Alessi's Ark - (bella Union)

www.alessisark.com

www.myspace.com/alessisark

On the day before her 17th birthday Alessi Laurent-Marke signed her first record deal.Asked who her dream producer would be for her debut lp, Alessi said Mike Mogis of Bright Eyes. Less than 6 months later she was travelling to Nebraska to record the album at Mogis and Conor Obersts studio in Omaha. We think thats an awesome story.

The album, Notes From The Treehouse, was released in May 2009, featuring full band versions of some of the songs from her Bedroom Bound EP, as well as newer compositions such as The Dog and Hummingbird. The album also featured many musicians that had initially inspired her to begin making music including Jake Bellows of Neva Dinova and Nate Walcott from Bright Eyes. We think thats awesome too.Since the album Alessis Ark has played shows around the UK and in Europe with the likes of Sons of Noel and Adrian, Mariee Sioux, Emilana Torrini and Cerys Matthews

She first got into music when her mother gave her a copy of Graham Nash's 1971 album Songs for Beginners and began playing at age 11 when her secondary school required students to take up an instrument, and, inspired by Meg White after seeing a White Stripes concert at Alexandra Palace, she decided on the drums.

Her drum teacher played locally in different bands and through this she began going to see various bands live with her dad, sometimes going to as many as four shows a week.This led to her starting her own fanzine called Brain Bulletin (which now continues in the form of a blog) in which she wrote about her favourite bands, books and films.

Inspired by a family friend in New York, who wrote a fanzine called The Curse, she distributed it at concerts, through a local record shop and at a launderette on Shepherd's Bush Road.