Music Feeds’ Love Letter to a Record series asks artists to reflect on their relationship with the music they love and share stories about how it has impacted their lives. Here, Mark Pickles of Sydney band ADKOB raises a glass to Brian Eno’s 1975 masterpiece Another Green World.
Sydney indie-rock quartet ADKOB – also known as A Different Kind of Busy – have released their debut album, Defender, Monday, October 31. Featuring the singles ‘November’ and ‘A Boring Neighbourhood’, the album is the culmination of more than half a dozen years of creative exploration for guitarist and vocalist Mark Pickles, along with bassist Andrew Quizon, drummer Andrew Clews and backing- soloist/multitude. -instrumentalist Jane Doutney.
ADKOB’s Mark Pickles activates Another green world
Mark Pickles: I was 18, sitting in a boring TAFE course on music business. Daniel, a classmate, had slipped a single pair of headphones under his shirt so he could listen while studying. Daniel leaned over at one point and asked if I had ever listened to Brian Eno’s solo records. I said something like “I wanted to” – actually, I hadn’t even heard of the guy.
Reaching under his shirt, Daniel grabbed his second pair of headphones and put them in my ear. He played a song called “The Big Ship,” and in three minutes and two seconds, everything changed.
That evening, finding a copy of Another green world somewhere was my top priority. Not long after that, I lost myself in it. Textures I couldn’t put my finger on, off the wall production, weird robot voices. It was like hearing a kind of music I longed for but didn’t know existed.
Eno’s ability to create such evocative sound palettes using nothing but machines is something to behold. Another green world it’s a masterclass on that.
“In Dark Trees” sounds like you’re on a train going through a dark tunnel. “Golden Hours” paints images of waiting in line, stuck in traffic, time passing. Eno has this knack for bringing humanity out of distinctly non-human situations.
“The Big Ship” changed everything for me. It could have been any song I first heard on this record, but it happened to be this one. He has no voice. It has a simple repetitive structure. No guitars. It was missing all the key elements of music that I was used to hearing and identifying with. And it single-handedly made me realize that, above all else, music should make you feel something.
ADKOB: Defender
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ADKOB will launch Defender on Friday 2nd December at Waywards, Sydney. Tickets here.
Further reading
Love Letter to a Record: Emily Lubitz on the Beach Boys’ “Pet Sounds.”
Brian Eno trashes NFTs in new interview, says they add no value to the world
Now there’s an asteroid named after Brian Eno
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