Earth Mk. II is the home studio project of the Amsterdam, The Netherlands-based multi-instrumentalist Hugo van de Poel, a lo-fi project with a focus on the purity of songwriting. The act originated from the termination of freakbeat duo The Skywalkers, in which Van de Poel played grainy sixties garage with Jacco Gardner. Previous recordings of Earth Mk. II have been released on the Dutch Excelsior Recordings and Los Angeles-based Burger Records. Over time Earth Mk. II has let go of the sixties as a main influence. The music is inspired by a wide range of artists and genres, ranging from nineties grunge and shoegaze to vulnerable folk music, as long as it has a dark or melancholic feel to it. From his home studio, which consists of very little more than a computer, a couple of guitars and a cassette deck, Van de Poel releases noisy popsongs, which he distributes for free on his own music channel. Earth Mk. II, which started out as a collaboration with a label in a somewhat decent studio is now severely detached from the mainstream music industry. Inspired by his idol Daniel Johnston, Van de Poel want to compose, record, produce and distribute on his own. So that is what he does. Mark Two (2016) is the second Earth Mk. II album, following 2013's Music For Mammals. Based around 12 simple pop songs, which have been recorded with very few frills, the energy level is a little higher than previous recordings and the sound is heavier. The record, for which Van de Poel also made the artwork and videos, will be available digitally only on the 1st of January 2016. Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.