Lady Miss Kier
Lady Miss Kier |
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Kierin Magenta Kirby (born August 15, 1963 in Youngstown, Ohio) is an American singer and DJ.
Personal life
Kirby was born in Youngstown, Ohio and raised in Pittsburgh. She spent time in Virginia Beach, where she graduated high school, and Washington, D.C., before finally settling in New York City in 1982, at the age of 19 to pursue a career in fashion design. In New York she attended FIT to study textile design, but dropped out after a short time. She supported herself as a waitress, a bartender, a coat checker, a bathroom attendant, a go-go dancer, and an art gallery receptionist; continuing to study and work at designing on her own. In this early period as a club kid she prepared a performance art window piece for the gay nightclub "Area" and received First Prize.[1]
It was in New York's Washington Square Park that a mutual friend introduced her to Dmitry Brill, a Ukrainian expatriate and amateur D.J. The two started dating, and moved in together in an apartment in Williamsburg, Brooklyn from 1984 to 1989. During that time, the two with third member Towa Tei formed the band Deee-Lite and soon broke onto the world-wide music scene. Following almost 10 years of touring and performing, the band officially disbanded in 1994, following the end of Kirby and Brill's tumultuous romantic relationship.
Kirby had long been interested in art and design. Despite a lack of formal training, her artistic and design talents have been widely recognized, and she has lectured at several programs, including Princeton University and Cooper Union Art Institute. However, she is more well known for her writing skills, one of the major reasons behind the success of Deee-lite's music. Besides her lyrical works, her poetry has been included in such publications as the spoken word collection "Verbal Abuse."
Throughout her career, Kirby has been a vocal activist on the political front, specifically protesting against the Iraq War, social inequality and environmental issues. In addition, she has been very involved in the gay rights movement, which has garnered her a loyal following in the gay community.
Music career
Deee-Lite
Soon after meeting, Kirby made Dmitry silver platform boots and a glitter blue spacesuit for his band, Shazork, as well as a line of platform shoes in 1986. That same year, she began experimenting with singing and writing music with Dmitry, and the two wrote several songs together. Their first song was called "Love and Bubbles", the second was "I Won't Give Up." The first show they gave was in 1986, and Brill was introduced to local D.J. Towa Tei, a Japanese of Korean descent shortly thereafter. Combining Kirby's vocal and lyric talents with Brill's sampling skills and Tei's techno mixing, the three together formed the band Deee-Lite. They had performances every month, with Kier designing new costumes for each one. She continued go-go dancing for club promoter Suzanne Bartsch's Bentleys and The Copa until the band signed the seven-album deal with Elektra.[2]
The band's sound was a unique mix of house, techno and dance elements. Deee-Lite shot to stardom in 1990 with the release of the first album World Clique, and in particular with the smash hit "Groove is in the Heart". Kirby was very involved in the band's output: writing, producing, and performing the bulk of the band's songs. Kirby's sultry, feminine, and soulful voice backed up by the funky, catchy beats was truly unique for its time, and came to personify the club culture of New York City.
Known as much for their outrageous personae and costumes as for their music, the three took on larger-than-life alter-egos: Super DJ Dmitri, Jungle DJ Towa Tei, and Lady Miss Kier. Kirby is credited with designing and creating the look of the band, as well as much of the artwork accompanying the band's albums and marketing material. Her initial look relied on revamped and exaggerated retro '60s fashions, which was revolutionary at the time. Her signature look was a zip-up catsuit, platform shoes and flipped hair-do. At the height of the band's success, her style had a major influence on fashion trends, showing up in a variety of retail venues.
Deee-Lite followed their successful first album with a politically-charged second album, Infinity Within, in 1992. Their third album, Dewdrops in the Garden, was released in 1994 and saw a return to house roots with a new, more naturalistic tone. Neither of the two follow-up albums matched the commercial success of their debut. The second and third albums were hampered by difficulties with the label, which refused to promote, support touring, or fund contractual videos. The band functionally broke up during the writing of their third album in 1993, but Kirby and Brill decided to finish the project and tour together to promote the album before going their separate ways, and officially disbanding in 1994. In 1996, a remix album was released, and a greatest hits album was released in 2001. [3]
Solo career
After the disbanding of the group, Kirby moved to London and built a respected career as a solo artist. Well known for her D.J.ing and club performances, she has gained a cult following internationally. In 1995, a solo song named "Touch Me With Your Sunshine" appeared on the Wigstock: The Movie Soundtrack. In 1996, she debuted new songs at the Enit Festival. The public could hear that her new direction was more DnB than dance, but none of the songs were ever released. In the late nineties, she has collaborated on the albums of such diverse artists as Bootsy Collins, I Kamanchi and A Guy Called Gerald. Following the solo releases of the other two former band members, Kirby's solo debut has been long anticipated. In 2002, she contributed an exclusive solo track called "I'm not staying at home" to the compilation "Straight Up & Dirty". In 2005, she began performing new material, then appearing in club performances internationally in Australia, New York City, Chicago, New Orleans, Brussels, Zurich, San Francisco and Amsterdam. She also made television appearances on the OUTtv/Pink TV television series the House of Venus Show and has been featured in the New York City festival Wigstock. In 2005 Kier was the featured artist on the podcast Ron-Kat-Delic Show, where she premiered her solo work for the first time, namely a song entitled "Hot Wax." In 2006, she toured Australia with the Good Vibrations Festival.
She has since moved back to New York City, and is rumored to be putting together the long-anticipated solo album for release. Unreleased songs include "Me and my records", "Bulletproof", "Dance Police", "The Outer planets", "Black out love affair", "Wear U Out", "Go Down" and "Strip". Kirby occasionally releases snippets from her body of work on Myspace and her personal website. There are also several clips of her group and solo performances on YouTube. Most recently, Kirby has released a sound bite of "I Surrender" on Myspace.com, hinting that a solo album effort is still ongoing. On April 28, 2007 she performed at Coachella. [4] She appears on the release from NYC noise band, Apollo Heights on a song titled "Winter In The Summertime", released in October 2007.
Lady Miss Kier vs. Sega
In 2003 Kirby sued Sega for unauthorized use of her likeness for the character Ulala in the game Space Channel 5 [1]. She ultimately lost the suit and a later appeal, based on the appeals court's finding that the character was developed by designers who were unaware of Kirby or her persona. Kirby was also mandated to pay Sega's legal fees of $608,000 (reduced from $763,000 requested) for their legal costs, which was acknowledged by the justices as unfortunate but mandated under California statute. It was also ruled that Kirby would have to pay the cost of any further appeals, none of which have been filed as yet. [2]
In 2008, her single "Groove is in The Heart" was licensed for use a Sega video game Samba de Amigo for the Wii console, ironically appearing in a stage featuring Ulala.
References
- ^ "Lady Kier VS Sega". ladykier.com. Retrieved 2006-12-11.
- ^ ""Lady Miss Kier" Hammered With Opponent's Attorney's Fees". legalreader.com. Retrieved 2006-12-11.