EPK WEBSITE LINK: https://yesitskina.carrd.co/

Artist Biography:

Born and raised in South England, Joaquina Sam-Brew, under the stage name ‘K!NA’, has spent her life creating music from as young as ten. Growing up in church is where K!NA truly found her passion for music, and it’s where she learned to sing, play piano, and even develop perfect pitch. Her music is as dynamic as she is- From fusions of Orchestra and Hip-Hop, and jumping from genre to genre, every song exhibits influences from a range of styles and features the singer-songwriter’s powerful vocals. Producing and instrumentally arranging every release independently, K!NA has cultivated a unique sound, one that continues to grow more distinct with each project. During her time in compulsory education, Joaquina was very involved within the creative communities in her school, involving herself in the extracurricular activities of choir, orchestra, drama and dance groups. Her passion for the arts would lead her to study Music Performance and Production at Itchen College, where her story as a releasing artist began.

In 2023, K!NA released her debut single: ‘Am I…?’ during her first year of college. The R&B track went on to be featured on Itchen College’s ‘Greatest Hits: (2018-23)’ Vinyl (2023), and served as the lead single for her first EP, ‘The Hurting’, released on Christmas Day. The six track project dives into the teen’s past struggle with mental health, featuring rock, pop and ballad music. Whilst also at college, Joaquina continued to involve herself within the performing arts community. She worked as a musical direction assistant and vocal teacher on her college’s ‘Dance and Musical Theatre’ course in 2023), going on to play a principal role within the course’s annual musical production. In 2024, K!NA aimed to explore even more styles of music and expand her audience. In February of that year, the artist released her first standalone single ‘Songbird’ , a standout track in her discography. The fun, dramatic pop song was played on BBC Introducing, and remains K!NA’s most popular song to date. That same year, Joaquina released her debut album, ‘Love To Ashes (The Demos)’, a concept album filled with demo tracks based on a book series the artist is creating. Exploring a story of teenage love and twisted lies, the Alternative-leaning album portrays two characters’ perspectives within the fiction’s narrative, displaying K!NA’s ability to bring a story to life through the medium of music. Her latest singles, ‘Red (And The Anger)’ (2024) and ‘Make Believe’ (2025) serve as continuations of the concept, both being powerful ballads encapsulating some of the strong emotions that are portrayed within the story.

When she’s not creating music, the powerhouse immerses herself within other forms of art such as reading and writing poetry and literature, all of which have continued to inspire her throughout her musical journey. She also enjoys sports and athletics, which she partakes in, as well as fashion and art, an artistic expression that has become part of K!NA’s image as a flamboyant individual. Joaquina has proven herself to be a versatile songstress, displaying a deep understanding of genre and style. Flexible, as well as ambitious, K!NA is always up to a challenge, and open to working on music outside of her comfort zone. Her dedication to her craft shines through her projects, and with helping others to create theirs. Though primarily a Singer-songwriter, K!NA has had experience within the studio, working at Southampton’s SoCo Music Project’s studio as part of her College’s work experience program. She has carried the skills she acquired through this experience with her to university, Leeds Conservatoire, where she currently studies Songwriting, and records material for her own and other people’s work. As K!NA gears up to release her next album, the singer-songwriter advises to ‘expect the unexpected’, teasing fans with her next big project, as she performs around the Yorkshire city of Leeds, performing her songs and various covers as a solo act.

Electronic Press Kit Supporting Commentary

Justify

My EPK highlights my feats as a growing independent artist, making reference to the various songs and projects I have released. It presents the skills needed behind each of my releases, and displays me as self-sufficient and hardworking. It proves my versatility, and shows off my understanding of the many sides of music. In addition, my EPK makes reference to my work experience, allowing the intended audience to see how capable and reliable I am.

As of right now, the majority of my audience will know me as a performing artist, so it is most logical to introduce myself as such. My main goal is to present myself as an artist with a unique name, voice and sound. Then, when people come to find out more, they will discover other things about me that they might not know (my musical origins beginning in church, perfect pitch, etc.) the work that goes into what I do (producing my songs and doing studio work independently). Adding performance videos will also allow people to see how I sound live as opposed to fully developed songs.

One thing I would like to add to my EPK are other people I have produced for or collaborated with, showing works that I have added my artistic touch to. This is something I have only just recently started doing. This means that in my second year of university I’ll need to work hard to fill in that gap, and begin to market myself even more as a producer and songwriter and not just an artist. I’d also like more performance videos to display performances and sets in which I have a band, to give a better insight concerning my arrangement and musical direction skills when adapting a song for a live performance. This will also make people more interested in hearing me live.

My music is very bold and dramatic, and I believe that the black/white/grey images with a touch of gold makes a statement. Various times, artworks of my projects have been focused around my mouth, representing me ‘having a lot to say’, ‘being loud’ (being a powerhouse, belting, dynamic songs) and having a voice. Being a young black woman, these things are important to me, as we are often misrepresented and outspoken. This is something I wanted to address not just within my songs, but outside of them, because it is part of my musical identity. When I do feature my full face, my expressions are usually editorial magazine model style, with that air of dramatique that I want to carry out. That, paired with the colour scheme, makes for an air of  mystery, making people who may not know me wonder who I am.    

I think that Instagram might be more relevant than an EPK, in the sense that Instagram allows you to update people with your musical endeavours and projects a lot faster. People are likely to search you up more if you provide a service that they want, or something that they are interested in. In my case, my main selling point is the music I make. People are going to find out more about my songs (if they are interested) as I could make a dedicated post/story/highlight about it, or even go live. Instagram has a lot of tools which allow one to organise content quicker. 

However, the more extensive my work becomes, it will need a place like a website to cover all of the details, because social media primarily is the place for others to connect with people more personally beyond their artistry. People who follow me will be following me to discover me as a person.

Market Research

Who is your audience and how does your EPK fit this audience/genre? 

My audience is towards people who listen to pop music and theatre, as I believe my music encapsulates a variation of sounds that are also dramatic in the way that theatre displays. My music takes a lot of inspiration and features moments of orchestra which I think would draw that crowd in. 

What is standard practice in your field/what do others do? 

Analyse – what you like, dislike, where do you fit in etc. 

Most in my field are also usually artists in their own right, releasing their own material as well as working with others in the industry. Their music is usually introspective and is presented clearly. What I like is how you can see the type of person they are through the choice of colour and the type of photography displayed. It also usually matches with their genre well. I think I also do this within my EPK, which helps me fit in. But I feel like there is also not a lot showcasing the journey’s of said artists. When I search someone up, I like to know as much as I can (within reason), so it gives me an idea of where they were to gain such opportunities, what inspired them and how they came about writing music. I also don’t see as many performance videos of the artist on the EPK, more just about their releases. I think that could be something that more could implement on their pages.

Financial and Legal Elements: 

If I wanted to take my EPK a step further to get my name out there, it would be details such as website domain names, emails and social media handles that matter. Having a professional and official looking name, one that is clean and official makes you look more presentable and valid. You look and sound reputable. This attached to the photography used would also give you leverage in the market. Having good photos that represent you well on all fronts (you as an artist, you as a performer, etc.) will show you as a trustworthy and respected individual in the field, which is what you’d ideally want. On top of that, you’d want an artist logo which people could use to identify you without seeing your face. This is usually either drawn by a graphic design artist or one could legally acquire a typeface they would like to use. All of these things would cost money, and on top of that you would then need to promote said website on various platforms. In the long run, it would be helpful as an EPK would assist in promoting you, allowing people who might be considering reaching out to you to see what you have to offer. There would be less hassle.

Group Work / Evaluation

When doing group work, our main ideas were centered on having a well written artist biography, as well as having a strong image/branding and a showcase of our currently released music. To help ourselves identify a good artist biography which we could use to help shape our own, we looked at a few examples, analysed them, and edited them where necessary to get an idea of how we’d want ours to sound.

After this, we went off to write our own artist bios, before regrouping to share our progress. When it came to gaining feedback from mine, most pointed out that there was a lack of information regarding my musical journey. Before editing my artist biography, there was only a sense of where I started, but not how I grew. This meant I needed to add points about my experience ‘coming up’, and potentially even go on to talk about places that I have performed.

With this feedback in mind I adapted my artists’ bio to talk about my experiences with music whilst in school, which I believe was a good move as it helped give insight to what influenced my music to sound the way that it does. Because I also don’t have any music related interviews as of yet, my artists’ biography is the best place to have all this information as of right now, so it was important that I could fit as much in as well as being concise with it. 

When I revisit my EPK, I would like to add more professionally taken videos and photos of me performing, which would add my credibility as an artist and performer. I would also like to add more of my works as a producer and songwriter, making it more known that I am available for such services. Although I have already noted within my artist biography that I am self-sufficient with my music as an independent artist, it could be made even more obvious that I am a producer in my own right outside of my own music, showing I can create different styles (even as I already make music in multiple genres).