RIP Mark Linkous

Most people have heard about Mark Linkous, the frontman for Sparklehorse, committing suicide by shooting himself in the heart last Saturday. While reading this obituary in the New York Times, I was particularly struck by this, for very personal reasons:

After graduating from high school he moved to New York City and started the band the Dancing Hoods, which relocated to Los Angeles in pursuit of mainstream rock success. But disillusioned with the music business, Mr. Linkous returned to Virginia and reinvented his sound as Sparklehorse, a name that he applied to himself as well as his band.

“We were trying so hard to get signed, and I just quit and came back home and just gave up on all those aspirations of being a rock star,” he said in an interview in 1999. “That’s when I started making good music.”

My knowledge of Sparklehorse isn't real deep, but this has always been one of my favorite songs and one of my favorite videos (directed by Guy Maddin).



This guy mattered.