Mark Linkous of Sparklehorse passed away on March 6, 2010. Mark was a big Optigan® fan/user (hear the Optigan® “Guitar in 3/4” disc in the above song), and I had corresponded with him a bit over the years. Recently I had been trying to get in touch with him about doing a Sparklehorse Optigan® disc, but my emails went unanswered. Rest in peace, brother!
Update: Adam Swalberg pointed me to this image of Mark playing live with an Orchestron as part of his rig. Click the image to see more pics from the same show.
Comments 4
March 8, 2010 at 11:47 am
Such sad sad news. An absolute hero of mine. It was his music that introduced me into the optigan® world. Years later I bought Mark’s Mellotron from him, and talked with him quite a bit about stuff. A real gentleman, whose work was incredibly influential on me. May God bless him, his family, and us fans.
March 9, 2010 at 6:00 pm
Thanks Pea for posting something about Mark’s death. I too was introduced to the Optigan® after hearing Sparklehorse. I was fortunate enough to meet him a couple of times and the last time we talked a little about Optigans.
This man was a huge influence on not only my music, but the way I look at the world.
It is so sad that he is gone, and I for one now feel quite lost without the comfort of knowing that he is somewhere out there making music.
March 14, 2010 at 2:18 pm
did he actually own/play an optigan® on recordings or just samples of one?
March 14, 2010 at 2:41 pm
yes, he owned/played optigans and orchestrons