Kirk was born on March 21, 1956, and grew up in Sheffield, in South Yorkshire, England, where he lived his whole life.

[4] He attended the Psalter Lane School Of Art, where he completed a one-year program in sculpture and met Peter Care, who would later direct several Cabaret Voltaire videos.

[8][4] “When we started, we wanted to do something with sound, but none of us knew how to play an instrument,” Kirk told the New York Times.

[4] He cited a wide range of musicians, including Stockhausen, John Cage and Fela Kuti, as inspiring his work.

[8] He reformed the band in 2014 as the sole remaining member, performing sporadically with all-new material more akin to his solo work than the output of the original incarnation of Cabaret Voltaire.