Tamar Berk

Tamar Berk sings and plays instruments while crafting literate songs marked by a haunting, atmospheric quality rooted in 1990s alt-rock and 1960s psychedelia. She co-founded the Chicago outfit Starball before issuing her first solo effort, The Restless Dreams of Youth, in 2021. After her father passed away, she followed with the contemplative yet anthemic Start at the End in 2022 and Tiny Injuries in 2023. Her fourth album, the melodic and heartfelt Good Times for a Change, appeared in 2024.

Born in Cleveland, Ohio, Berk grew up performing music and completed a Photo-Illustration degree at Kent State University prior to settling in Chicago. There she assembled the power pop trio Starball and put out multiple albums. She and her husband, musician Steven Denekas, later shifted to Portland, Oregon, in the early 2000s. In that city they maintained day jobs—Berk instructing elementary students and Denekas employed in advertising—while pursuing side projects such as the indie rock groups the Pynnacles and Paradise. Berk simultaneously developed solo recordings, laying down the instrumental parts herself at home. After relocating to San Diego around 2018 she reworked her material further, enlisting drummer Matt Walker (Morrissey, Garbage, Smashing Pumpkins) and engineer Sean O'Keefe (Fall Out Boy, Plain White T's, Rachael Yamagata). In February 2021 she issued her debut full-length, The Restless Dreams of Youth, co-produced with Matt Thomson and containing the earlier single “Shadow Clues” plus “Skipping the Cracks” and “Cleveland.”

Several months after that debut, Berk’s father died. While still navigating the loss she began her next record. Released in April 2022, Start at the End featured Berk on production with additional recording by Walker, Thomson, and O'Keefe; key tracks such as “Tragic Endings,” “Hoping This Day Won't Kill Us,” and “Alone Tonight” converted her sorrow into emotive anthems colored by classic power pop and indie rock traits.

A sense of personal change and recovery from grief likewise shaped Tiny Injuries, which surfaced in August 2023. Berk again handled production alongside Matt Walker, with mixing credited to Sean O'Keefe. In September 2024 she released her fourth album, Good Times for a Change, which included the buoyant rocker “Good Impression.”