A View from the Wire

A View

from the Wire

Musicians of the K awa rt h as

By Michael Bell The wire Magazine

Featuring IAN KURZ

Ian Kurz is best known as “Paul Stanley” in the wildly successful KISS tribute “Destroyer.” But there’s another Ian Kurz and it’s the guy behind the up and coming rockband Ian K. So Ian, where did it all start?

“The truth is, it all started so long ago that I can barely remember it. I’ve played guitar since about the age of nine, and except for a stint for a few years in drum corps when I was drumming instead of strumming, I’ve basically never looked back. Now today I have my main project, Ian K. It started very simply because of a studio session I had at The Pocket Studios in Toronto, recording lyrics I written for an audition. It had been quite a while since I had been in the studio at that point, and it reminded me as to how much I had always enjoyed it in the past. After discussing some pricing options on recording an album, I decided that I was further ahead to buy recording gear rather than pay somebody to do it for me. All the while, I was writing songs, recording, mixing and mastering them myself. And like anybody that makes music, I tried my best to promote these songs because I believed in them. I was eventually offered a gig at one point, at which time I didn’t even have a band, and it struck me that I should fi nally put a band together and get out and play my music live. We’ve done a fair number of shows around

Peterborough, Toronto and Niagara region over the last couple of years, including several US dates in October of 2017. In 2017 Ian K signed a three year deal with World Music Stage Records, and the band gets worldwide major label distribution under Universal. I recruited some of the best players I knew from over the years (Paul Crane – guitar, Adam Sweeney – bass, Keith Riddolls – drums) , and we found that we seem to gel pretty good, and before we knew it, Ian K had become a band, rather than simply a recording artist. It’s kind of funny for me to think about how it all started, learning to play guitar, the fi rst time I ever sang on stage. Back in those days all I wanted was to be a guitar player, be in a band, and be performing in front of people that wanted to hear it. Now today, I play most weekends, in several bands Ian K is signed and beginning to get some traction, and as I approach the later years of my job, I realize that I most likely will fi nd myself in a position to retire from work early, and concentrate on the music of Ian K as a full time effort as our tenure with World Music Stage Records evolves.“