Today we’d like to introduce you to Kristine Mirelle.
Hi Kristine, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I started out in the middle of the desert in NM. I grew up surrounded by farmland, raising pigs, mowing lawns, and working in a tortilla factory. (Very far from the music industry obviously)
I recorded my first album when I was 16 years old on a home recording studio and started selling my music going door to door. I would knock on people’s doors and sing to them on their doorsteps. I’d ask if they’d be interested in buying a CD and would tell them about my dream of making music for a living.
After doing this for many years, I started to sell my music at state fairs. I would buy booth space and set up a CD player. I would stop every single person that walked by and tell them about my dream and would ask them if they would like to listen to my music and possibly buy a CD. I sold thousands of albums this way over the course of about ten years.
I didn’t have a home so I slept on friend’s couches, Motel 6’s, Super 8, cheap motels, and sometimes even my car. I’ve bathed in a Chevron gas station and used couchsurfing.com to find strangers who would open their homes to me. I would sleep on people’s couches and put all the money I had into my music.
After nearly eight years of this, I had my first break. I got a residency performing in Hollywood five nights a week and from then on, I performed 300+ shows a year. I traveled the world, every single continent except Antarctica. I put together a band and we even toured the French Polynesian island. I set up my own tours through the United States and remained Independent. I did all of this without a record label, manager, or hit song.
After doing this for about eight years, I learned that I was pregnant which was nothing short of life-changing. After my son’s dad left, I decided to leave to Las Vegas where I could perform more in one city rather than touring. I continued to perform at major casinos including Aria, Cesar’s Palace, the Mirage, MGM, Encore, and More up until about a week before I gave birth.
After having my son, I decided that I wanted to focus on being a mom so I started a company called “Music Hustler” where I would teach other artists how I created an independent music career without a record label or manager, so I could help them reach their goals. It allowed me to remain at home with my little guy while also staying active in the music community so I got the best of both worlds J
I have more info on that company at musichustler.com and more about me at KristineMirelle.com.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Going door to door was definitely a challenge. I would get chased by dogs, it would be 115 degrees outside, I didn’t always even own a car.
Sometimes I would have friends drop me off in neighborhoods in certain cities and then I would walk through them for 4-5 hours. I would be pouring sweat. I would run out of water and have to ask the neighbors for something to drink. It was kinda crazy to be honest! People would yell at me, slam doors in my face, or tell me to go get a real job. I cried in many alleys for a long time. I just always kept in my mind that this would be temporary, and this wasn’t the end of my story.
I also had a bad judgment in partners lol. I think my “boyfriend meter” is off haha. Most of the relationships I had were not supportive. They would tell me to quit music or that I wasn’t good enough. They would belittle me or would be very insecure with me being on stage. It made me be afraid to sing in fear of their judgment. I battled through physically abusive relationships and even had to obtain a restraining order on an ex-boyfriend as well. It was a constant cycle for me, one that I have to take responsibility for since it was my own judgment that kept me there. That can greatly slow down a person’s progress. Although I learned a great deal from those experiences, they slowed me down greatly and were very painful.
When Covid hit, I left to NM with my son so I could get help from family since doing it alone was very difficult. I spent a year back in NM where I focused on my son and continuing to build my business “music hustler”. I continue to work with artists through coaching, live webinars, books and resources to help others achieve what I managed to do with my career. I get just as much joy helping others get to where they want to be as I did with myself. I’ve helped hundreds of artists book shows, travel the world, quit their jobs to do music full time, and I plan on continuing to do that forever J Its one of the best things!
As you know, we’re big fans of Music Hustler. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about the brand?
I share with other artists my own story, my own struggles, and how I overcame those to build a music career where I broke six figures a year as an independent musician.
I have books, resources, contacts to media to help artists promote their music, I hold free weekly webinar where I teach artists how to book shows, build their fan base, get published, and I hold weekly coaching programs where I work in an exclusive setting with members of “Music Hustler Live”. I answer questions they have and teach on topics each week that helps the members build their own music careers.
I share from my own experiences and also bring on other professionals as well.
If you had to, what characteristic of yours would you give the most credit to?
Discipline and focus are by far the two most important contributing factors.
My ability to play the piano had brought me to see stadiums and auditoriums that most people from where I’m from would never see. But I spent hours practicing since I was four years old, every single day. And that discipline I had to do it every single day and the focus on my goal is what took me to those places. Once I saw what was possible, the drive to accomplish more became even bigger. To have seen every continent of the world before I was 25 years old due to music was an incredible feeling. And no one handed that to me, it was through hard work. I’m very proud of it, and it makes me know and believe that anyone else can do the same thing no matter where they’re starting from as long as they have that amount of focus and are willing to work every day to perfect a craft.
Contact Info:
- Website: musichustler.com
- Instagram: Instagram.com/KristineMirelle
- Facebook: Facebook.com/KristineMirelleMusic
- Youtube: Youtube.com/KristineMirelle
- Other: http://www.KristineMirelle.com and Youtube.com/MusicHustler
Image Credits
Photo by Tru Trujillo (In yellow tub)
