Lark

Lark is a South African glitch and electro house group from Cape Town. The line-up includes Inge Beckmann, Sean Outim and Paul Ressel, and the group is active from 2003 to 2008. It forms in Cape Town in April 2003 and works as an electronic act with a strong focus on sound manipulation and live instrumentation.

Style and formation

The group starts as a four-piece electronica project and builds a sound based on electronic beats, audio processing and organic instruments. Its music combines glitch, trip-hop and alternative and experimental elements, with a deliberate emphasis on pushing against conventional song structures. The result is described in terms of an abrasive, direct approach rather than a polished commercial one.

Members

Inge Beckmann

Inge Beckmann handles vocals and vocal effects. She trains in opera, classical music, dance and jazz, and begins performing in the jazz scene in Stellenbosch clubs and other venues in Cape Town. Before Lark, she also works with the nine-piece hip hop group The Spindle Sect. Outside music, she appears in music videos in Russia, Germany and South Africa, and she features in film productions in South Africa and abroad, including a lead role in an MTV International commercial called Nightswimmer. She begins looking for a more personal outlet for her songwriting and helps found Lark after hearing the producer Humanizer.

Paul Ressel

Paul Ressel handles production and instrumentation. His background is in rock music, and he has played in numerous bands since the age of 11, learning guitar, drums, bass guitar and keyboards. While studying design, he discovers electronic artists including Amon Tobin, Aphex Twin and Squarepusher, as well as other Warp Records artists. Radiohead’s KID A also influences his move into electronic music. Under the name Humanizer, he first plays in that role at 21, releases music on UNIT-R Records across two internationally distributed compilations, and later releases work on TIME CODE Records. He is nominated for a SAMA for best production on Colfield Mundis’ debut album Ceremony.

Simon “Fuzzy” Ratcliffe

Simon “Fuzzy” Ratcliffe plays double bass, bass, flute and doudouk. He begins on jazz and swing trumpet before moving to other wind instruments and later upright bass. He also plays with Capetonian trip-hop pioneers Raygun and works with eastern and world instruments such as the Armenian doudouk, Indian bansuri and Egyptian ney flute. As a session and studio musician, he works with BMG, Edi Niederlander and BVK, and he is also involved in theatre productions under directors including Graham Weir, Matinus Basson, Chris Weare and Megan Chortiz. Professionally he works as a sound engineer and owns Sound and Motion Studios. His credits in the sound industry include work with Fetish, Springbok Nude Girls, Hog Hoggidy Hog, Muse String Quartet, The Dirty Skirts and 7th Son, as well as INXS, UB40, Steven Spielberg’s DreamWorks and the BBC. He receives four SAMA nominations, with one win, and also wins a Sithengi Short award, Jamison Short Award, Vita Award, Fleur de Cap Award and Leories.

Sean Ou Tim

Sean Ou Tim, also known as Mr Sakitumi, plays drums and is described as the newest member of the group. He is a multi-instrumentalist and a much sought-after session musician who works with acts including Max Normal, Battery 9, Urban Creep, Naked, Strait&Narro, Freshlyground and Henry Ate. He performs at major festivals and venues in Europe and South Africa, including Pukkelpop, Lowlands, Nante, Hove, Book Capital, Film Fest, Faces, Oppikoppi, Splashy Fen, Up the Creek, North Sea Jazz, Cape Town Jazz Fest and The Forum in London with Rodriguez. He also works on a solo beats album as Mr Sakitumi with video and VJ artist Grrrl, also known as Inka Kendzia.

Activity and recordings

The group splits in early 2008, then reunites in 2009 for two tours and continues recording a third album between London and Cape Town. It records at Paul Ressel’s studio in London and Simon Ratcliffe’s Sound & Motion Studios in Cape Town. The project’s break-up is linked to frustration with the South African music industry, including exclusion from the My Coke Fest 2007 line-up despite a SAMA award.