Sgt. Hulka doesn’t quite fit singer-songwriter Kirsty Hulka’s vibe. Her delicate voice, witty vocals and raw piano-driven style bemuses listeners who expect something heavier, grittier and angrier with a name as assertive as hers.
Her passion for music rings through; Hulka recently completed her degree in classical piano and music education, and hasn’t stopped moving since. With a sound reminiscent of the likes of Regina Spektor and Meg Mac, Sgt. Hulka is popping up on radars nation-wide, transcending the Perth music scene in which her unique sound was born.
Sgt. Hulka is here to prove that keys are just as cool as guitars, and that indie bands don’t need to be fronted by stringed instruments to succeed in the music world.
Sgt. Hulka’s second single Forget Me Now details the god-awful feeling of waking up after a night of regretful decisions and stupid mistakes. We’ve all been there; lying in bed – perhaps ours, perhaps someone else’s – with a dry mouth, a splitting headache, and a strong hunch that we shouldn’t have done whatever we did the night before.
The song’s title references Arrested Development character Gob Bluth’s dubious memory-erasing tablets. Intentionally raw and vulnerable, the piano-driven Forget Me Now ruminates on drinking too much, making terrible decisions and then regretting it all the morning after. Listen to the track below:
It wasn’t easy to record the track, explains Hulka:
“I spent one whole month trying to record the vocals – the month I was doing sober October. I couldn’t the vocals right. I went back on the 1st of November with vodka and nailed it in one take.”
Hulka maintains the stance that “keys are just as cool as guitars”. With help from Tim Marshall on drums and Brent Gillham on bass, the three-piece are singlehandedly shaking up the WA indie scene and proving to music fans that successful bands don’t need to be fronted by guitars.
