Mirk

Mirk, (formerly "Mirk & the New Familiars") is an American musical group from Albany, New York, founded in 2009 whose music has been characterized as a cross between the genres of pop, soul, rock, R&B, and hip-hop. Besides writing and performing their own music, Mirk has also been credited with producing music for Jay-Z, Petey Pablo, Eamon, Ciara, and Young Jeezy, among others; several have been certified "Platinum" and "Gold" by the RIAA. "Love", their debut album was all written, recorded, mixed and originally performed by lead vocalist and producer, Joshua "Mirk" Mirksy. After several solo performances, he assembled a live band to recreate the album's unique sound. The album's single, "Forbidden" received high praise from critics and was well received by fans. A subsequent music video was filmed later that year in New York City which features a cameo by Grammy award winning R&B singer Maxwell. After a sold out full-band debut show on February 13, 2009, a follow up EP titled "Broke" was released a few months later. Mirk gained national attention in late 2009 after Rolling Stone, MTV and other press outlets reported on a track produced for Jay-Z featuring Regina Spektor. The track, "Crispy Benjimans" was purchased by Jay-Z and RocNation that fall and despite starting quite a buzz online, never was released publicly. After two years of playing shows across the northeast in support of "Love", the band made it back into the studio to begin work on their sophomore album. On September 28th, 2011 they officially announced their sophomore album titled "Grind" would be pre-released on December 2nd, 2011 to select fans. At the "fan-exclusive" album release show, the first 500 fans were given a free copy of the new album months before its official release. "Grind" was officially released to the public in the Spring of 2012 on iTunes and on bandcamp, where fans can name their own price. "Grind" was the band's first studio album which featured songs performed and written by all members of the band and, like "Love", was self-produced and recorded in the band's private studio. "Away", the album's first single, also featured the band's second music video thanks to a successfully backed Kickstarter campaign. Only weeks later, the band announced the follow-up single, "Beautiful Music", which too received a music video and features Grammy Award winning rapper Mr. Cheeks of the Lost Boyz. In March 2012, Mirk went on their first national tour in support of "Grind". The tour started in their hometown of Albany, NY and went though New York City, Atlanta, New Orleans and others, ultimately leading up to their stop at the 2012 SXSW festival in Austin, TX. After a busy 2013, the band has returned to the studio to continue writing new music in 2014. They announced their third studio album, "Run", which will be released in two parts in the spring of 2014. They also continue their heavy live-performance schedule, playing between 50-75+ shows a year across the country.