Due out August 7th, the debut solo album from Kirby Sybert bears the title Happy People Make Happy Things. Recognized throughout Philly as a guitarist for Mo Lowda & the Humble and the former frontman of Kirby & the Vibe Tribe, Sybert has spent quarantine experimenting with various projects and has finally completed his first set of songs to call himself a solo artist. If you know him, then you know he’s never one to sit still, and he’s always got something on his mind. This release reflects the intense thought processes one goes through when they spend too much time alone, or dealing with a big internal feat like sobriety, as he was. These songs teach the listener that while happy people do create happy things, they also create deeply emotive things, and Sybert’s lyrics are going to make you think about which side he’s really on.

On August 6th, you can join a virtual listening party hosted by Sybert on Zoom here.

Meeting ID: 681 004 8342

PW: 0mX1F0

What does the phrase, “happy people make happy things” mean to you? Because a lot of this album doesn’t necessarily listen like an overtly positive release.

Kirby: The name came from a late night hang with some friends in Charlotte, North Carolina after showing some friends the songs. My buddy Jake and I were talking about how sometimes happy things come from happy people but some of the tunes aren’t so happy. I just thought the phrase “happy people make happy things” had a great ring to it and felt like it represented this chunk of music that I was creating. A lot of it is about love in a friendship/familial sense. And some of it is about my disenfranchisement of the entertainment industry.

Bre: It for sure does. I feel we could do a deep dive into the duality behind the statement “happy people make happy things” in the sense that you could take it with a bit of sarcasm. I think it’s a great statement.

Emily: It also feels really fitting to be put out right now when I think a lot of people are struggling with quarantine anxiety/job insecurity/lack of creativity. It’s like a light at the end of the tunnel kind of release.

Kirby: Yeah absolutely. I hadn’t originally planned to put it out this early but I’ve had a lot of time to work with it and I’m writing new stuff for the follow up now, so I figured releasing it now would give people time to listen while I prepare for the next one.

Bre: I listened fully with the expectation of hearing something happy, but when you sit back there are a lot of big statements in there that are more realistic and vulnerable.

How long have you been working on this album? It seems like it touches on experiences felt over a long period of time.

Kirby: There are a lot of big statements on it huh? Haha. This record started coming from a year of sobriety. I felt like I was in the party mode a bit too much so I stopped drinking and in that time a lot of things were coming out of me musically. I started recording on my own again, something I hadn’t really done since college. I was in the studio a lot but not coming out with things that felt me so I went back to just recording in my room. This really started showing me that I could record things that felt personal so I just kept going with it. The songs started flowing out around 2018 or so and I started bringing them to my buddy Joshua Aaron Friedman and we revamped a lot of what I recorded in the studio. He works out of Hi5 which is like five blocks from my house. We finished mixes around December of last year and then I got masters back around April-ish. So it did take a while but I was also involved with a lot of other projects during this time. But it definitely felt right to put things out during this strange time in the world.

Emily: One of the major themes that’s mentioned even just in what you explained is that “change” isn’t going anywhere. It’s always going to be something we all deal with and I think that’s going to be the main way that listeners can find something to grasp onto. A lot changes occurred in just the two-ish years that you spent working on it, so even while the title is light and seemingly carefree, the themes in there are heavy and emotive. I think that sense of duality is important. It shows your depth as a solo artist.

Kirby: I appreciate that, Emily. I definitely am a deep thinker and get lost in thoughts of change, life, death, love, etc. and this record definitely shines a light on that thought process.

Bre :Exactly Emily, I read that title and picture that dog in the room on fire who is like “Everything is fine.”

Kirby: That’s 2020 right now.

You're known in Philly as the guy who can do it all - DJ, sing, play every instrument, wear cool hats. In all of those amazing things you do, do you feel like this album really is the essence of your artistry? Do you find a home in this work?

Kirby: That’s a really great question. This record is definitely part of me. It’s a statement of where I’ve been for the last while and how I’ve been feeling about love and loss and this strange industry that we’re a part of. I feel as an artist anything you touch is inherently you. And this release is one aspect of who I am. All the different artistic mediums I pursue and create have always been a part of me. I was making short films with my cousin (who’s now an Emmy winning editor in LA) since we were kids. I always was performing growing up and always had a camera in hand. So these two parallel art forms (film/video and music) have been constants in my life in different forms. They’re just such a natural form of expression for me. This record is just the tip of the iceberg of what I create.

Do you ever find it hard to land on something? Having so many talents can be a good and a bad thing, right?

Kirby: I thought about that for a while, and from what people have told me in the past, focusing on one thing is the way to go. But that just doesn’t work for me. When I’m going through writer's block I have filming and editing to be creative through. And when the inspiration for a song happens then I’m open to it and not burnt out on it. I think as a creator you need breaks - sometimes self-imposed and sometimes those breaks are forced upon you - in one way or another. So having these multiple mediums helps me stay fresh in both. I also have been working at both for most of my life and am continuously learning and am inspired so it keeps evolving. I’m fortunate to create and continue with both at a higher level.

**How did you know this specific album and sound was 100% what you wanted to put out into the world, considering you are so inspired by so many different mediums?**

Kirby: this record is just what I’ve been going through. There were a whole bunch of other songs that I’ve written that just didn’t make the cut or weren’t ready for this batch. They’re definitely where I wanted them to be released. I also try not to get overly critical with recording because that can send you down a rabbit hole and then things never get released. So I’m happy with how they turned out and the people I worked with on them helped elevate them to be a batch that I’m super proud of. I think in terms of long-term, this feels like a great first release. I’m stoked to show the world what else I’ve been working on and what I’ll continue to be working on.

If you had to give this album a tagline, like what you see on movie posters, what would it be? Would it reflect maybe that underlying sarcasm? Or go in a whole different direction?

Kirby: Happy People Make Happy Things - Songs To Help You Deal.

Bre: Songs to help you deal. Open-ended. I like it.

Emily: If you could use this album as the soundtrack to any film, what would it be?

Kirby: The skate film “Yeah Right” by Girl Skateboards. A break through skate film directed by Spike Jonze - one of my favorite directors.

Is there a particular lyric on this album that you’re especially proud of? Or one that was difficult for you to feel brave enough to say?

Kirby: “Fighting hard to claim my stake / in an industry I’ve grown to hate / people laugh but it’s all fake / oh, what a waste” - from “Ease Fulfillment.” This song came out in one night, written and recorded. And I was just like, “fuck what do I have to do to get anywhere with what I’m creating” I just felt defeated in thing I was putting out and just went back to honesty. And that’s honestly how I was feeling at the time. That whole song is about that.

If you could change the industry in any way, how would you? Why have you come to feel some sort of indifference toward it?

Kirby: Hmmm. I think the whole thing is becoming a lot more open and inclusive which is great. The fact that I can record in my bedroom and put it out with people checking it out is huge. I think I was just tired of bad art being praised. Hate is a strong word isn’t it? But it’s emotive and people I feel can understand where I’m coming from and can interpret it to their own industry and the faults in those different industries. I think with what we’ve seen in this year and in history, things need to change for the greater good. This was my own piece of trying to express my need for change in what I was doing and what I was putting out.

Bre: It is indeed. I think that means you really felt it though, so it's honest.

Emily: I was literally just talking about that with someone today. “Static mediocrity is so praised but it also takes up so much space. Then it devalues the space it’s in.”

Kirby: I think it’s become a common theme with all of this ability to create things in our “bedrooms.”

Bre: To play devil's advocate - who are we to say what art is good and what is bad?

Kirby: Well it’s up to the interpreter, the viewer, the audience. I think we can collectively see a thing and say “oh wow that’s bad,” but it may still resonate with someone, who knows? I have no idea though. I just do my thing and if people dig it that’s cool, if not I’m still going to make stuff because I need to, because I have to. It’s in my being.

Emily: Exactly, there’s always a line between subjectivity and objectivity, and when it comes to someone’s art I’m not sure who has the authority to categorize it beyond their own opinion. There are elemental parts to music like the technicalities of playing that can be called good and bad just based on rule alone, but how something sounds? It’s objective. I have a lot of thoughts about this clearly.

Kirby: Everyone is entitled to their opinion. I’m sure there are people out there that hate what I create. More power to them! But there is space for everything, I think. But also there are loads of people out there making incredible music or art that won’t get the audience they deserve and it goes down to funding a lot of the time. They just won’t have the resources to be heard and I think that should change, however it can.

What do you want listeners to walk away with after hearing this album? What do you hope to evoke within them?

Kirby: I hope they listen to it and enjoy it. The message is going to be different for every listener. I just create and the audience derives the meaning. It’s not mine anymore, it's the listener’s.

Kirby Sybert Shares the Duality Behind the Meaning of His "Happy People Make Happy Things" LP