Melodic hardcore artist Kirsty bought her own set of decks six years ago, in 2020.
"[I] was teaching myself how to mix from YouTube tutorials and a lot of trial and error," she says. "I was mixing (looking back now probably very poorly) at house parties and raves during covid and when covid finished, I was attending club nights and promoting for Irish collectives. I eventually had my first gig in 2022 for small collective in a pub to about 10 people during student rag week. The progress for me was very gradual but I always took every gig seriously whether it was a local show to an empty room or a festival. March 2025 when I played in The Dome in Liverpool for Second Speed, I was like okay people recognize my name now to a small extent anyway it was time to push even harder."
"Production wise again self-taught and with the help of gorgeous friends in the scene I can go to for guidance if needed," Kirsty adds. "Producing seemed really daunting to me at the start but as with everything trial and error and consistency goes a long way."
Kirsty describes her sound as, "Nostalgic, euphoric, melodic and defiant hardcore." That can be heard on latest release HOTCORE SUMMER. "[It's] my baby," she says. "My first release and I could not be happier with the response it has gotten. Hearing the crows shout back the lyrics is a different type of adrenaline and its insane. The release party ran by Teletech in Hidden, Manchester sold out in 40 minutes which still feels nuts to say. I chose to self-release on Soundcloud and Spotify as I wanted my baby to be as close as possible to me. I am very proud of the track and it feels good to have an idea that was floating around in my head for months actually come to life."
As for gear: "Always at least three CDJ 3000’s, mixer wise I feel like Pioneer works best with my sound a V10 or V9. Headphones are my arch nemesis as I move so much during my sets I think I lose at least 4 hair extensions a set and break them in some shape or form. I’m on my 3rd pair of Sennheiser pro’s already this year not good for the bank account but they are a necessity."
Looking ahead, Kirsty has plenty planned for the second half of 2026.
"At the moment I’m working on some new personal singles and some collabs with fabulous producers in the harder scene," she says. "With the collabs it’s been really fun to bounce ideas off another person rather than be laser focused to my own projects for a change. I have one coming out in July ‘Double Trouble’ with Gospel. An Asia tour is in the works which I am super excited for. There are so many new debuts to come over the next few months it feels very surreal. XXL Malta is currently what I am working on I have three sets over the weekend which is nuts because only last April I was a punter at XXL on snow not believing my friends when they told me I will be there some day."
