Today we’d like to introduce you to Kirsten Kirk

Hi Kirsten, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.

As with everyone, it’s a whole tale, but the run-on sentence of it is: I was a huge theatre kid in middle and high school, applied to a bunch of (genuinely like 40) schools for musical theatre and about 8 for classical voice via zoom when I was 18, got rejected from nearly all of them, and was recommended by Boston Conservatory at Berklee to apply for Berklee College of Music (which I did). I ended up deciding between 2 schools for BFAs in musical theatre, one for a BFA in acting, and Berklee for a Bachelor’s of Music. When I realized that Berklee had programs that would allow me to be in control of my career rather than in an audition room (which is excellent for some people but not where I do my best work!) I chose Berklee and contemporary music over theatre. I am a double major in Music Business and Music Production & Audio Engineering – I launched my very small artist management company last year, around the same time I started engineering and/or producing music for myself, the bands I manage, the bands I play in, and a few others I’ll talk about later :)

We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?

I’m very fortunate to have been able to start on a fairly linear path, studying both of my career interests in college, so I was able to get baseline knowledge from professionals and instructors that a lot of independent artists/producers/managers learn online or via youtube (both of which are phenomenal, I just need a litle more structure). Of course I find myself struggling to stay afloat with school and engineering/production projects, never mind the constant nagging feeling that I should be posting or filming or emailing venues or updating my website or writing a press release or mixing or planning or rehearsing or any of the other seemingly million things it takes to even be in the running to be a professional musician. And yet I still can’t seem to force myself to refuse one more project or band or session or gig, and I don’t know all that many people around me who can.

Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?

I manage primarily Asanabenche (Bird Music! Latin jazz fused with funk and sprinkled with reggae) and Hallowed Smoke (Bov Iver meets Jimmy Buffett with a Johnny Cash twang). Asanabenche is four guys I met in Spain studying abroad, which anyone who’s studied abroad or been to sleepaway camp or had a slumber party or gone to a new school can tell you is a bonding experience. I started helping them with booking, for which they needed an Electronic Press Kit, website, media compilation, and revamped social medias and artist bios and photos. I postured the idea of them letting me manage them after working together for honestly about 2 weeks and they agreed, and we’ve been learning and growing together for a little over a year now. I credit Asanabenche with the growth of my company, and with giving me a band to believe in and fight for that really spurred me on in every professional and creative aspect.
Hallowed Smoke is JP Goldman’s artist venture, he is a solo singer-songwriter who plays indie folk rock – we have been working together for about 6 months, and he was my first client through my company, Ki Talent Collective, with whom I was not previously friends. He will always have a very special place in my heart for trusting me with his music and his brand.
I also self manage my solo project and sing in 2 others – Kirsten Kirk and the Dirty Work (my original music, country pop punk?), Moss (psychadelic funk rock band led by Chris Smith), and Ki & the Boras Brothers (classic rock, pop, and everything in between cover band). I am typically the (if not one of the) recording engineer(s) for all the bands I play in and manage, as well as freelance here and there, and I engineer and produce the Peyton Griffin Trio (trad jazz), Emily Sclar (violin folk fusion), and Jessica Linden (singer-songwriter). All projects will have music coming out this year (if not this summer!)

Networking and finding a mentor can have such a positive impact on one’s life and career. Any advice?

Facebook has excellent groups for live music communities – I have found gig listings, reached out to venues at which I saw other people advertising their shows, and connected with musicians at all stages of their career. I’ve gotten advice about booking and gigging, what to be focusing on social media wise, website critiques, and how to demand attention and take up space in an industry that is so male-dominated, especially in the engineering world (96.3% men). SoundGirls has been a really great community for me to hear about opportunities or discounts, or to ask questions to which I feel I should know the answers and don’t want to ask in class for fear of discrediting all non-men in audio (which is a ridiculous fear, but one widely shared by many of my peers). People love to share their knowledge, and I’ve found luck just by going to live shows and chatting with the manager or one of the bands, or the booker or bartender or sound engineer. A little flattery and wide-eyed awe at their success allows them to realize that I am not a threat, and makes them more eager to tell me about themselves, including how they got there and what they would do differently if they were my age.

Pricing:

• Website: artists, engineers/producers, photographers, creatives (your responsibility to upkeep after creation) – $250 + domain name charge
• Electronic Press Kit/OneSheet – $30 each
• Booking – case by case basis, message me with your live music desires :)

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.kirstenkirk.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/@itskirstenkirk
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/@itskirstenkirk
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@itskirstenkirk
• Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/kirstenkirk
• Other: https://www.kitalentcollective.com

Image Credits

Kaylynn LaGuardia, Beckett Bee, Lau La Valva, Matt Bass, Owen Kochersberger