We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Kirsten Evans. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Kirsten below.
Kirsten, looking forward to learning from your journey. You’ve got an amazing story and before we dive into that, let’s start with an important building block. Where do you get your work ethic from?
I used to think that my relentless work ethic came from my competitiveness. Once I realised that I felt the same drive to work even when I was working on a solo project nobody else know about, I knew that there had to be another motivator. After a lot of soul searching, working to the point of burnout and now gradually building the most productive work period of my life, I now know that there are several experiences that I have had that have lead me to want to work hard.
One of the things that drove me to work hard as a child was my undiagnosed dyslexia. I was often at the top of my class so no one ever really questioned whether I might have dyslexia or not. However, I always wondered why I felt like I took extra time to complete the same work as the other people at the top of my classes. They would get the same grades but finish in much less time. I think this constant questioning kept me going and definitely made me want to try out new ways of working to try and improve my efficiency and therefore speed. It was always just a big question mark.
School certainly taught me that when you get good grades you will receive praise. I’m sure many A type children experienced this at school, and it’s actually something that I still carry with me today. While I am able to work on this need as an adult, and aim to build up the knowledge in my mind that value isn’t based on output, this reward system built up a very strong desire for me to work. It gave me pleasure to create something that I was proud of, and now I have the skills to enjoy creating work that represents my best efforts for the sake of creating something rather than to receive praise (although some days are easier than others…).
Something that lead me away from 80+ hour weeks was burnout and moving to America. After a strenuous project, where I worked 20 hours a day for weeks on end, I reached my limit. My body could not cope, my emotions were skewed and my mind was not able to be creative. It’s the same for most people with burnout. When I started experiencing all of these effects from my drive to get praise, and accolades I realised, as everyone says… there is more to life. AND there is more to work. My realisation wasn’t that I needed to work less but actually aim to work on something that suited my skills, stretched my skillset in an achievable way, and was something I was passionate about. I am very fortunate that I was able to work on my own projects around my tough times until I could support myself with music, but I believe that even being able to dedicate 10 minutes a day to something you love will be all the more worth it in the long run no matter how long it takes to achieve your goals.
Thanks, so before we move on maybe you can share a bit more about yourself?
I am a singer and songwriter first and foremost. I am a trained composer and sample library developer and have worked int eh film/TV and production music industry for several years.
My future goals are to write songs of my own, start touring and creating music to share with others. I will continue to create production music and want to begin merging the two worlds by creating songs for a variety of production music catalogues. Currently I am working on some covers of pop songs to be used as trailer music in collaboration with other brilliant composers and musicians (Thomas Eggensberger) and am excited to announce that I have joined the Spectra Creative Studio run by Arbel Bedak.
Alongside this I work for the sample library company, Cinesamples and create custom sample libraries for composers in Los Angeles.
Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?
Discipline is the most important part about getting anywhere. Motivation is helpful and regimen can be an aid for success, but discipline can help with so many things not just the simple act of getting something done when you don’t want to do it. I feel like I have disciplined my mind to continue to look forwards to the future and not focus too hard on any hardships that I encounter in the present. While it is key to acknowledge when something is difficult, it is also important to understand that there is always a reason for doing something and as long as it is getting you even one step closer to your goal then it is worth your time and effort.
I spend a lot of time exercising my imagination. Throughout the day I like to dream up new ideas, create new futures for myself and create new work. Having a strong and active imagination makes life colourful and supports me when I do need to be disciplined. The only way I can keep focusing on the bigger picture or my future is to imagine the world I want to create for myself and will it into existence.
Creative problem solving is the skill that ties everything together. It’s great to imagine a life you want and to discipline yourself to show up, but If you don’t actually have a plan on how to get somewhere then you are just wasting energy. Creative problem solving sometimes feels more like stabbing in the dark and other times it feels like a thought plan of attack. All three of these skills combines gives you the opportunity to see something through to the end and create something you can be proud of.
One of our goals is to help like-minded folks with similar goals connect and so before we go we want to ask if you are looking to partner or collab with others – and if so, what would make the ideal collaborator or partner?
I’m looking to collaborate with indie pop music producers based in LA on new songs to release as an artist and songs for production music catalogues for future media placements. I can’t wait to start learning from others, creating new music and making music that just feel and sounds great!
I’m also always looking out for composers who need help creating sample libraries for their projects or are interested in creating their own commercial sample libraries. I have found a lot of joy creating sample libraries and love working closely with composers to create tools that suit their projects, improve their workflow and, hopefully, relieve some pressure from their projects.
You can contact me via my website or reach out on my instagram!
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.kirstenevans.co.uk
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kirstenhevans/
Image Credits
Thomas Eggensberger. Kelsey Henricks.
