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 she decided on the drums.
Around this time 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 NewYork, 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.
As part of the coursework for her music GCSE she had to compose the music and lyrics for a song. Through the basic chords she had learnt on her sister's guitar and "the combination of the poetry and the stories that I had been writing for my fanzine" she composed the song Glendora (which eventually ended up on her debut album), which her music teacher encouraged her to sing at the school assembly.
Discovering a new passion for writing and performing, she decided to leave school to pursue music at age 16. Although supported by her parents, she promised them that she would return to school after one year if nothing came of it. During this time she quickly gained a following with her demos posted on her MySpace and self-released an EP called Bedroom Bound that she sold through her page (on her independent label Zooey).
To avoid confusion with the music act the Alessi Brothers, her mother suggested calling herself Alessi's Ark: "I liked the idea of a boat, where everybody is welcome, even friends that are geographically far away – we are together.”
Representatives from record labels Heavenly Records and EMI soon saw her performing and offered her a deal. On the eve of her 17th birthday she signed to EMI.
Asked who her dream producer would be for her debut, Laurent-Marke said Mike Mogis, producer of Rilo Kiley and member of Bright Eyes. She met up with him in London after a Bright Eyes show at the Shepherd's Bush Empire in early 2007. Mogis agreed to work with her that September and she travelled to Nebraska to record the album at Mogis' and Conor Oberst's studio in Omaha.
The resulting 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 inspired her to begin making music including Jake Bellows of Neva Dinova and Nate Walcott from Bright Eyes.
Following the release of the album, Alessi's Ark continued to play live around the UK, including appearances at Glastonbury, Camp Bestival and Bestival. She has also played support to a diverse range of artists such as Laura Marling, Mariee Sioux, Emilíana Torrini and Robyn Hitchcock, as well as playing the Bandstand stage at Neil Young's Hyde Park show in London in June.
Riverside Studios in Hammersmith also plays host to an exhibition of her drawings inspired by her songs, called Handmade, which runs from August 20 to September 27.
Listing added by steve for the gig at Moles Club in Bath.
Steve added this 2 years ago
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
she decided on the drums.
Around this time 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 NewYork, 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.
As part of the coursework for her music GCSE she had to compose the
music and lyrics for a song. Through the basic chords she had learnt
on her sister's guitar and "the combination of the poetry and the stories that I had been writing for my fanzine" she composed the song Glendora (which eventually ended up on her debut album), which her music teacher encouraged her to sing at the school assembly.
Discovering a new passion for writing and performing, she decided to
leave school to pursue music at age 16. Although supported by her
parents, she promised them that she would return to school after one
year if nothing came of it. During this time she quickly gained a
following with her demos posted on her MySpace and self-released an EP
called Bedroom Bound that she sold through her page (on her
independent label Zooey).
To avoid confusion with the music act the Alessi Brothers, her mother
suggested calling herself Alessi's Ark: "I liked the idea of a boat,
where everybody is welcome, even friends that are geographically far
away – we are together.”
Representatives from record labels Heavenly Records and EMI soon saw
her performing and offered her a deal. On the eve of her 17th birthday
she signed to EMI.
Asked who her dream producer would be for her debut, Laurent-Marke
said Mike Mogis, producer of Rilo Kiley and member of Bright Eyes. She
met up with him in London after a Bright Eyes show at the Shepherd's
Bush Empire in early 2007. Mogis agreed to work with her that September and she travelled to Nebraska to record the album at Mogis' and Conor Oberst's studio in Omaha.
The resulting 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 inspired her
to begin making music including Jake Bellows of Neva Dinova and Nate
Walcott from Bright Eyes.
Following the release of the album, Alessi's Ark continued to play
live around the UK, including appearances at Glastonbury, Camp
Bestival and Bestival. She has also played support to a diverse range
of artists such as Laura Marling, Mariee Sioux, Emilíana Torrini and
Robyn Hitchcock, as well as playing the Bandstand stage at Neil
Young's Hyde Park show in London in June.
Riverside Studios in Hammersmith also plays host to an exhibition of
her drawings inspired by her songs, called Handmade, which runs from
August 20 to September 27.