Chris Clark | |
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Background information | |
Birth name | Christopher Stephen Clark |
Also known as | Clark |
Born | [1] St Albans, Hertfordshire, UK | 29 August 1979
Occupation(s) | Producer, composer, performer |
Instrument | Various |
Years active | 2001 | –present
Labels | Warp |
Website | throttleclark |
Chris Clark is an English electronic musician, performing under the mononym Clark. He is currently signed to Warp Records.[2]
History
editClark was born Christopher Stephen Clark in 1979 in St Albans, Hertfordshire, England,[3] where he grew up and attended St Albans School.[4] He started making music as a teenager, and also began experimenting with building his own primitive equipment, including a "home-built stylus made out of a hook and some masking tape".[5] He went on to attend Bristol University.[6] As a student, his music teacher told him that if Chris were to buy a drum machine, he would give up all hope in Chris' musical ability.[7] Whilst still a student, Chris first impressed staff at Warp Records playing under the moniker Chris From St Albans at their Nesh party in December 2000.[8] He was subsequently signed to Warp, and as Chris Clark released his debut album Clarence Park in April 2001.[9] Chris then moved to Brighton'[10] followed by Birmingham where he stayed for some time,[11] and during this time collaborated with Broadcast on a reinterpretation of his track Herr Barr[12] and other unreleased material.[13] He currently resides in Berlin.[14] With the 2006 release of Throttle Furniture, he shortened his artist name to Clark.[15] His music has been played on BBC Radio 6 by Shaun Keaveny and BBC Radio 6 Music by Lauren Laverne and Tom Ravenscroft.[16] He also recorded a mix for Ravenscroft,[17] described by the presenter as "just about the best ever done for the show".[citation needed]
Style
editClark's music is generally considered to fall under the genre of electronic music, although Clark himself finds this label ambiguous and describes Turning Dragon as a "techno album".[18] He often experiments with forms of degradation, distortion and decay associated with different mediums, employing techniques such as re-recording samples and field-recordings in different environments.[19] Describing such processing, he has said "What I tend to do is just jam stuff through as many boxes as I can, until everything sort of bleeds into itself and all its surrounding parts".[20] Clark plays the drums, and some of his material, especially Body Riddle features recordings of his drumming, often heavily re-sampled.[21]
Live
editOn describing his live set Clark states "If you see me play, my hands are all over the place – literally I’m doing every single thing. Everything that happens on stage is being played and created live. It’s very interactive. So in that respect, it is very much based on live instrumentation."[22] His set has in the past included a live drummer.[23]
Clark has played a Boiler Room session,[24] played the Berlin club Berghain[25] and the Pritzker Pavilion in Chicago. Festival appearances have included Bang Face,[26] Sónar Tokyo,[27] Sacrum Profanum[28] and Taico Club.[29]
In December 2013 he premiered his live show Phosphor in London.[30]
Clark has made appearances on several notable radio shows, including a BBC Radio 1 session with Benji B.[31]
Videos
editNotable music videos for Clark's work include Lynn Fox's video for Gob Coitus,[32] 1stavemachine's video for Ted[33] (selected by Pitchfork as one of the top 50 music videos of 2007[34]), James Healy's video for Herr Barr[35] and The Vikings' video for Black Stone.[36] Sander Houtkruijer directed a video for Peak Magnetic[37], described as a "topsy-turvy, vertigo inducing video" which "unrolls with the track".[38]
Commissions
editArt
editClark contributed music, along with fellow Warp artist Jamie Lidell to a giant interactive projection show at Saatchi & Saatchi's New Director Showcase in 2011.[39]
Clark collaborated with Brighton based artist collective Blast Theory in 2011 on a piece entitled Fixing Point. The piece was an interactive audio walk with music by Clark and deals with the legacy of the Conflict In Northern Ireland, in particular the disappearance of Seamus Ruddy.[40] He worked again with the collective on a piece for the Aichi Triennale, contributing his track Black Stone for use in the work.[41]
Dance
editDuring the summer of 2010, he scored a contemporary dance piece titled 'Tilted Fawn' that was performed by Melanie Lane at the Sydney Opera House, winning the 'Best Dance Award' at the Fringe World Awards 2012.[42] The pair also collaborated on a 2013 performance installation Shrine, which trod "the line between dance performance and sculptural installation"[43] and was centred on ideas of ritual and ceremony.[44] They have also worked together on the project Held, which "explores the relationship between memory and the architecture of space that we live in".[45] More recently, Clark composed the score for Sentinel, a dance project choreographed by Antony Hamilton, described as continuing "the ongoing fascination with the human relationship to the constructed environment, ritual behaviour and the totemic power of material objects".[46]
Film
editThe track The Pining Pt.2 from Iradelphic was featured in the 2013 film Elysium.[47] The track Vengeance Drools was used in a domestic violence awareness advertising campaign by Woman's Aid, which starred Keira Knightley.[48][49]
Performance
editClark was asked to contribute a composition for The Echo Society, a Los Angeles-based non-profit artist collective which aims to "inspire, challenge, and enrich the community through the creation and performance of new sonic and visual art presented during singular, one-night-only experiences...bringing both orchestral and electronic music to new audiences".[50] The composition was written specifically for The Echo Society ensemble, and performed live at their fifth annual event in August, 2016.[51]
TV
editIn 2015 Clark scored the six-part TV series The Last Panthers starring Samantha Morton, John Hurt and Tahar Rahim, broadcast in Europe by Sky Atlantic and Canal+. [52][53]
Video games
editClark contributed an unreleased track, "Alice", to the OST for the game Sleeping Dogs.[54] He also contributed to the soundtrack for the game Driveclub, released in 2014, with a remix of the OST track "Power Curve".[citation needed]
Discography
editAlbums
edit- Clarence Park* (2001, Warp Records)
- Empty the Bones of You* (2003, Warp Records)
- Body Riddle (2006, Warp Records)
- Turning Dragon (2008, Warp Records)
- Totems Flare (2009, Warp Records)
- Iradelphic (2012, Warp Records)
- Clark (2014, Warp Records)
- The Last Panthers (2016, Warp Records)
- Death Peak (2017, Warp Records)
*released as Chris Clark.
EPs and singles
edit- Ceramics Is The Bomb* (2001)
- Throttle Furniture (2006)
- Throttle Clarence (2006)
- Ted E.P. (2007)
- Throttle Promoter (2007)
- Growls Garden (2009)
- "Willenhall" / "Baskerville Grinch" (2011), a Record Store Day 12" in collaboration with Bibio.
- Fantasm Planes (2012)
- Superscope (2014)
- Flame Rave (2015)
- The Last Panthers (2016)
*released as Chris Clark.
References
edit- ^ "Reviews: Chris Clark Clarence Park". May 2001. Retrieved 1 September 2012.
From the top of his twenty-one years...
- ^ Spano, Charles. "Biography: Clark". Allmusic. Retrieved 26 April 2010.
- ^ "Discogs Artist Page". Discogs. Retrieved 14 November 2013.
- ^ "St Albans Notable People". All About St Albans. Retrieved 14 November 2013.
- ^ "Groovetracker Entry". Groovetracker. Retrieved 14 November 2013.
- ^ "MilkFactory Interview". The Milk Factory. Retrieved 14 November 2013.
- ^ "Boomkat Clarence Park Review". Boomkat. Retrieved 14 November 2013.
- ^ "Warp Artist Signing Page". Warp. Retrieved 14 November 2013.
- ^ "Warp Release Page for Clarence Park". Warp. Retrieved 14 November 2013.
- ^ "Totem's Flare Announcement". Warp. Retrieved 28 November 2013.
- ^ "Bio Page". All Music. Retrieved 24 November 2013.
- ^ "Herr Barr Reinterpretation Page". Discogs. Retrieved 28 November 2013.
- ^ "Track Announcement". Clicky Clicky Music. Retrieved 24 November 2013.
- ^ "Barcode Interview". Barcode Zine. Retrieved 18 November 2013.
- ^ "CHRIS CLARK Interview". Themilkfactory.co.uk. Retrieved 4 July 2013.
- ^ "BBC Radio Playlist Page". BBC. Retrieved 28 November 2013.
- ^ "Programme Page". BBC. Retrieved 28 November 2013.
- ^ "Clark Interview". Barcode. Retrieved 4 July 2013.
- ^ "Rewind Article". xlr8r. Retrieved 4 July 2013.
- ^ "Clark Interview". Junk Media. Retrieved 4 July 2013.
- ^ "Barcode Interview". Barcode Zine. Retrieved 18 November 2013.
- ^ "Clark Interview". The Skinny. Retrieved 18 November 2013.
- ^ "Artist Page". Sacrum Profanum. Retrieved 4 July 2013.
- ^ "Artist Page". Boiler Room. Retrieved 19 November 2013.
- ^ "Leisure System Launch Page". Warp. Retrieved 19 November 2013.
- ^ "The Amen Event Page". Warp. Retrieved 19 November 2013.
- ^ "Sonar 2011 Page". Warp. Retrieved 19 November 2013.
- ^ "Artist Page". Sacrum Profanum. Retrieved 4 July 2013.
- ^ "Taico Club '13 page". Time Out. Retrieved 19 November 2013.
- ^ "Phosphor Announcement Page". Warp. Retrieved 28 November 2013.
- ^ "Warp News". Warp. Retrieved 8 June 2017.
- ^ "Gob Coitus Official Video". YouTube. Retrieved 24 November 2013.
- ^ "Ted Official Video". YouTube. Retrieved 24 November 2013.
- ^ "The Top 50 Music Videos of 2007". Pitchfork. Retrieved 28 November 2013.
- ^ "Herr Barr Official Video". YouTube. Retrieved 24 November 2013.
- ^ "Black Stone Official Video". YouTube. Retrieved 24 November 2013.
- ^ ""Peak Magnetic" Official Video". YouTube. Retrieved 6 June 2017.
- ^ "Peak Magnetic". Warp. Retrieved 6 June 2017.
- ^ "S & S Director's Showcase 2011 Page". Flat E. Retrieved 24 November 2013.
- ^ "Fixing Point Page". Blast Theory. Retrieved 24 November 2013.
- ^ "Clark Tweet". Twitter. Retrieved 24 November 2013.
- ^ "Tilted Fawn Announcement". Warp. Retrieved 4 July 2013.
- ^ "Shrine Page". Melanie Lane. Retrieved 28 November 2013.
- ^ "Chris Clark and Melanie Lane Interview". DJ Broadcast. Retrieved 24 November 2013.
- ^ "Held Page". Melanie Lane. Retrieved 28 November 2013.
- ^ "Antony Hamilton Sentinel". Retrieved 6 June 2017.
- ^ "Elysium Soundtrack News Page". Warp. Retrieved 24 November 2013.
- ^ "Ad Campaign Press Release". Women's Aid. Retrieved 28 November 2013.
- ^ "Women's Aid Advert". Youtube. Retrieved 28 November 2013.
- ^ "The Echo Society". Retrieved 6 June 2017.
- ^ "The Echo Society, Five: V". Retrieved 6 June 2017.
- ^ "Clark scores new crime thriller The Last Panthers". Resident Advisor. 9 November 2015. Retrieved 12 November 2015.
- ^ "The Last Panthers (TV Series 2015– ) - Full Cast & Crew - IMDb". IMDB. Retrieved 12 November 2015.
- ^ "OFFICIAL SOUNDTRACK LIST". Sleeping Dogs Forum. Retrieved 24 November 2013.