Dabbling in a new feisty sound with an angst grip on rock and dance grooves, Kiri has an edge prevalent in her music today but hasn’t lost sight of her soulful, sultry voice she is renowned for. A flurry of new pop/rock/dance tracks are influenced by a collaboration including the backbone of Auckland band Payola with their rock and roll swagger was a catalyst to create the newly formed guise - The Acid Bird.

Performing live with bands became Kiri's full time job at an early age. But she also developed songwriting skills and began recording her own music. Since then her musical styles have varied from alt folk to pop/rock and dance music but the depth in her vocals have always remained.

The video to her first single ‘Get Back Home’ still graces the skies on every Air NZ domestic flight while Juice TV continued to play the tune, after it’s release 2 years ago. The track was also scooped up by Amplifier where it stayed at number one for 7 weeks. Kiri's new pop rock singles ‘Why Won’t You’ and ‘Baby Come Round’ are regular features on many local radio stations.

Kiri frequently lends her voice to other NZ and international artists including Hollie Smith, Jan Hellreigel, Che Fu, Human Instinct, Jamie Cullum (UK), Sarah Blasko (Aus) as a live and recording session vocalist. These sessions gave Kiri an insight to dedicate all her energy into her own creativity.

A Few Questions

About work...

“These days I’m concentrating on my own originals. I keep up the live gigging at least 1-2 a week with a few different bands and I have a corporate entertainment business to keep me on my toes. This last year, I’ve been recording at Roundhead Studios in Auckland with Neil Baldock. He’s producing and engineering with me on a few songs. I vowed never to work a 9-5 job ever again after my first job when I left school. I’ve always managed to live comfortably doing the things I love. I’m also a bit of a housing developer; not too bad at plastering and sanding either!”

Where are you from?

“My childhood years I lived in Nelson. I still have family there and spend most holidays in Tasman. I moved up to East Auckland when I was 8 and got rid of my gum boots pretty quickly. Not so cool then.”

Where do you get your inspiration?

“It comes when I really need to work something out. When I don’t understand how I’m feeling or how someone else can feel a certain way. From frustrations, my past experiences and from my crazy friends – they’ve all got great stories that need to be told! But I rarely write about one particular experience. Normally it’s an emotion that grabs me first and then I pull from all these things to create the ideal story for the song…most of the time anyway.”

Do you write your own music, lyrics – and what is the process?

“I’ve written with other people and on my own. I’ve had mixed experiences working with others. If I’m insecure about sharing my creativity, it just won’t happen. I have formed great partnerships with some awesome songwriters. The process is varied, sometimes all at once and in my car. I'll use my iphone to record or my mac for an instant log. Sometimes I’ll go for some beats, wack something together on pro tools but almost always go back to my guitar. I have to be totally immersed with nothing else to do for a few days otherwise it gets put on the back burner and I’ve already moved onto other ideas.  Sometimes I’ll write from different peoples viewpoints and after the initial burst of creativity, it usually needs a little sorting.”

Check out Kiri’s shows in the latest gig guide.