Get to know Beak>

• February 11, 2013

This April, Stones Throw will release a new EP by Anika, our second record from the artist, again produced by Geoff Barrow and backed by Beak>. But who and what are Beak>? The mouthless figures in their band photo will not elaborate.

Geoff Barrow, producer and member of Portishead, formed Beak in 2009 with Billy Fuller and Matt Williams. This is a band with guidelines: They record all their music in one room. They don't use overdubs. Edits are allowed.

Beak>'s self-titled debut was recorded in Bristol in a single 12-hour session and released in 2009, although it sounded more like another time and place … early 70s Germany, to be precise.

Download MP3 | Beak> "I Know"
Download MP3 | Beak> "Welcome to the Machine"

The band and producer recorded Anika's debut album in 2010, and Barrow joined with two other producers and about 35 MCs to create the hip-hop collective Quakers in 2011. But Beak> returned with the kraut-pop aesthetic intact for the arguably more focused second album >> in 2012. An EP and single "Mono" followed.

The band is currently on a short US tour – two east coast shows last weekend, and two west coast shows this week, each supported by Peanut Butter Wolf and Vex Ruffin.

February 12: Los Angeles at Echoplex
February 13: San Francisco at The Independent

Beak> "Yatton" (from >>, 2012)



Beak> "0898" (>> Bonus Track, 2012)



Beak> "Mono" (Single, 2012)