As a child growing up on her grandparents’ hobby farm outside of Orillia, Ontario, Toronto-based singer-songwriter Kirty remembers being surrounded by a big family, bountiful gardens, loud music and plenty of laughter.
“All of my aunts, my Nan, me, my sister and some of our cousins all have the same laugh. When we all get together, it’s just a swirl of cackling,” she says.
At the centre of the close-knit family was her grandmother (her Nan), Esther—an avid gardener, cook, Euchre-player and a caretaker of five children and many more grandchildren.
“I really idolized my Nan. She was strong and stern, but really fun and active.”
Two years after her grandmother passed away, Kirty says she can still hear her Nan’s voice and laugh. She writes about these memories in the song “I Miss You” off her latest solo album We Are All on Fire.
As a member of the acclaimed indie-rock band Fast Romantics, Kirty’s solo release features the sounds of ‘90s garage and synth-rock with modern dream-pop influences. It is also deeply personal and bookmarks an important life transition that included the loss of her grandmother and the growth of a new relationship—both musical and romantic—with her Fast Romantics bandmate and songwriting partner, Matthew Angus.
It’s funny how a seemingly unimportant memory can become very important.”
Kirty
Kirty started writing the chorus for “I Miss You” shortly after Nan passed away, but sought support in developing the verses from Angus, who also knew her family well.
“The chorus is like a mantra of different memories and thoughts … Finishing the verses was quite hard to do, but Matt and I are so connected and that can be really amazing in writing music that is fueled by your personal experiences, because they can kind of share in that.”
The resulting verses are a collection of joyful memories characterised by their normalcy, like in the line: “Where we’re washing our hands in the sink / Just an ordinary scene in a movie about everything”.
“We used to garden all the time and we were always dirty at the farm,” says Kirty. “I had that memory where we’re all at the sink washing our hands because Nan wants us to be clean for dinner. It’s funny how a seemingly unimportant memory can become very important.”
As a private person, Kirty says sharing these personal stories was difficult, but it was important to her growth as an artist. “Now, the next part of my journey is playing those songs live and talking about them.”
>> Kirty’s solo album We are All on Fire is available at www.kirtymusic.com