After nearly 20 years away from the Milwaukee music scene, multi-instrumentalist Kirk McFarlin is hoping to find his way back. With his first self-titled solo album released earlier this year, he’s more than ready to prove to a new audience what he’s capable of as an artist.
From the late 1980s through the mid 1990s, McFarlin was part of two local bands with recording contracts, Ecoteur and Carnival Strippers. Neither band had made it big by any means, even though there was effort to do so.
But for McFarlin, being a part of the local scene was like being part of the high school football team. It was something to do and luckily for him, it’s what he gravitated toward. After his time with Carnival Strippers, he had a short-lived stint with Victor DeLorenzo of Violent Femmes, with whom he recorded and toured.
“During that time, I had gotten married and started a family,” McFarlin said about leaving music behind, despite starting working on his own solo album. “I sort of was dragged out of the scene to support my family.”
And so he did. He became the self-described breadwinner of the family getting a job as a technical writer for Generac Power Systems 20 years ago where he remains working to this day. For years, he had aspired to write songs, even repeatedly practicing and playing his guitar until he mastered it. He eventually had songs take shape, but never released.
“I started to realize that I wasn’t always happiest when I was backing somebody else, even though any band that I was ever in, I loved being a part of it,” McFarlin said. “I had realized that playing the drums, I wasn’t going to do much singing, so it started to make sense to me to get away from things for a while. Mike Hoffman and I started working on some tracks dating back to 1997 and it was just a little bit here and a little bit there.”
He made an attempt to finish the record between 1999 and 2000, but he was constrained by the powers of the time—like the Internet and the lack of marketing capabilities for solo musicians without the luxuries of social media—and personal problems at home.
“I’m not happy to say this, but I went into some serious problems with alcohol,” McFarlin admitted. “I lost touch of reality for a while and around 2012, ended up becoming separated and found my way into recovery and started to get my musical passion back.”
During his time of recovery, there was a lot that McFarlin was exposed to that helped him uncover and perceive things in order to get a better understanding of himself, which included being more open and honest. This understanding, in turn, revitalized him as a musician because, he says, when songs are written and come from the heart the music is as honest as it can possibly be.
“I started to learn some things about myself that led me to a little more self-confidence,” McFarlin said. “Part of not finishing the record was really a lack of confidence in myself as a songwriter and an artist. I didn’t think that I would be perceived as worthy of anyone’s attention or be worthy to listen to. That was really unhelpful for me in many ways.”
With this gain of self-confidence, McFarlin, with the help of his friend and producer Mike Hoffman, took what he had already worked on in the late 1990s and cleared the attic as a way not just to get music out for the sake of getting it out, but to make room for new musical influences. In 2015, he had recorded his self-titled solo album and now it’s time to re-introduce himself to the Milwaukee music scene and the much-different crowds.
As he has quickly discovered, however, times have changed. This didn’t necessarily surprise him as things change naturally over time, but not only has the Milwaukee music scene changed, so has the music culture in general because of social media.
“We didn’t have the internet,” McFarlin said. “We didn’t have social media. Things weren’t as immediate. You really had to go out and look for stuff. It wasn’t delivered to your smart phone. The passage of time has brought technological changes, but live music is still the best.”
With two of his oldest children out of the house, McFarlin said he’s living on his own. This independence has allowed him the freedom to work more on his music than he ever has before. While he’s gradually learning to be fruitful at that, he’s branching out and actively seeking out live gigs.
In fact, he really hasn’t performed much since his album release show at Linneman’s Riverwest Inn back in late March. He’s performed at Shank Hall and Anodyne Coffee, but nothing else has sprung up just yet. He said that the internet has allowed anyone and everyone throwing their hat into the ring to be noticed, which may make it more difficult to find gigs.
“I’m eager to get recognition and validation for what I do,” McFarlin said. “I think that’s what artists in general are doing art for, to express themselves and be seen or heard. The internet is a great way to get stuff out, but at the same time, it’s a bigger ocean than it’s ever been before to be a small drop of water.”
“It’s best to relax and take it easy, but at the same time, keep pushing along and keep moving forward,” McFarlin added. “If life is an escalator going down and if we’re walking up the down escalator and if we stop moving, then we’re going down. I’d rather just keep moving just to at least stay even and hopefully rise a little higher.”
Kirk McFarlin’s self-titled album is streaming at kirkmcfarlin.com.
