Alessi’s Ark is a project of singer-songwriter Alessi Laurent-Marke. She grew up in Hammersmith, London, UK and first became interested in music when her mother gave her a copy of Graham Nash’s 1971 album Songs
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Alessi’s Ark is a project of singer-songwriter Alessi Laurent-Marke. She grew up in Hammersmith, London, UK and first became interested in music when her mother gave her a copy of Graham Nash’s 1971 album Songs for Beginners. She took up the drums at the age of 11 when her secondary school required students to take up an instrument.
This in turn led to her starting her own fanzine called Brain Bulletin (which continues in the form of a blog on her website) 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.
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 fooling around 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.
Discovering a new passion for writing and performing, she left 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 the Bedroom Bound EP via her own independent label - Zooey.
