Kat Harlton
Photos provided via PR team/ Lead Photo: Laura Joy
JUNO Award-winning talent Hill Kourkoutis has recently earned a JUNO Award nomination for the Jack Richardson Producer of the Year. This recognition comes for her work on “Ego Death” from the album Watin by Aysanabee, also a 2024 JUNO nominee, and “Whiskey Bar” from When I Met Your Girlfriend by Tafar Anthony.
In 2022, Hill Kourkoutis made history by becoming the first woman nominated and awarded a JUNO Award for Recording Engineer of the Year. Throughout her expansive career, Kourkoutis has left her signature on the music industry as a producer, mixer, and songwriter for a diverse range of artists. Her contributions have adorned singles and albums for notable artists such as Aysanabee, Leela Gilday, and Digging Roots. Not confined to traditional music realms, she has also crafted themes for children’s television, secured sync placements on Cadillac, Tim Horton’s and Virgin Mobile commercials as well as on popular television shows including Station 19 and Kim’s Convenience.
Beyond roles in production and writing, her versatility shines through as a skilled multi-instrumentalist and music video director. Her collaborations span a spectrum of artists, from established names like Serena Ryder to Mother Mother. Operating from her private Toronto recording studio The Lair, Kourkoutis not only cultivates her craft but also dedicates time to mentorship and education, imparting her knowledge of audio production. Her involvement in music organizations and advisory committees underscores her commitment to fostering the growth and development of the industry as a whole.
I had the opportunity to chat with Hill about her 2024 Juno Award Nomination, finding inspiration, and what’s next.
Kat: Can you share with us a bit about yourself and your music journey so far?
Hill: That’s a loaded question (ha!) but in short, I am a producer, songwriter, composer, recording and mixing engineer from Toronto. My journey has been a long and winding path with some very unexpected twists and turns! I started off taking guitar and piano lessons and writing songs. Shortly after that I taught myself drums and bass and took voice lessons. I started my first band when I was 12 and we made our first demo in my parent’s basement. Within a year or so I started playing clubs in Toronto and learning how to “bedroom produce” on my PC. When I was 16, I was cast in a TV show which inspired my love for filmmaking. By 17, I started getting hired to play in other artist’s bands and I went to TMU where I majored in film studies. While I was in university, I started to tour extensively for my own projects and other people’s projects in addition to putting out my music through an independent label I co-founded with my manager at the time. I also started to direct music videos. Eventually I began to compose for film and TV as well. Now I primarily write, produce, engineer and mix for other artists but sometimes when I feel like it, I still make my own music.
Kat: You were recently nominated for the 2024 JUNO Award for the Jack Richardson Producer of the Year. How does it feel to be nominated for this award?
Hill: It goes without saying but it is an immense honour. To be in the company of these incredible producers whose work I admire and to have been nominated by my peers means a lot to me. We don’t do this for the accolades but when they come, it does make you feel grateful to know people are listening to the records you’re a part of and that they are resonating with them.
Kat: The JUNO recognition comes for your work on “Ego Death” from the album Watin by Aysanabee and “Whiskey Bar” from When I Met Your Girlfriend by Tafari Anthony. Can you tell us more about your work on these projects?
Hill: I had the honour of producing, engineering and mixing Watin by Aysanabee. “Ego Death” is one of the songs off the album. The album is an auditory documentary of his grandfather Watin’s life and his experience of being taken from his family at eight years old and forced into residential school. This was such an important story to tell. Aysanabee had written all the songs on the album based on conversations he had with his grandfather during the pandemic. We started to build the production of the songs remotely and then once we were ready, we went to my friend John Dinsmore’s studio, Lincoln County Social Club, to track drums with drummer Skye Polson. The rest of the tracking took place at my studio, The Lair. Aysanabee and I primarily played all the instruments on the album but we also had an incredible group of musicians join us on some of the songs including Donna Grantis and Kyla Charter. Once we finished the production process, Aysanabee created the Interludes that appear in between the songs which contain audio clips of his conversations with his grandfather. I then mixed all the songs and interludes. It was a privilege and a profound experience to help tell Watin’s story.
Tafari had reached out to me about producing a few songs on his upcoming album. “Whiskey Bar” was one of the two songs I co-produced on When I Met Your Girlfriend. He had already completed the songwriting for the album at that point so he sent me the demo versions of the songs. For “Whiskey Bar” I had utilized some of the original stems from the demo that Tafari had done with Jordyn Woodside as a starting place and then built up the production from there. Then Tafari came over to record his vocals at my place. When we were close to wrapping production, we called Mike Tompa who is a very talented songwriter, producer and multi-instrumentalist to lay down real strings on top of the strings I had arranged and programmed. It felt like a very fluid process. Creatively, Tafari and I were on the same page and we like to dream big so that is what the song became…a sort of dramatic, cinematic soundscape of heart wrenching pain and disappointment. Tafari is such an incredible writer and artist. We had been trying to work together for years so I was very excited when he reached out. I absolutely love what we created together.
Kat: What has been a career highlight for you so far?
Hill: The highlight has been that I get to wake up every day doing what I love and chose to do! I remember the first moment I wanted to be a musician. I was three years old and I hopped on stage with a Greek band, picked up a tambourine and felt so excited and inspired. Since then, my focus has been to make a living at this. I have been very fortunate to tour around the world, learn a lot about myself and others, experience some unbelievably unique events, make life-long friends, work with incredible creatives, tell stories and create for a living. I do not take that for granted.
Kat: What have you learned along the way, that you would like to share with other aspiring producers?
Hill: I would say to be unapologetic in the light of your truth. Always be yourself and follow your truth and instinct. So much of what we do as creatives is driven by our intuition. I also think that finding that balance between focus and working towards your goals but also being open enough to recognize other opportunities when they present themselves that may not have been a part of your initial plans. In my experience, those instances have resulted in the greatest leaps and growths. The same can be said about knowing all the technical rules but also being prepared to bend or even break them if it feels right. Be prepared for magic!
Kat: What else can we expect from you for the balance of 2024?
Hill: It is just the beginning! So much is yet to be revealed! There are so many things in the works. I am working on some great projects with Sebastian Gaskin, Aysanabee, Carlyn, Emi Jeen, Leela Gilday and Damhnait Doyle and some other things I can’t talk about quite yet! I’m looking forward to those projects being released as 2024 unfolds.
Connect:
Instagram: @hillkourkoutis
Twitter: @HillKourkoutis
Facebook: /hillkourkoutis
Website: https://hillkourkoutis.com/