Artist Profile: Kiersten Blue
Kiersten Blue, the New Jersey-born singer-songwriter, has only ventured into the musical realm since pandemic-induced boredom led her to pick up a guitar for the first time since her childhood, but, in the time since, she has etched out a unique, ‘90s-inspired pop sound that, on her debut EP “Girl In The Mirror”, has brought her unique lyrical slant to its most complete fruition to date.
Growing up in New Jersey, Kiersten was always the creative child, constantly surrounding herself with opportunities for youthful and joyous artistic expression. Therefore, although she took guitar lessons periodically throughout her adolescence, her natural creative bent expressed itself through an inclination for visual art. Therefore, it was not much of a surprise when she elected to study fashion design at Marist University when the time came for her to choose a path for her adult life.
When her work in the field ground to a halt during the COVID-19 pandemic, however, Kiersten found herself with a creative hole to fill in her heart, and, for the first time since she was a child, she picked up a guitar she had lying around her house and began learning to play.
The process was slow, certainly, but she knew immediately that she had struck upon something that immediately appealed to her: the ability to write her own songs and express long-dormant thoughts through her lyrics.
“I had a lot to say, and I was sort of a shy kid. So that was the easiest way for me to get it out… It is a very similar process [to design]; the writing process is similar. I usually start with a concept, and that's sort of what I used to do in design school. I'd start with an idea and build a story around the idea. So I think, in the end, I just like to tell stories, whether the medium is fashion or the medium is music. Telling the story and saying it in a non-direct way, I think it's a fun little puzzle for me.”
Therefore, with that concrete intention in mind, Kiersten began taking online music production classes as she became more and more ingrained into her songwriting, debuting her creations at open mics around her area in order to become more comfortable with playing them.
As she conducted these exercises, a distinct sound emerged: one that played upon many of the sonic motifs from ‘90s acts such as The Cranberries, repackaging their unique lyrical outlooks into Kiersten’s unique perspective.
“[I always loved] the layered, atmospheric sound of the 90s… And I also think what I like about a lot of 90s music is that it’s usually kind of dark, but also making light of [that darkness], which is something I do a lot with my music.”
Yet, as her creativity outpaced her technical abilities, she found herself needing to outsource her production in order to push her output into the world. For many of her first singles, she took advantage of a promotion at a local studio that allowed her to work with a house band in order to quickly turn her acoustic songs into tracks in a full-band setting.
Through this time, her confidence in her sound and songwriting abilities grew and grew, and, as she continued to release singles, she became more and more certain of the sound she wanted to pursue.
Therefore, when she prepared for her first cohesive project, which eventually became “Girl In The Mirror”, she knew that she needed to seek out a producer that could help her execute her sonic vision. She has always loved the track “Freakin’ Out on the Interstate” by Briston Maroney, and, in a leap of faith, she sought out the producer who had worked on that track: Tone Def.
He agreed to work with her, and, over the following months, she shared with him the demos that would later become the tracks that comprised her EP. When that process was complete, she flew to Nashville to finalize the recording for the project, and, in doing so, cemented herself as one of the most intriguing young songwriters on the scene today.
From the floating synths of “Aspens Have Eyes” to the swelling strings of “Fading Echoes”, Kiersten explores, from various perspectives and points of view, the process of overcoming grief and coming to terms with past mistakes, with each song taking on its own distinct slant on the balance of darkness and lightness that she has always loved.
Moreover, the two acoustic demos that accompany the EP’s four primary tracks serve as a return back to her roots; she has always operated from the concept onward, and these songs, in their raw form, represent an openness with the foundations from which each of these tracks sprung forth.
More than anything, however, “Girl In The Mirror” represents Kiersten’s first fully intentional collection of songs, and, insofar as they serve as an indicator of what is ahead for her as a songwriter, it is almost entirely certain that she will continue to impress.
“I think, with everything I did before, I was learning a lot still, and I was kind of figuring out my sound. Once I got to the thought that I wanted to do a collection of work, I was a little bit more intentional about it… The songs off the EP were all written at different times, but I really sat down with 15 [songs] at first and really picked out why I wanted those four to go together.I think, in the end, it was just more intentional.”
