Marbles is the solo recording project of The Apples in Stereo singer and chief songwriter Robert Schneider. The project started out in 1993 when Schneider would record his various musical endeavors on cassette for various people he knew, but was somewhat abandoned as the Apples got off the ground. He would later compile some of the songs, many of which featuring backing vocals from Will Cullen Hart of The Olivia Tremor Control, and release them officially in 1997 as an album named Pyramid Landing (And Other Favorites).
Schneider appeared to have largely abandoned the moniker by 2000, releasing sporadic singles and contributing to a compilation. This changed when spinART released the second Marbles full length, titled Expo in January 2005.
In concert, Marbles is one of the more disorienting of the Elephant 6 bands. Most recently, touring with Of Montreal, Schneider appeared as Marbles dressed in goggles and a sequin jacket, backed by cardboard cutouts of Darth Vader and a robot, adorned with fake instruments, and a CD player supplying all but his lead vocals.