon), and organizing a Country/Folk Music Night for Abortion Access (all proceeds go to The Brigid Alliance. I’ll let y’all know how it all turns out!
We’d love to hear about any fond memories you have from when you were growing up.
There was one snow day in I think the 6th grade when we all had to leave school early. My best friend lived an hour away, so she came home with me to wait for her mom to pick her up. It ended up being a long snowstorm, and most of the roads were icy for the whole weekend, so she spent the whole weekend with me and my family. We had family dinners, my mom would make hot chocolate and get the fire going, we demolished my little brothers in snowball wars, we made a very cringey VideoStar music video to Let It Go from Frozen, and it was honestly just the best weekend.
Contact Info:
- Website: kirsten-kirk.epk.fm
- Instagram: instagram.com/kirsten_kirk101
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/kirstenkirk101
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCNvbcjk3NA8go29wZ_VR-9A
- SoundCloud: https://soundcloud.com/kirstenkirk
Image Credits
Ana Schon
Anjali Gonuguntla
Hayden Elizabeth
Renato Siebert
Reagan Starrett
