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Kirsty Hawkshaw

Everyone remembers their first time. In Kirsty Hawkshaw's case, music was ingrained into her life from an early age. With her father a highly respected composer, Kirsty was exposed to a wide range of music and influences, something that would carry through with her to this day.

After meeting with the trio OPUS 3 at the dawn of the early 1990's, Kirsty and these three individuals would form a band called Opus III, with the track 'It's A Fine Day' from the band's first album 'Mind Fruit' becoming an international Billboard #1 hit.

A second album, 'Guru Mother' would follow in 1994, spawning another international #1, 'When You Made The Mountain'.

The group's career would come to an end shortly thereafter, which is where Kirsty's solo career would begin. After being sampled by Orbital for their original 1992 track 'Halcyon', Kirsty would contribute to the tracks 'Halcyon & On & On' and 'Lush', both taken from their much vaunted 'Orbital 2', or the 'Brown' album as it is more commonly known, widely regarded as the best work of their career by their fans and music lovers alike.

From there, Kirsty would contribute to the work of some of the pioneering talent that emerged throughout the 90s electronic scene, working with seminal names such as Steve Hillage and Rachid Taha, and Global Communication's aka Harmonic 313, Troubleman Mark Pritchard who produced her album O>U>T which is now available on her store exclusively, amongst others. It was Mark who's technical expertise, production skills and musical insight would help Kirsty to finally achieve what she had been aiming toward for sometime, an album of her own.

Her first solo album 'O<U>T (On Ultimate Things)' would be released in 1998, a deeply personal, introspective and moving album that was a turning point in her career. Taking a stand, the album encapsulated everything that Kirsty's life to that point embodied and became the foundation for what has transpired since.

Following the release of her album, Kirsty's career blossomed as she would lend her infectious melodies, hooks and lyrics to numerous tracks that have since gone on to become defining classics of their respective time periods. Having contributed four tracks to Tiesto's first two albums, with 'Urban Train' and 'Battleship Grey' gracing his debut album 'In My Memory' and 'Walking On Clouds' and the title track 'Just Be' on the follow up second album, she has also worked with such names as BT, Swayzak, Way Out West and Swansea's Hybrid, a partnership that has seen her contribute to their albums 'Morning Sci Fi' and 'I Choose Noise'.

This year will see the reunion of BT and Kirsty Hawkshaw and Hybrid have returned the favour by assisting Kirsty as she develops an expansive body of solo work, some of which has already been included in material for Tv and Radio including a scene in the show Nip Tuck, further showcasing the wide range of her musical appeal.

Kirsty has also been working hard on a virtual movie, which will be a selection of short films. She features songs on the films and tackles internet psychology with a sense of surreal lightness. Kirsty quotes "What I love about Machinima is that you can go very deep into your imagination and just flow, set up a scene really quickly, build a set from photographs you've taken, have another cup of tea, go in the garden do some weeding, get another idea come back add some lighting, film it, edit it, and knock out a short film without being drained with all the hassle of making films like catering, tonnes of expense and lets face it , travel" .

Kirsty recently met Bryan Anderson who took her for a ride in his car along the freeway and turned her onto A Wilhelm Scream, Bryan suggested Kirsty try and make some rock music so she covered one of their tracks called 'Killing it'.

As she continues to develop, now more than ever it's clear that Kirsty Hawkshaw's career has come full circle. In addition to her own solo work and her various side projects, Kirsty continues to surround herself and work with some of the best creative talents from all walks of life. It's this that lays testament to her dedication to helping nurture new talent and give back to the scene which once nurtured her, working with artists like Ulrich Schnauss, Sleepthief, Mr Sam, Loverush UK, Paradox, Seba, Tenichia and Whisper Audio on what many would say is her most musically uninhibited and focused work yet. Whilst Kirsty Hawkshaw may indeed have her first memory of music, to her, it's as if it happened only yesterday...