Merk (musician)

Mark Perkins (born 1994), performing as Merk (stylised in lowercase), is a New Zealand singer-songwriter.[1] In 2016 he attended the Red Bull Music Academy in Montreal.[2] Merk won the Independent Music NZ's inaugural Auckland Live Best Independent Debut award in 2017.[3] He has released one studio album: Swordfish (2016).

Merk
Birth nameMark Perkins
Born1994
Tauranga, New Zealand
OriginAuckland, New Zealand
GenresAlternative pop, hip hop, indie pop
Occupation(s)Singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist
InstrumentsVocals, guitar
Years active2016 (2016)–present
LabelsDew Process, Flying Out
Associated actsTom Lark, Fazerdaze
Websiteplanetmerk.com

Early life

Mark Perkins was born in 1994 in Tauranga. He played music throughout school, and after graduating in 2011 moved to Auckland to perform with a friend.[2] He later got an internship at Roundhead Studio owned by Neil Finn. During his spare time he would learn the ropes of the recording and producing process with Finn. His next job was at another company packing boxes, and in exchanged was granted permission to use the store basement as his recording studio.[4]

Musical career

2016–2017: Early years and Swordfish

Recognising his talent, in 2016 Red Bull sent Merk to represent New Zealand at the Red Bull Music Academy in Montreal. After which he graduated as an alumni.[2] On 18 November, Merk released his debut album Swordfish written, recorded, produced and mixed by himself with additional help from Alexander Wildwood and Ben Jeffares. Djeisan Suskov was credited with mastering the album. The album took around six to eight months to record according to Perkins, he recorded five versions of each song.[2] Within a short amount of time after release, the album gained over 70,000 streams across Spotify and Soundcloud.[5]

In January 2017, Merk won the Independent Music NZ's inaugural Auckland Live Best Independent Debut award.[3] On 30 March, a music video was released for his single "I'm Easy".[6]

On 2 May 2018, the single "Lucky Dilemma" was released and added to subsequent reissues of Swordfish.[7] On 5 May, Merk performed as support for local New Zealand musician Estère.[8]

2018–present: "Hang"

On 29 August, he released his new single "Hang", a so-called "anthem for hanging out in solitude" aimed at introverts.[9] A music video for "Hang" was released on 26 September.[10]

In January 2019 he announced that he was going on a four-date tour with Julia Jacklin starting 27 February, performing in Christchurch, Dunedin, Auckland, and Wellington.[11]

Musical style

Merk's sound has been described and psych-pop,[12] and home-spun alternative pop.[13] On Merk's bandcamp site he tags his music similarly, with alternative, indie, pop, and psychedelic.[14]

Discography

Studio albums
List of studio albums, with selected chart positions
Title Album details Peak chart positions
NZ
Swordfish —[lower-alpha 1]

Singles
Title Year Album
"Ash & Sand" 2016 Swordfish
"No Better Reason"
"Manchuria"
"I'm Easy"
"Lucky Dilemma" 2018
"Hang" non-album single

Music videos
Year Song Director
2017 "I'm Easy" Parallel Teeth
2018 "Hang"

Notes
  1. Swordfish did not enter the Top 20, but peaked at number 3 on the NZ Heatseeker Albums Chart.[15]
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gollark: We don't have one.
gollark: We could replace your news with gollarious-GPT-2.
gollark: I see.

References
  1. "Introducing: Merk". Radio NZ. 30 May 2016. Retrieved 21 December 2018
  2. Oliver, Henry (17 August 2017). "'I'm trying not to be a rock band': Merk on the isolation of laptop production". The Spinoff. Retrieved 21 December 2018
  3. "Who will the next winner of the Taite Music Prize be?". Independent Music NZ. 16 January 2018. Retrieved 21 December 2018
  4. "Merk – Swordfish". Flying Out. Retrieved 21 December 2018
  5. Mpunga, Felix. "Merk: Swordfish". NZ Musician. Retrieved 24 December 2018.
  6. merk's cool songs (30 March 2017). "Merk – I'm Easy". Retrieved 17 July 2019 – via YouTube.
  7. "Lucky Dilemma - Merk". 2 May 2018. Retrieved 2 July 2019.
  8. "merk – May 5 in Auckland we're..." Facebook. 26 April 2018. Retrieved 24 December 2018.
  9. Smetannikov, Lara (9 October 2018). "Meet Merk, the genius behind this synth-soaked dopamine hit called Hang". HHHHappy. Retrieved 24 December 2018
  10. merk's cool songs (26 September 2018). "Merk – Hang". Retrieved 17 July 2019 – via YouTube.
  11. "merk - Happy New Year everyone! This Feb..." Facebook. 14 January 2019. Retrieved 11 February 2019.
  12. D’Souza, Shaad (27 September 2018). "Take a Time Out and Listen to "Hang", Merk's Lazy New Psych-Pop Track". Vice. Retrieved 24 December 2018
  13. "Planet Merk". Retrieved 24 December 2018.
  14. "Swordfish – Merk" Bandcamp. Retrieved 24 December 2018
  15. "Top 20 New Zealand Albums Chart #4312". The Official New Zealand Music Chart. 26 December 2016. Retrieved 2 July 2019.
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