Akmaral (more reffered to as Lara) Zykayeva (born December 21, 1985 in Almaty, Kazakhstan) is a Kazakh singer, songwriter, multi-musician and producer. Her music varies from folk, electronic, trip-hop, pop and rock sung in Kazakh language. Starting at nineteen, Mergen began work on her debut album, 13 (Thirteen) for independent record studios. She graduated from Kazakh National Conservatory of Music in 2008, where she studied violin. The debut record became available online absolutely for free long before the official physical release, which happened on July 1, 2009 hitting Kazakh music stores. Mergen started working on her sophomore album in 2010, while studying in Musicians Institute, LA. The album was recorded by the end of the term resulting Mergen with Outstanding Project Award during her "Independent Artist" course. Second album entitled аян became available internationally on November, 27, 2011. Artist chooses absolutely different path for music development in Kazakhstan, inclining towards more of ethnic sound mixed with unpolished beats, raw synths and darker pads. Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.