Harding’s first job in the music industry was far from glamorous. He was a record store sales clerk at a retail chain. Harding had left Mangere College at 15 years old to take up an automotive machinist apprenticeship (learning to recondition engines), but he spent all his spare money buying records at the Sounds store on Queen Street. Here he made friends with one of the staff, Mike Morgan, and eventually asked him whether he might be able to get a job.
When the Urban Pacifika Records label excerpted Phil Fuemana’s chapter from the book Hip Hop Music In Aotearoa on their website in 2006, it included a special message Phil had typed at the bottom of the document: “Kirk has always been 100% supportive and he’s still pulling favors for the d-raid clique today ... u the man Kirk ... love u dude!!”
BMG
Loud Records
SRC
Move the Crowd
Universal-Motown