Elephant 6 is a loosely defined musical collective in the United States. Notable bands associated with the collective include the Apples in Stereo, Beulah, Circulatory System, Elf Power, the Minders, Neutral Milk Hotel, of Montreal, and the Olivia Tremor Control. Although there are many different genres explored by bands in the collective, there is a shared interest in psychedelic pop of the 1960s, with particular influence from bands such as the Beach Boys, the Beatles, and the Zombies. Recorded music will sometimes feature intentionally low fidelity production and experimental recording techniques.
Elf Power is an American indie rock band that originated in Athens, Georgia, United States. Currently, the line-up consists of guitarist/vocalist Andrew Rieger, keyboardist Laura Carter, guitarist Dave Wrathgabar, bassist Matthew Garrison, and drummer Peter Alvanos. They are part of the Elephant Six Collective.
Jeffery Ney Mangum is an American singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist, best known for his work as the lyricist, vocalist and guitarist of the band Neutral Milk Hotel, as well as being one of the cofounders of The Elephant 6 Recording Company. He is best known for his complex, lyrically dense songwriting, apparent on the critically lauded album In the Aeroplane Over the Sea.
The Olivia Tremor Control is an American rock band that was prominent in the mid-to-late 1990s. It was, along with The Apples in Stereo and Neutral Milk Hotel, one of the three original projects of The Elephant 6 Recording Company. The band was founded by the remnants of the group Synthetic Flying Machine in 1994. The band went on hiatus in early 2000, and later reformed in 2009.
Dressy Bessy is an indie rock band from Denver, Colorado led by songwriter, guitarist, and vocalist, Tammy Ealom. The band is associated with the Elephant Six Recording Company and shares guitarist John Hill with The Apples in Stereo. Ealom formed the band with drummer Darren Albert and bassist Rob Greene in 1996. Hill joined the band after helping engineer early recordings in 1997. The name was taken from a popular Playskool doll of the 1970s.
William Cullen Hart is an American pop musician and painter. He was a co-founder of The Elephant 6 Recording Company, as well as the rock band The Olivia Tremor Control. Following that band's breakup, Hart and several other former members regrouped to create Circulatory System.
Robert Peter Schneider, Ph.D is an American pop musician, music producer, and mathematician. He is the lead singer, songwriter, guitarist and producer of The Apples in Stereo and has produced albums by Neutral Milk Hotel, The Olivia Tremor Control and a number of other psychedelic and indie rock bands. Schneider co-founded The Elephant 6 Recording Company in 1991. He received a PhD in mathematics from Emory University in 2018. As of January 2021, Schneider is a lecturer in the Department of Mathematics at the University of Georgia.
Bill Doss was an American rock musician. He co-founded The Elephant 6 Recording Company in Athens, Georgia and was a key member of The Olivia Tremor Control. Following the band's break-up, he led The Sunshine Fix and later became a member of The Apples in Stereo. Doss was married to freelance photographer Amy Hairston Doss, whom he met while both were attending Louisiana Tech University.
The Music Tapes is an experimental pop music and performance art project of Elephant 6 member Julian Koster. The Music Tapes is characterized by unusual orchestrations, the use of musique concrète and narrative storytelling, vintage home-recording practices, and musical inventions. They are also known for their unique live performances, such as the Caroling and Lullaby tours that bring them into the homes of fans, and theatrical shows like The Traveling Imaginary, which takes place in a circus tent.
Circulatory System is a psychedelic rock musical ensemble formed by musician/painter Will Cullen Hart, and featuring Derek Almstead, Suzanne Allison, Peter Erchick, John Fernandes, Charlie Johnston, and Heather McIntosh.
Music from the Unrealized Film Script: Dusk at Cubist Castle is the debut studio album by American indie rock band The Olivia Tremor Control, released on 6 August 1996. The album was produced by The Olivia Tremor Control and Robert Schneider, an associate of the band in The Elephant 6 Recording Company collective.
Frosted Ambassador was an enigmatic release on Kindercore Records in 1999. While press releases claimed a long career in bands named Chronicle Ape and the New Sound and a failed solo career before "moving to Belgium to study toast," evidence suggests that the project was actually the brainchild of The Olivia Tremor Control's drummer Eric Harris, as the two bands shared a song on the album and a compilation, and William Cullen Hart created the artwork for the album. Also, The Olivia Tremor Control had a song on their album Dusk at Cubist Castle named "Frosted Ambassador"
Major Organ and the Adding Machine is an Elephant 6 supergroup led by the elusive and possibly fictional Major Organ. The liner notes of the band's debut album, Major Organ and the Adding Machine, leave it a mystery as to who is officially featured. When performing live on the Holiday Surprise Tour, the members of the band wore paper masks to maintain their anonymity. It is believed that the main contributors are Jeff Mangum, Julian Koster, Robert Schneider, and Kevin Barnes, whose vocals are most obviously present on the album, but a number of other Elephant 6 musicians are believed to have contributed too, including members of The Olivia Tremor Control, Elf Power, and Of Montreal.
Great Lakes is an American rock and roll band formed in Athens, Georgia, United States, in 1996. The band was formed by Ben Crum, James Huggins, & Dan Donahue. Great Lakes were among the second wave of bands included in The Elephant Six Collective.
Marshmallow Coast is an indie pop band associated with the Elephant Six Collective.
John Kiran Fernandes is an American multi-instrumentalist musician.
California Demise is an EP released by The Olivia Tremor Control. Recorded at 210 Sunset Ave on various four tracks by Bill Doss, Jeff Mangum, Will Cullen Hart and a few others. This was the second Elephant Six 7" EP (e6002). In 2000 the tracks were collected and placed on the Singles and Beyond compilation.
Age of the Sun is the second album by The Sunshine Fix, the solo project of The Olivia Tremor Control's Bill Doss. It was released in 2002 on Elephant 6.
Derek Almstead is an American musician/engineer closely tied to The Elephant Six Collective.
Calvin, Don't Jump! started as the solo recording project of J. Kirk Pleasant, a musician with extensive connections to the Elephant 6 Collective. Before moving to Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, he contributed to releases from bands like the Olivia Tremor Control, Black Swan Network, and Pipes You See, Pipes You Don't. His own albums have featured contributions from musicians like Scott Spillane, Jeremy Barnes, John D'Azzo, as well as Peter Erchick, Eric Harris, and John Fernandes.
