Squideo Submarine: Adam S.ongs
With a reputation for choosing the oddest tracks for Squid Squad playlists, this penultimate journey aboard the Squideo Submarine is undertaken by Sales Director Adam Shelton. His Spotify playlist will definitely be memorable, so let's dive in and start the journey.
You never thought Peter Pan was lucky to have an autonomous shadow until now. Is a solo trip aboard the submarine a dream vacay or will you be climbing the walls within a few hours?
Going on a submarine? Absolutely! I’d love to do that. I think, if I had the adequate training to operate a submarine and the Squideo Submarine could handle it, I’d love to go to the Mariana Trench. The deepest trench in the ocean. I heard a story about some guy who did it and the window cracked. Which sounds like a terrible way to almost die.
So yeah, in short, I’d love it.
Where words fail, music speaks (thanks Hans Christian Anderson). Music is about to become your only companion. How much of a role does it play in your day-to-day life?
I love music. I predominantly listen to music to influence my mood, especially if I’m in the gym and I need motivation. When I’m there it’s pretty much always metal or heavy rock – something really angry. That works really well.
When I’m driving I like techno electronic, female vocal house trance, that sort of thing. Any sort of dance music. The car’s a great place to listen to good audio and electronic music is my favourite way to test a good audio system.
I don’t play music myself, even though I love listening to it. I used to play guitar when I was little until I was about 13 then I stopped playing. Sadly. Just got, like, really busy and didn’t pick it up for a couple of years. Probably could jangle along a bit, but that’s about it.
Take advantage of having the submarine all to yourself and play whatever music you want. Are you a fan of one genre or era, or do you like to mix things up?
I've got a sort of blast from the past playlist that I do listen to quite a bit which is made up from loads of songs from a different era. I’ll definitely play that while I’m down there. I also love instrumental stuff. Love the guitar, even though I don’t play it anymore. I don't need any lyrics, I just appreciate a good musician.
You might be the only crew member, but space is at a premium aboard the Squideo Submarine! You’ve been given strict orders to bring only one bag of personal effects. What are you taking?
Beer. I love a beer, as we all know, and I can’t think of a better place to have one then at the bottom of the sea. So that would be one thing. I’d also want some good noise-cancelling headphones. Not that there’s much noise down there but, yeah, I do like listening to audiobooks before bed or when I want to relax.
The team at Squideo are always prepared. Like Boy and Girl Scouts. Should the unimaginable happen, and you get taken in by the Tank Gang never to return to the Great Barrier Reef again, what song do you think your family and friends would remember you by?
I think it would be Desperate Times by Killswitch Engage. I really like the song and also it would be fitting with what sounds like a pretty desperate time.
Do your musical tastes align with your family and friends or is it wildly different?
Generally no, but I definitely have at least one family member or one friend that will align with each music genre that I like.
Like smell, music can have strong associations with certain memories. We don’t want to consider how the Squideo Submarine will smell after a week; instead, choose a song which you associate with your childhood.
Johnny B. Good by Chuck Berry. It reminds me of playing the guitar when I first started learning with my Dad. It’s the kind of thing we used to play at first, these bluesy acoustic songs. And then when I got a little better, I used to play Jimi Hendrix songs.
Do you hear something? Is it a knock at the door? Or the clunk of a submarine falling apart? Maybe the silence is finally getting to you. Better put on some more music. What do you play when you want to relax?
Usually some kind of electronic music, Euphoria style. Mostly when I’m relaxing I don’t listen to music, I prefer an audiobook. Something easy to listen to when I’m driving on the motorway. Or, of course, relaxing in a submarine.
There is a hatch with a ‘break in case of emergency’ window. If the solitude gets too much would you go for a walk on the ocean floor? What would you hope to see?
Definitely, that sounds great. I’d love to take a walk at the bottom of the ocean. I don’t know if the technology actually exists to enable that to happen at the depth I’ve chosen but, if it were, absolutely.
Our brain likes to fill moments of silence, whether we want it to or not! What was your last earworm?
It’s always annoying songs like Baby Shark or something by Ariana Grande, that sort of thing. The type of music that’s not really my bag. But Sarah, my partner, tends to put it on in the car using my Spotify which then screw up the algorithm and gives me more of that stuff. Which means more earworms.
Squideo videos look inkredible, but there’s also a soundtrack! Which piece of Squideo-approved background music always gets stuck in your head?
I’m going out there and picking a song we’ve never used in a video before, which I know isn’t the question, but it’s a song we should use. If we could afford the licence.
Why by Busted. It’s pretty much Ben’s favourite song. And I think we once listened to it on repeat continuously for at least a day. Unfortunately since then I’ve never liked the song as much as I once did, but it now always makes me think of Ben and Squideo.
It’s almost time to come back to the surface! The journey went a lot quicker with music, didn’t it? What song are you playing in celebration of your return?
It would actually be Why by Busted again. Because returning to the surface wouldn’t be a celebration at all, because being in a submarine sounds fantastic. So “why am I returning” would totally be on point.
We returned to the surface where the H.M.S Fifty Squid was waiting to welcome the Squideo Submarine and its crew of one back onboard. Sadly, Nemo hasn't turned up yet but the excursion gave us a great opportunity to explore the depths and breadths of the ocean with the one and only Adam Shelton.
Join us next time, when we’ll take a final trip beneath the waves with our Marketing Executive: Emily Woodcock.
