Transcript from an Interview with TheJKirk.
Who are The JKirk or.. The Kirk Family Band?
We are a family band. We play what we like and like what we play. We write a lot of our own material, practive a lot when a gig is coming us but not so much without that pressure. We play out 4,5,6 times a year. Katherine - 12 - plays keys and harfmonica and sings. Jackson - 16 - plays sax, guitar, drums and keys. Dad plays guitar and does some singing. Its a great family hobby. Give it a try!
We have been playing for the last four - five years. Band history = family history – what’s the difference?
We have a hoiem recording set up. Pretty low tech. For 2008 we are planning to release 2 songs a month for the whole month. Wish us luck. The first song is dancing in the moonlight - you can find it under the music tab.
We also have another CD from a couple fo years ago called WhererWeGoin. The songs on the WhererWeGoin CD were written since 2001 and have been played for folks since 2002/3. The songs reflect the content our dinner table conversations these last years. A large part of the way we discuss world events at the table is to try understand how people directly involved with these events are personally effected. We try to pull these big events or issues down into human scale so we can truly talk about them. For example, in the run up to the Iraq war we discussed how a person might best decide to be for or against a war. Our consensus was that unless someone was willing to go and fight then they should oppose the war. If a person was unable to go to war for some reason that person would have to be willing to recommend that his own child or loved one go to war. The idea we came to was that unless the conflict is worth your own life or your child's life you cannot expect others to sacrifice for you. Shortly after that we wrote "The Earnest Soldier" to explore these ideas further. Similarly, thanks to the Bush administration we had the opportunity to discuss torture and constitutional and human rights at the dinner table some time ago and the song "Extraordinary Rendition" was the follow on to that conversation. In any event, we try to make making music an integral part of our lives.
Why this name?
We are part of as large family and the families are referred to by the initials of the Dad's/Uncles. T.Kirk, A.Kirk, B.Kirk, P.Kirk etc. So we are the J.Kirks.
Jackson is 16 and plays sax, piano, guitar, drums and sings.
Katherine 12 plays piano and guitar and sings.
Susan plays the shakers and the bass sometimes.
John plays the guitar and sings.
Susan and John's ages were not disclosed.
We are having fun. And we are pursuing a new sound. We would love to hear from you.
Do you play live?
Jackson and John play out and love it. Have done a number of house parties and a couple of folk festivals, and are always looking to do more.
How, do you think, does the internet (or mp3) change the music industry?
Well we are more interested in music than the industry but the net and mp3 mean many more people get to hear our music and we get to hear many other people's music.
Would you sign a record contract with a major label?
Well that’s not really the objective here but if someone wanted to pay us a lot of money to do what we love doing anyway why not.
Your influences?
From folk to classic rock to rap we are into all of it to varying degrees.
Favorite spot?
Boston
Official Website: http://www.thejkirks.com/