des_ark

Aimee Collet Argote is the primary force behind des_ark, an emerging musical project brimming with urgency and force. She has always been surrounded by and created music. As a child growing up in France and the U.S., Argote started playing the piano but then moved to guitar. In 1998, one of Argote's first musical outlets, Rubeo, released a seven-inch in on Mr. Lady Records, a sadly defunct and queer-friendly label out of North Carolina. des_ark began in 2001 as a full band but soon whittled down to the duo of Tim Herzog (drums) and Argote. In October 2004, Exotic Fever Records released des_ark's first output, a split seven-inch with Bellafea. Not ones to stay idle for long wallowing in the critical praise of this release, des_ark came out with their first full-length, an album entitled Loose Lips Sink Ships on Bifocal Media/Bakery Outlet Records and recorded by current Witch member/Dinosaur Jr. alum J Mascis. Touring across the US twice in 2005 behind the album, Herzog left the band in September 2005, leaving Argote to continue touring and recording as des_ark.
 
For Argote, des_ark has become a venue for her to express her deeply intertwined internal and external politics, whether that be as a full band, duo, or solo project. des_ark roils with expressions of the intersections of the personal and public, and Argote's strength lies in viewing the public world through a private prism to relate experiences of drug addiction, sexual freedom, being queer, unrelenting heartbreak, and controversial life decisions. It is in this vibrant, tenacious spirit that Lovitt Records is proud to release des_ark's collaboration with Ben Davis, a project that contains songs by each artist and songs both des_ark and Davis performed and wrote together. To be released in fall 2006, the split album cannot help but be embraced by critic, fan, and casual listener alike.