Interview – Robinson Kirby

Canadian folk-rock duo, Robinson Kirby is made up of lead singer-songwriters Luke Robinson (vocals, guitar, percussion) and Madelyn Kirby (vocal, guitar), as well as Jonathan Elyashiv (bass) and Ross Hodgkinson (drums, percussion). The duo has unveiled their new single, “Find A Way”, along with a lyric video for the release.

Freshly pressed from their 2021 seven-track album offering, Little Dreams, the rhythm section of “Find A Way” instills a sense of beautiful calm, reminiscent of a gentle stream while the satiny vocal tones send the listener floating through the song with a feeling of warming assurance.

The song features a graceful, echoey twang of the electric guitar, and its solo, along with the slide of the lap steel, tie the instrumentation together seamlessly. These elements combined create a serene audible flow that contrasts the turbulence surrounding the song’s theme based on the uncertainty of lasting love.

Love may be blind, but we can always find our way through. These sentiments are suggested by the lyrics: ‘I don’t look at you the same, since we played the losing game, but I will try and find my way.’

With that in mind, “Find A Way” is a song about revelation, and what we uncover both about ourselves as well as our loved ones during times of uncertainty amidst emotional strife. The overall message is relatable, as those who have felt love dwindle in the past have oftentimes found themselves questioning who they are, what they could’ve done differently and, perhaps, making peace with the circumstance by accepting that their counterparts’ hearts may no longer be aligned with mutual perception of love.

‘Lay me down beside what happened here, wasn’t my love bigger than your fear,’ brings about the suggestion that it may come time for one to accept that, despite their best efforts, the love given may not always be the saving grace we’d like it to be.

When it comes to the single, as well as the Toronto-based band’s Little Dreams EP, Robinson Kirby describes the songs therein by saying, “They reflect a time of growth and change in our lives. Conceptually, the songs are about love, searching for connection, and finding your place in the world.”

Check out the lyric video for “Find A Way” below, and find out more about Robinson Kirby via our mini-interview.

First off, care to introduce yourself to our readers? 

Hey! We’re Robinson Kirby. Our first names are Luke and Madelyn and we were both born and raised in Toronto. Despite growing up pretty close to each other, we didn’t actually meet until we went to school together at Berklee College of Music in Boston. There we started playing shows and writing together in various bands and projects. That eventually evolved into us starting our own band together. Musically we’re inspired by classic singer-songwriter/rock/indie/folk stuff.

Tell us about the recording process behind “Find A Way”?

This was one of the first songs Maddy ever wrote and really loved. We’ve played it live many times over the years so we thought it would be a cool place to start for our first single. We were staying in LA at the time and recorded the basic tracks at The Village studios with our buddies/rhythm section geniuses Jonathan Elyashiv (bass) and Ross Hodgkinson (drums). Luke is proud to say he did the guitar solo live on that day and we actually kept it! Back in Toronto, we recorded overdubs with our engineer and co-producer, Harrison Lenz. We had fun adding gang vocals/percussion etc. Paul Phelan played some beautiful lap steel guitar on it as well. We tried to capture that live feel of us playing in a room together with some special sauce added on top.

What was the highlight of 2020?

The highlight of 2020 was finishing our record Little Dreams and releasing the first 3 singles from it. It’s so nice having this music out in the world! We’re grateful for the journey creating Little Dreams took us on, and we’re now feeling the endless possibilities for our next project.

What do you hope to accomplish in your career in 2021?

We’re sitting on some demos of music we love, so we’re hoping to “officially” start recording our second record soon. We’ll have some new music and videos by the end of 2021, and who knows, maybe we’ll be able to play live!!

Is there anyone out there you’d like to collaborate or open/close a concert with in the future? 

Yes!! We can’t wait to get back to playing shows with our friends in Toronto. Musicians like Jake Feeney, Julie Title, Mattie Leon, Your Hunni, Shannon Dooks, Sam Polley, and Bo Welland, to name a few. We’ve had the best times playing with them. Right now we’re having a lot of fun collaborating remotely with artists like Scott Goodwin, Julian Del Grosso, Kris Ulrich, Johnny Cattini, and Ole Kirkeng. Dream collabs or concerts would be to work with HAIM, Bahamas, Mapache, Grace May, Atileo.

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