by Scott Zumberg & Michael Foster September, 2003

Info
Website:	http://www.KristyThirsk.com
Latest Release:	Souvenir
Samples	In The Dream Run Away

For years now, a lucky few of us have had the pleasure of being entranced by the lovely voice of Kristy Thirsk. In 1994 we were first enchanted by the dark Goth sounds of The Rose Chronicles and wanted to know....WHO is that on vocals??? Nettwerk Records knew...and Delerium knew. Kristy joined forces with Delerium and delivered them their breakthrough hit, Flowers Become Screens, from the Semantic Spaces album. Since then, Kristy has produced more hits for Delerium, and has been nominated for awards for solo work.

Finally, in 2003 everything has come full circle for Kristy. She is delighting fans on tour with Delerium, and is set to release her solo debut, Souvenir.

Auralgasms had the honor of previewing the CD and found it exceeded our expectations. On Sep 16, 2003 we sat down with Kristy and found her to be as pleasant offstage as she is on.

Tell me about the story where, at your Baptism, the preacher knew you were destined to be a singer?

I grew up going to a Christian church, so it wasn’t actually a “Baptism”. It’s called a “Dedication”, which is the same thing minus the water. Basically, the preacher had a vision, and he said I was going to be a singer and strong-willed child. My mom can vouch for both of those things. I was very shy as a child, though. My Mom had to go with me to Kindergarten for almost the entire year. I took acting classes in high school, to try and get over my shyness, and it didn’t really work. I love music so much though, and what the Preacher said was haunting me in the back of my mind. I grew up in a very musical family. My Dad was a musician and so was my Mom. One day, a friend taught me how to play a few chords on the guitar, and I wrote a song. I asked him to record it and he did. He was like WHOA! You can sing! I was like, I Can! That’s weird, I didn’t know. When I was about 18 or 19, I tried out for a band called The Rose Chronicles.

How did you fall in with The Rose Chronicles?

They didn’t have a name at that point. I tried out with a couple of guys, and they liked me. We said ok, let’s be a band. We wrote some songs and came up with the name Rose Chronicles. At our 2nd gig we played to an almost full club. The record company came and wanted to sign us on the spot. The guitar player was really influenced by the British scene. Nettwerk came and saw us and THEY were really into the European thing, and bands like Cocteau Twins. There were only 2 songs in our whole set that they liked and they signed on us based on those: Visions and Eternity

Were you hired into Delerium based on your work with Rose Chronicles?

The guy that signed Delerium told them to check me out. They checked me out and hired me just to do some Oohs and Aahs…background stuff. They gave me these songs, and I came up with these pop melodies and lyrics. It changed the whole direction of what they had intended. Delerium became more of a priority, and they released Flowers Become Screens to radio and it took off.

St. Andrews Hall appearance

What TV and Film Soundtracks can you be heard on?

The Delerium track, Enchanted, was on the Soundtrack for the Sylvester Stallone movie, Get Carter. That was actually my biggest paycheck yet!

Blood Red from The Rose Chronicles was featured in the TV series, La Femme Nikita. Another RC track, Dwelling, was on the soundtrack of a little known, Angelina Jolie film, Foxfire.

With my solo material, Runaway was featured in the second season of the series, Mysterious Ways, and Bounds of Love from Kissed, was nominated for a Genie Award for best Original Song.

With such an impressive body of work out there why are you just now releasing your solo debut?

You’ll have to talk to my therapist about that. When Rose Chronicle's broke up around 1996-1997, I was really depressed and didn’t really go out of my apartment. It was just me and my guitar hanging out.

It took me about a year to build up the guts to play in front of people again. I went out and tried to cultivate my live show, by playing acoustically.

I was still under contract with Nettwerk Records at the time, and I couldn’t get a straight answer from them in regards to releasing my record. I decided to just wait out the terms of my contract and start over on my own.

From 1999-2000 I put together a band, and started playing some really solid live shows. I also released a CD called Bootlegs, made up of live tracks and demos. Only about 200 were made. I burned them myself, and did the artwork myself.

For a true release, however, I was not satisfied with the production quality. I wanted to work with a NAME producer. In 2000, I hooked up with an investor who offered to invest in a CD. He wanted me to work with a reputable American Producer. With that in mind, I went to work with Eric Ross (Tori Amos’s - Under The Pink, and Lisa Marie Presley). Lisa Marie actually kept kicking me out of my studio time. Then, a month before we were supposed to record, the investor completely disappeared. He wouldn’t return my calls and I couldn’t get in touch with him. I had to explain all of this to Eric. I had to go around to different Banking institutions tying to raise the money. Eventually my day job, lent me the money to pay Eric, who cut his rate for me!

The timing was actually perfect, because I am now able to release the CD, while I am on tour with Delerium, and have it for sale at the shows. I called the CD, Souvenir because the songs on it were from such a different span of years.

This may be a touchy subject, but could you explain what happened between you and Balligomingo over the song, Lost?

I started out working with Garrett as a friend. I was really supportive of him and helped him out. We co-wrote the song Heat, which appears on the album.

Then, for some reason, Garrett took demos of some of the songs I had been working on, and made them available to my fans on HIS website. This was totally without my permission. After that, I didn’t do any more work on the Balligomingo project.

I was really happy though, for Garrett, when the CD was released. When I went to listen to it, I was shocked when I heard the song, Lost. The melody was a plagiarism of a song called Incantation that I did with Delerium on Semantic Spaces. I know for a fact, too, that Incantation is one of his favorite songs, and that is the reason he contacted me to work with him in the first place.

I realized that this COULD have been an honest mistake. I wrote him a nice, diplomatic letter explaining the situation, and all I asked for was a percentage of the publishing royalties. His response, was “Screw You”.

I actually had wanted to sue him, but unfortunately, his CD didn’t even sell enough for me to sue him for the royalties. I had tried to make everything right, and it just hurt that someone I had supported both professionally and as a friend, would do that to me.

You have toured the US and Canada a few times now. What material have you been using for these shows without a full-length album of your own? Are you playing Delerium and/or Rose Chronicles songs?

I have mostly just been playing the songs that I had written and been playing with the band. Sometimes, I have done a Rose Chronicles song. We’ve done a few covers that have been a lot of fun: Love Hurts, Ziggy Stardust, as well as some Prince and Cheap Trick songs. Basically, I was just trying to get my name out there and spread the word about the website. Then, I had decided I wasn’t going to spend any more money touring, without a project to support. I am so excited then when I get home from the Delerium tour, I will have a CD available. It is actually available now at the Delerium shows. When I get home, it be available online, and through Retail in Canada. We are still trying to find a US distributor.

What is like to tour with Delerium singing some of the songs you made famous for them, but also singing songs made famous by other vocalists?

Oh, it’s been a lot of fun! I get bored of my own songs, so it’s been a treat.

Have you gotten along well with the touring members of the show? Any plans to work with them in the future?

YES! Shelly Harland is my new best friend. It’s been such a party. I haven’t really had the chance before to hang out with “Women buddies” and be goofy and creative together. Shelly and I are planning a project together. It’s got a really cute name, but I won’t tell!

Talk about your new CD, Souvenir. What can we expect? Do you get to perform any tracks from it on tour with Delerium?

No, I am not playing the tracks live. This tour is all about Delerium. What can you expect? It’s like a long, long drive with a lot of different scenery. There are some electronic nuances, but the songs are mostly organic. It has a Singer/Songwriter feel, but it’s not wimpy! There are some pretty dark songs, with some electric guitar. The track, White Light has a Middle Eastern sound to it. The album is really based on “Cool Grooves”.

What music did you take on the road with you?

Nothing! I feel like a loser. I didn’t bring any music. At home…well, I have to admit I jumped on the bandwagon and bought A Johnny Cash album, but I have always liked him. I have pretty eclectic taste. I like Sade, The Black Halos (a great Vancouver punk band), Blondie, No Doubt, Sinead O’ Connor, and Kate Bush. Also, I’m a big fan of British music, like The Stone Roses and My Bloody Valentine.

What else do you and the members of the band to do keep entertained on tour?

We have been having mini-parties. We hold dance parties on the bus. Shelly and I like to let off steam, and jump around and chase each other. Sometimes we like to get creative and write while on tour. Other times we are just goofy.

What is your take on the downloading issue? Do you view it as a good outlet for exposure or as stealing?

If an artist didn’t give it to you, then I think it is the same as stealing from a store. There should be some kind of code, where an artist can decide what songs they want to give away and which they want to get paid for.

Do you still want to get in the mudpit with Lisa Marie Presley?

Yes! She’s going down. Then I am going to pick her pocket.