Clark

Clark is the recording name of Christopher Stephen Clark, a British electronic musician from St Albans, United Kingdom, born in 1979. He makes electronic, experimental, IDM and techno music, and releases records on Warp and his own label, Throttle Records.

He begins making music in his teens and also experiments with building his own equipment. After studying at St Albans School, he goes to Bristol University. While still a student, he attracts Warp’s attention by performing at a label party in December 2000 under the name Chris from St Albans. He makes his debut on the label the following year with Clarence Park, an album of cold synth textures and heavy beats.

His early output includes the Ceramics Is the Bomb EP and Empty the Bones of You, before his first release under the Clark name, the Throttle Furniture EP. That leads to Body Riddle, which combines electronics with live instrumentation and is another critical success. Turning Dragon follows as a self-described techno album and returns to a fully electronic approach.

Clark also works in film, television and video game music, including scores for award-winning contemporary dance projects and BAFTA-nominated television series. In 2008 he provides music for Melanie Lane’s dance work Held, and in 2010 he scores her piece Tilted Fawn. In 2011 he collaborates with Brighton collective Blast Theory on the installation Fixing Point, an interactive work about the conflict in Northern Ireland.

His 2012 album Iradelphic has a folk-tinged sound and includes contributions from Bibio. Material from those sessions is also issued as the downloadable The Iradelphic Sessions, alongside the Fantasm Planes EP. In 2013 he releases the remix collection Feast/Beast, which includes reinterpretations by Massive Attack, Bibio, Depeche Mode and HEALTH, and reunites with Lane for the multimedia project Shrine.

Later releases include the self-titled album Clark, which takes a harder-edged, more danceable direction, and the Flame Rave EP, which continues that approach. He composes the score for The Last Panthers, a six-part crime thriller miniseries produced by Warp Films; the score is released by Warp and is BAFTA-nominated. Death Peak adds vocals to his work, while short-form releases include the Com Truise collaboration Bobbie Caris/Idle Withdrawal and E.C.S.T. T.R.A.X.

His 2019 release Kiri Variations collects unused pieces written for the BAFTA-winning television series Kiri. It features processed acoustic instruments and Clark’s own voice, and appears on Throttle Records.