Lark (Band)

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Lark is a four-piece electronica band from South Africa based in Cape Town, who have been one of the key contributors to the rising Trance and Electronica who have created a solid Grassroots following in South Africa, England and Germany through their EP Mouth of Me but have gained mainstream success through their debut Album Razbliuto.

Lark was originally started as Inge Beckmann's solo project which was produced by Paul Ressel (also known as The Humanizer) and Simon "Fuzzy" Radcliffe. While recording, they came up with the idea to create a band with Beckmann on vocals, Ressel on electronics (sequencers, analog systems and laptop) and Radcliffe on bass (upright and electric) and woodwinds. These sessions soon turned into the band's debut, Mouth of Me. They started gigging in April 2003.

After their first few gigs, they recruited popular session musician Sean Ou Tim on drums and entered Smart Studio in Johannesburg, where they held the sessions for their first full-length album, Razbliuto. Razbliuto was released in August 2006 to rave reviews from newspapers The Sunday Times and the The Star.

In April 2007, the album won a SAMA for "Best Alternative Album".

Lark's music, according to their MySpace page, is influenced by artists such as Radiohead; Paul Ressel's MySpace page once stated that he was initially a rock musician, but was exposed to electronic music through Radiohead's milestone album Kid A. Lark may also be said to display a striking similarity to international groups such as Massive Attack and Portishead: firstly because both of these bands combine electronic sequencers with live instrumentation and sample manipulation (as Ressel states on his website: "The one thing I have tried to put forward in all my music is a fusion between organic sounds/acoustic instruments and mechanical electronica/digital programming,") and secondly because both groups feature a female lead voice. The resulting sound is eclectic, drawing on the rock, Western classical, electronic, and world vernaculars - everything from electric guitar to harpsichord to Aphex Twin-esque snare rushes to Radcliffe's daduk. Classically-trained singer Beckmann (who previously worked with hip-hop group Spindle Sect) variously describes Lark's music as "alternative electro", "glitch opera", and "Nintendo-electro" on her MySpace page.

Inge Beckmann: vocals
Paul Ressel: music production & instrumentation, electric guitar
Simon Radcliffe: upright bass, electric bass, flute, daduk
Sean Ou Tim : drum kit (acoustic and electronic)