Clair Marlo Bio

Clair Marlo

Click Here to hear a Sample of "Too Close"

Drawing on her European upbringing, her classical piano and voice training, her studies at the famed Berklee School of Music in jazz, classical composition, and record production, and her success as a recording artist and record producer in the highly elite corps of the audiophile music industry, Clair has cultivated a highly unique style of composition and musical production. She brings these qualities to both the film world and music world.

Raised by her Croatian-immigrant parents in New York City, Clair began her musical education at the age of six learning European folk songs on an accordion bought on one of her family’s many trips back to their homeland. “English was my second language” states Clair. “I spoke only Croatian and Italian until I was five - when I went to American schools.” Learning the polkas and waltzes on the accordion gave Clair her basis. “Folk music of any style is still the root of what I draw from when I write. It is the music, the stories, the emotions, the melodies, of the people that I feel in my heart when I make music. Those melodies - so simple - can drive you to tears or make you sing with joy and that’s what I try to evoke when I compose a piece”.

Three years later, her accordion evolved into classical piano and voice lessons.
By age nine, Clair remembers writing her first songs. “I thought everyone wrote songs - it was just what I did”. Besides writing songs, Clair also worked with the famed All-City Choir and its spin-off gospel groups singing throughout the inner city. It was there that she developed her love of rich harmonies and began to work on her highly identifiable vocal arranging technique.

Clair entered Queens College at the very early age of sixteen, however the classical program there did not encourage Clair's love of pop and jazz as well. She began to learn the art of recording at a New York City studio by night, and found the staff willing to teach once they discovered her fierce desire to learn, often working from 6pm to 4am every night. Clair knew immediately she loved being in the studio and that she would focus on that environment, however she still maintained her classical voice training with the famed opera singer Camilla Williams.

Deciding to change schools to one that might again broaden her musical scope, Clair was admitted to the famed Berklee College of Music in Boston to study. Here she found her arranging “chops”, honed her production techniques, and flourished as a composer/songwriter. “I loved the places I could go musically with the training I was getting. Here I was, going from simple ethnic folk songs into wild, crazy, harmonic rides with musicians from all over the world. It was dynamic, exciting, thrilling to me every day”.

Joining the ranks of such notable musicians as Quincy Jones, Donald Fagan, Bruce Hornsby, Paula Cole, and Al DiMeola, Clair earned her degree from Berklee. Moments after receiving the diploma, Clair hit the road for a year with a Top-40 band. When the tour was over, Clair decided to head to Los Angeles, leaving New York with a guitar, a trunk full of clothes, a clock-radio and $300. Three days later, she was in L.A. without any money but with an audition for a band that night.

Although she struggled for a while, Clair credits that period with feeding her creativity. Working by day in a radio syndication company after elevating herself from secretary to Vice-President of Marketing, Clair would then go home, sleep for two hours, and go off to work on her production techniques in a nearby recording studio from the evenings to early mornings - only to do it all over again the next day. She explains, "I learned so much about the business by working in radio, but I knew I needed to get more experience producing and writing and I needed to show people what I could do. The radio job gave me the opportunity to write over 150 radio station ID’s, which gave me my first real credit. Doing it that way was exhausting, but productive. I got better at the music and the business at the same time. I was working a crazy schedule, but I really wanted to get out there and work and I did. Everything is possible if you want it badly enough". After her stint as a VP, Clair gave it up to pursue her artist and producer career full time. "Something had to give. I was at a crossroads - both the recording and the radio gig were taking off and I had to choose. No choice really, I gave up the radio job after I got my record deal. I was pretty broke at first, but I think it's good to be hungry. It brings an intensity to things that can be lost when you're too comfortable. It forces you to be honest with yourself - you can't delude yourself when you're broke. For that reason, I never get too comfortable. I'm always looking forward to what's next. I don’t dwell on past accomplishments for very long."

And Clair has some accomplishments to dwell on...Clair's first album, "Let it Go" sold over 150,000 copies, became an audiophile classic, and went to #1 in the Far East, (elevating her to megastar status over there). Clair has been named one of the top female record producers in the US by a leading music trade association. She has released 10 albums as both a solo artist and with various groups, and has produced over 85 albums, including the enormous, but rewarding task of producing and arranging Harry Chapin's posthumous release, "The Last Protest Singer," for Dunhill Records. Clair realized Chapin's musical ideas into a critically acclaimed album. She then went on to produce the successful jazz group Kilauea and #1 jazz solo artist Pat Coil, vocalist Michael Ruff, and many others. Clair has written hundreds of radio jingles ("...kept me alive as I was working my way up"), and her music has been heard in major films like The Firm , Thinner , and Mother’s Boys. She has just completed her 6th feature film as a composer.
“I love writing music for film as much as I love making records. It’s a different way to approach making music, although I do borrow from each process no matter what I’m working on. I think it gives me a larger palette to work from. More experiences give me more colors.”

After meeting and marrying husband, Alexander "Ace" Baker, Clair formed Invisible Hand Productions and Tarzana Jane Music Publishing with him. They often collaborate on projects. They have a reputation for quality which they’re proud of and with their fully-equipped, in-house recording studio, they can be self-contained.

“I’ve been so lucky to have worked with such great musicians and artists like Jeff Porcaro, Steve Porcaro and David Paich (Toto), Lee Sklar (Phil Collins), Fred Tackett and Craig Fuller (Little Feat and Poco), Luis Conte (Madonna, Phil Collins), and so many others.” says Clair. “I sometimes feel like I’m on this great ride which takes me places beyond my wildest dreams. I originally got on this ride by learning how to play very simple and beautiful melodies. The ride went through classical, jazz, pop, orchestral, electric, acoustic, rock, and went through all these doors and around all these corners that I never expected. Now, here I am, full circle, back to the simplicity I originally came in with, only with much more at my fingertips and in my psyche to draw from. I can't wait to see where my music will take me next!"

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