About

Kiki Deirdre grew up in a small coastal village in Zeeland, the Netherlands. From a young age, she developed a passion for storytelling and loved listening to anyone with a good tale to tell. Her early musical influences include artists such as Leonard Cohen, The Waterboys, and many notable Dutch musicians, such as Maarten van Roozendaal. At the age of twelve, she discovered Mahogany and Cardinal Sessions on YouTube. This platform introduced her to contemporary folk influences like Rachel Sermanni, Will Varley, and Johnny Flynn. After school, she would spend hours scrolling through hundreds of videos, watching artists showcase their craft. By discovering some of her all-time favourite artists through these platforms and reading the works of writers like Allen Ginsberg and Rainer Maria Rilke, she developed a deep appreciation for acoustic music, intimate storytelling and poetic lyricism. This led her to pick up the guitar and begin writing her own songs, blending music and poetry to express her thoughts and emotions.

With a thirst for life and new experiences, always in search of adventures and stories, it was only natural that she wanted to leave the village where she grew up. As a teenager, she travelled the country by train, watching landscapes and people go by while scribbling down poems in notebooks. These journeys sparked her imagination and a curiosity about life that still fuels her writing today. She began sharing her songs and words with the world in 2014, encouraged by a friend. Her first time on stage with original material was a terrifying yet natural experience, marking the start of her love-hate relationship with performing. Her passion for songwriting, music, and language continued to grow as she performed at local venues and travelled across the country by train, taking her poems and songs with her to share wherever she went. She eventually left Zeeland just before she turned eighteen to pursue her love for writing and music elsewhere. After living some time in Nijmegen, she moved to Utrecht to study Music Performance Art at the Utrecht Conservatory. It was during these formative years that her songwriting really began to take shape. She developed her artistic voice and followed a deep-rooted urge to create music built around words and storytelling. Her aim was to develop a richer acoustic sound, drawing from the folk tradition, reviving the old while highlighting the timeless qualities of the kind of music. Around this time, she formed the Americana folk band Het Volk, together with musician friends Noah Eamon Hassler-Forest, Wouter Torringa, Yuri Heiligers and Nemo Arends. This marked the start of a new musical chapter. For a couple of years, they shared the stage and enjoyed themselves like never before, busking around and sharing their passion for storytelling and music with countless wonderful audiences. In 2022, they released a live album featuring original Bluegrass and Folk songs. However, shortly after releasing their debut album, the band chose to take a break from performing together in order to focus on their solo projects.