Oceanside High School student releases album

For most high school seniors, the end of May brings unique stresses: the last finals, graduation, prom, college, saying goodbye to friends and a host of others.

But for 17-year-old Oceanside High School senior Kira Metcalf, there’s an additional burden: the success of her upcoming album release.

Metcalf’s album, “Kissing Daisies,” released on May 27, coinciding with a show that her band performed in at the Hub Billiard Club in Island Park.

“I’m thrilled,” Metcalf said of the album. “I’m so excited.”

The band, which currently doesn’t have a name, got together in September of last year. “They randomly heard that I happened to play guitar, and they booked me for this show that they were doing called CON ART,” Metcalf said. “I played for them, and they said, ‘we want to be your band.’”

The album features Metcalf on vocals and guitar, and she’s accompanied by three other OHS grads: Zach Zanghi on lead guitar, Zach Kirsimae on bass and John Tocabens on drums.

Metcalf, who has become a staple of OHS musical performances during her time at the school, started writing music when she was in second grade, “but it was terrible,” she said. She started seriously writing music when she was about 13 years old, which was when she started to play guitar. “when you play, it changes how you write,” said Metcalf.

But it wasn’t until Metcalf joined up with her bandmates that her music really came to life.

“They took my music somewhere else,” she said. “I was just a girl with a guitar, like anybody else. It’s a whole new level, and I’m so grateful.”

“Kissing Daisies,” a pop/alt rock album, features nine songs written by Metcalf. It was recorded at The Mix Palace in West Hempstead, which became Metcalf’s second home.

“My dad has been incredibly supportive,” she said. “I’ve been at the studio, sometimes every night until 1 a.m. from 4 in the afternoon. And I still had school and I still had APs. And he was really great about it. He knows what needs to get done. He knows what he’s doing.”

Metcalf comes from a musical family. Her father, James Oshinsky, is a folk guitarist who teaches musical improvisation. Metcalf’s mother Emily, who died of breast cancer when Metcalf was in 8th grade, was a concert cellist.

“My mom was always really supportive of my music,” Metcalf said, “and I know she would be freaking out right now.”

Metcalf will be attending The New College in Manhattan next fall to study French. While there, she hopes her band will be able to play more shows, possibly in the city, and get themselves more exposure. Her plan is to finish college before focusing more heavily on music, but that isn’t set in stone.

“If we got signed, I’d probably hold off on college,” she said. “You can always go back to college.”