Q&A: Talking Water, Internet & Feminism with Kinnie Starr
For nearly 20-years, singer, songwriter, rapper, producer, beat maker, and all around awesomely outspoken artist, Kinnie Starr, 
has been blazing her own path through the sometimes complicated Canadian music landscape.
Last month, Starr released From Far Away, her first new album in four years. Here, Starr touches deeply on her views about the environment, all the while examining the life that sits in front of her.
Recently, Riffyou.com spent some time with Starr to discuss why environmental issues are so important to her; the importance of being opinionated; the scariness of the Internet; as well as why it’s important for females to have a strong, creative voice in the music business.
RY: With this album, lyrically you’re touching a lot on personal and environmental health. When did you first begin to feel so passionate about both issues?
Kinnie: “I’ve always been writing about society. That’s always been my passion – to write about people, family, race, and how we relate to each other. I’ve been watching the decline of Lake Huron – my grandfather built a place there 80 years ago – so we’ve watched the water levels and quality change. I have kids in my [extended] family, so I began to wonder, ‘geez, are they even going to be able to swim in this water?’ And on the West Coast of Canada, we have the pipeline issues – I know families who are affected by the fracking and the oil and gas industries, in terms of the runoff. As you get older, you just see more and realize [what’s] really critical.”
RY: A lot of Canadian artists align themselves with many social and political causes – why is water such a focus of yours?
Kinnie: “I’m also a swimmer and I find a lot of peace in swimming. I’m in a business where extraversion is the assumption. So, it’s always assumed that people get into music to be famous or to have their photos everywhere – and obviously the Internet has made it harder to become an introvert. Swimming has become a place – even when I was little – where I would just go under the water, swim around to look at the reefs and the rocks. It’s very personal to me.”
RY: Even as exposing as the Internet can be, it does help provide a platform for artists to speak out about issues. Are you into that?
Kinnie: “The amazing thing about digital culture is that you can say what’s important to you. When you have your own voice in the digital culture, you can really get at it. I’m comfortable and uncomfortable with [digital culture] in the sense that people can reach out to you easier.”
RY: Should more artists in a position of influence use the Internet to try to shed light on important topics?
Kinnie: “I do think artists have to use their positions responsibly, but there are some musicians who just want to see their pictures and sign autographs – fame is more important to them than creating conversation. It’s a personal choice, but not really one that I agree with.”
RY: You’ve found comfort in putting yourself out there and not being afraid of backlash. Did you learn early on that you’re comfortable with stating an opinion regardless of what a person thinks of it?
Kinnie: “My mom is a psychologist and my father is a criminal defense lawyer. I was also [brought up] around a lot of smart people. I observed that the adults who had more fun and had a more interesting and engaged life [were that way] because they are anti-authoritarian. I knew a lot of adults who were by the book…and I saw how bored they were – they never said anything of value. I definitely remember observing conversations with adults and thinking, ‘that adult is happy. I can see it in his face – he’s also a shit-disturber, and I want to be that!’ That being said, I can get hurt [by opinions about me] rather easily.
“After I put out my last album, some women started an intensive hate-based thread about its cover. It featured my naked butt 
and I was pointing a gun at a lake – it was a water statement, as well as how female bodies aren’t just for display. Sometimes we’re just doing our thing. But, it wasn’t read that way because it was the year that Miley Cyrus and Robin Thicke made headlines…so I got lumped in. [I heard] ‘Kinnie Starr is such a horrible feminist – she’s a slut!’ It was really weird and intensive. That made me a little more afraid of the Internet. I try to shake it off by going into the water.”
RY: Do you find that feminism in music nowadays is more of a complicated concept?
Kinnie: “I don’t have the answer for that. But, I don’t feel like I should be ashamed of my body. I’ve spent most of my life covering my body up because I don’t like people looking at my frame – makes me feel unsafe. As I get older, I realize I have to be true to myself.”
RY: You mention on your Twitter account how proud you are one of a small percent of females in the music industry that produce their own music. Why is important to make such a statement?
Kinnie: “A lot of people will say, ‘what are you talking about? Look at Katy Perry and Rihanna.’ But, when you look at their song credits for whose producing, engineering, and making the music, it’s mostly men. It’s teams of men! In pop music, you have these women dancing around and the men are behind it, making the money, while women are dancing and getting tired from flying around the world.
“It’s really important to me for people to understand that more women need to be producing, engineering and writing, because that’s how we change things. It doesn’t change things if you have a hot girl on stage looking hot – that’s just the same shit we’ve had for 100 years. But, it changes things if you have a female voice.”
-Adam Grant
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