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44-548: Doss started the project while in high school, and self-released an album on cassette called A Spiraling World of Pop , later re-released under the Elephant Six banner. Doss then met up with Will Cullen Hart and Jeff Mangum ; together, they formed The Olivia Tremor Control , and the Sunshine Fix moniker was put into hiatus (although, as an aside, it became the title of an Olivia Tremor Control song, which appears on

88-684: A United States indie rock band is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . The Elephant Six Collective The Elephant 6 Recording Company is a loosely defined musical collective from 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 bands in Elephant 6 explore many different genres , they have

132-635: A band called the Synthetic Flying Machine. While in Athens, the group began collaborating with New York musician Julian Koster . In 1993, the Synthetic Flying Machine evolved into a band called the Olivia Tremor Control , and the band gained local attention for their psychedelic sound, which was in contrast to the prevalent grunge sound of the 1990s. In the 1990s, bands joined Elephant 6 through invitation. Inspired by

176-593: A communal compound in Athens. In 2012, the official Elephant 6 website read: "A collective, a label ... a cult? Elephant 6 may be all of these things or none of these depending on your point of view. And we're certainly not going to try to define what it is now!" Elephant 6 originated in Ruston, Louisiana , in the late 1980s. The name was occasionally used to denote home recordings made by four high school friends: Bill Doss , Will Cullen Hart , Jeff Mangum , and Robert Schneider . These recordings were circulated between

220-585: A multitude of bands that kept heavy metal music alive and where it spread in the underground scene during the period of the mid 70's to the early 80's. Some underground styles eventually became mainstream, commercialized pop styles, such as the underground hip hop style of the early 1980s. In the 2000s, the increasing availability of the Internet and digital music technologies has made underground music easier to distribute using streaming audio and podcasts. Some experts in cultural studies now argue that "there

264-649: A musical level it's too soon to say. I mean, I don't want to say definitively that I don't want to make music again, but on a musical level there's no way to come to terms with the loss." The Olivia Tremor Control continued making music, and in 2017 Schneider confirmed he was producing unfinished recordings. Today, the Elephant 6 collective still exists, albeit on a much smaller scale. Bands like Elf Power and of Montreal continue to record music, and many bands have moved onto Elephant 6 offshoot labels such as Orange Twin Records and Cloud Recordings . Elephant 6 bands explore

308-700: A shared interest in psychedelic pop of the 1960s, with particular influence from bands such as the Beach Boys , the Beatles , and the Zombies . Their music sometimes features intentionally low fidelity production and experimental recording techniques. The collective started in Ruston, Louisiana in the late 1980s. The name was occasionally used to denote the home recordings made by four high school friends: Bill Doss , Will Cullen Hart , Jeff Mangum , and Robert Schneider . After high school, Schneider formed

352-473: A variety of music genres , including indie rock , synth-pop , and twee pop . A common interest for nearly every associated band, however, is psychedelic pop of the 1960s. Bands such as the Beach Boys , the Beatles , and the Zombies are important influences for Elephant 6 groups like the Apples in Stereo , Beulah , and the Olivia Tremor Control . Elephant 6's de facto leader Robert Schneider notes

396-543: A wide range of musical expression, allowing for immediate and enduring growth, however loose the association." The collective has influenced many indie rock bands, including Arcade Fire , Franz Ferdinand , and Tame Impala . Chris Chu of the Canadian band the Morning Benders said: "Elephant 6 was the gateway for me. They seemed to be bridging that tradition from the 60s to a more modern, more indie approach. It

440-414: Is an example of what was an important New York City underground music venue in the 1960s and 1970s. CBGB was another famous New York City underground music venue claiming to be "Home of Underground Rock since 1973". There are examples of underground music that are particularly difficult to encounter, such as the underground rock scenes in the pre- Mikhail Gorbachev Soviet Union , which have amassed

484-539: Is free media", because by working "independently, you can say anything in your music" and be free of corporate censorship . The genre of post-punk is often considered a "catchall category for underground, indie , or lo-fi guitar rock" bands which "initially avoided major record labels in the pursuit of artistic freedom, and out of an 'us against them' stance towards the corporate rock world", spreading "west over college station airwaves, small clubs, fanzines , and independent record stores." Underground music of this type

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528-410: Is happening now. But we're all just so happy." The Olivia Tremor Control reunited in 2009, and Mangum returned to the public eye with solo concerts over the next few years. On July 30, 2012, Doss died from a reported aneurysm . His death came as a shock to the collective, and stalled nearly all recordings at the time. Schneider said: "I can't say what it means for the Elephant 6 or the Apples ... On

572-732: Is music with practices perceived as outside, or somehow opposed to, mainstream popular music culture. Underground styles lack the commercial success of popular music movements, and may involve the use of avant-garde or abrasive approaches. Underground music may be perceived as expressing sincerity and creative freedom in opposition to those practices deemed formulaic or market-driven. Notions of individuality and non-conformity are also commonly deployed. The term has been applied to artists in styles such as psychedelia , punk , alternative rock , electronica , industrial music , and wider strains of experimental music . The term "underground music" has been applied to various artistic movements, for instance

616-597: Is no underground" because the Internet has made what was underground music accessible to everyone at the click of a mouse. A current example of an underground internet music genre is Vaporwave . One expert, Martin Raymond, of London-based company The Future Laboratory, commented in an article in The Independent , saying trends in music, art, and politics are: ... now transmitted laterally and collaboratively via

660-517: Is often promoted through word-of-mouth or by community radio DJs. In the early underground scenes, such as the Grateful Dead jam band fan scenes or the 1970s punk scenes, crude home-made tapes were traded (in the case of Deadheads ) or sold from the stage or from the trunk of a car (in the punk scene). In the 2000s, underground music became easier to distribute, using streaming audio and podcasts . The NWOBHM movement emerged which created

704-549: The Singles and Beyond compilation). Following the dismantling of Olivia Tremor Control in 2000, Doss began recording under the Sunshine Fix name again, releasing a single and preparing an EP , which was released by Kindercore Records in 2000, featuring members of the Olivia Tremor Control, Of Montreal , Elf Power , and others. In 2001, Doss formed a more stable band, adding Kevin Sweeney and Sam Mixon, and released Age of

748-529: The Surrealist Manifestos , members of the collective issued their own manifesto in small hand-drawn catalogs, found within early releases. According to Schneider: "We wanted [to find] these little pockets of people in different cities who listened to Pavement and the Beach Boys and were recording on 4-tracks." Schneider notes that another way a band may join is by simply having a similar sound. He uses Beulah as an example, and in reference to

792-428: The extreme metal is considered underground music for its extreme nature. Gothic and industrial music are two other types of underground music originating in the late 1970s and mid-1990s with gothic rock centering around vampires , black magic and the occult and industrial music using primarily computer generated sounds and hard driving beats. In a CounterPunch article, Twiin argues that "Underground music

836-626: The psychedelic music movement of the mid-1960s, but the term has in more recent decades come to be defined by any musicians who tend to avoid the trappings of the mainstream commercial music industry . Frank Zappa attempted to define "underground" by noting that the "mainstream comes to you, but you have to go to the underground." In the 1960s, the term "underground" was associated with hippie counterculture and psychedelic drugs , and applied to journalism and film as well as music, as they sought to communicate psychedelic experiences and free love ideals. The Fugs have been described as "arguably

880-430: The 1990s. Noel Murray and Marcus Gilmer of The A.V. Club note the difficulty in defining the exact parameters of the collective due to the multitude of associated acts. Each act has their own unique sound, and musicians are often members of multiple bands. This problem is compounded by the fact that members will sometimes obfuscate the truth, such as misleading a Rolling Stone reporter into believing they lived in

924-516: The Aereoplane Over the Sea , saying it "is the culmination of everything the [Elephant 6] collective was about in the mid-'90s: distinctive, ragged, catchy records ripped straight from their makers' veins." Many bands associated with the collective were formed during this period, and Athens became a major hub city. Elf Power , of Montreal , and Doss' solo project the Sunshine Fix were among

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968-418: The Apples in Stereo; Doss, Hart, and Mangum formed the Olivia Tremor Control; and Mangum independently formed Neutral Milk Hotel. These three bands would serve as the basis for Elephant 6, and soon, many other bands joined. Athens, Georgia , and Denver, Colorado , became major hub cities, and the mid-to-late 1990s represented the peak years of activity for the collective. Due to the confluence of new bands and

1012-505: The Sun on Emperor Norton Records . A tour with The Four Corners followed. In 2001, drummer Dave Gerow joined the fray to tour in support of "Age of the Sun" with acts like Guster , Ugly Casanova , and Sloan. They continued touring and recorded Green Imagination at the home of Widespread Panic bassist Dave Schools and mixed by Andy Baker at The Bakery in Athens GA. Green Imagination

1056-498: The Unrealized Film Script: Dusk at Cubist Castle features recording techniques such as tape manipulation and sound collages . Schneider notes his hatred of both indie music and modern pop music, and said that his vision for Elephant 6 is a "perfect pop world," untarnished by commercial interests. Several journalists regard Elephant 6 as an important underground music movement, and a key contributor to

1100-415: The album, they discussed new ideas, which in turn facilitated a need to make more music. The following year, Koster and Nesey Gallons organized the "Elephant 6 Holiday Surprise Tour," a short concert tour that featured fifteen artists and ten Elephant 6 bands. Koster said "Elephant 6 is back," and added: "Somehow, everything's happening for us now. I don't know why we were ever interrupted, and why all this

1144-431: The alternative rock and indie rock explosion in the 1990s. Lee M. Shook Jr. of Paste wrote: "The Elephant 6 Recording Company would raise the bar for wide-scale countercultural activity and underground pop art—both musical, visual and otherwise—well into the 21st century." Tom Murphy of Westword expanded on this statement, by writing: "It became a movement of sorts because the music was so accessible and inclusive of

1188-465: The band's sound, he said: "This is a kindred spirit. This is Elephant 6." Schneider created a record label called the Elephant 6 Recording Company as a vehicle for the Apples music, and in 1993, the first recording released on the label was an extended play titled Tidal Wave . Around this time, Mangum left the Olivia Tremor Control, and became a vagabond. While living in Seattle , Mangum released

1232-425: The dissolution of Neutral Milk Hotel and the Olivia Tremor Control, the collective stagnated in activity in the early 2000s. A brief resurgence in the late 2000s ended with the death of Doss, and in recent years the collective has remained relatively dormant. Journalists have described Elephant 6 as an important underground music movement, and a key contributor to the emergence of alternative rock and indie rock in

1276-430: The first underground rock group of all time". The Velvet Underground and Mothers of Invention later followed suit and are also regarded as the earliest underground rock groups. In modern popular music, the term "underground" refers to performers or bands ranging from artists that do DIY guerrilla concerts and self-recorded shows to those that are signed to small independent labels . In some musical styles,

1320-409: The four friends graduated high school, they dispersed to different cities in the United States, but continued to mail tapes to each other. Schneider moved to Denver, Colorado and formed a band called the Apples in 1992 with Jim McIntyre , Hilarie Sidney and Chris Parfitt . Doss, Hart, and Mangum moved to Athens, Georgia . The three were drawn to the city's burgeoning music scene , and played in

1364-424: The four of them, and they did not seek approval from record labels or fanzines . Musician Laura Carter said: "They were just 13-year-old boys yelling, 'Fuck your mama,' and bashing on the drums as hard as they can. It was just kids having fun, and they would fill up a whole cassette tape with this." When the group decided to create an imaginary label for their music, Hart came up with the name Elephant 6. When

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1408-484: The greatest amount of activity for the collective. The three main bands associated with Elephant 6 at the time–the Apples in Stereo, the Olivia Tremor Control, and Neutral Milk Hotel–grew in popularity, and each respectively released a notable album: Fun Trick Noisemaker , Music from the Unrealized Film Script: Dusk at Cubist Castle , and In the Aeroplane Over the Sea . The A.V. Club wrote highly of In

1452-403: The internet. You once had a series of gatekeepers in the adoption of a trend: the innovator, the early adopter, the late adopter, the early mainstream, the late mainstream, and finally the conservative. But now it goes straight from the innovator to the mainstream. A music underground can also refer to the culture of underground music in a city and its accompanying performance venues. The Kitchen

1496-649: The larger bands allowed the smaller bands to open for them. Denver was the smaller of the two hub cities. In addition to the Apples in Stereo, the major bands from Denver were the Minders , Dressy Bessy , and McIntyre's solo project Von Hemmling . The main draw for Elephant 6 bands in Denver was Pet Sounds Studio , a recording studio Schneider built in McIntyre's house. Many Elephant 6 albums were recorded at Pet Sounds, and were produced by Schneider. In addition to

1540-419: The members of the Olivia Tremor Control wanted to record their own solo music. Beulah member Pat Noel said many bands were dismayed at how journalists would " pigeonhole " them to the collective. "We kind of made a conscious decision to distance ourselves a little bit from the whole thing." Schneider took a break from producing albums, and the final album to be affixed with the Elephant 6 Recording Company logo

1584-557: The more notable Athens based groups. of Montreal frontperson Kevin Barnes said: "The heyday, most of the late 1990s, everyone was involved in each others lives, and we would collaborate more, have dinners where everyone would make something." Schneider compares this period to the Summer of Love , and said the driving force for many of the bands was "out-weirding [their] neighbor" with their music. Elephant 6 bands would tour with each other,

1628-579: The particular influence of the Beach Boys' unfinished album Smile , calling it the " Holy Grail " for many members of the collective. He notes how he and other members were obsessed with Beach Boys albums, and attempted to create the type of music they felt would have been included in Smile . Most Elephant 6 members are anti-consumerism and possess a DIY ethic . Their music sometimes features intentionally low quality production, and bands may experiment with unique recording methods; for example, Music from

1672-419: The song " Everything Is " on Cher Doll Records in 1994, and was the first member of the collective to have their music released on a mainstream label, although the release was not directly affiliated with the Elephant 6 collective and did not feature the Elephant 6 logo. Mangum released the song under the name Neutral Milk Hotel. The Apples were later known as the Apples in Stereo . The mid-to-late 1990s saw

1716-471: The term "underground" is used to assert that the content of the music is illegal or controversial, as in the case of early 1990s death metal bands in the US such as Cannibal Corpse for their gory cover art and lyrical themes. Black metal is also an underground form of music and its Norwegian scene is notorious for its association with church burnings , the occult , murders and Anti-Christian views . All of

1760-425: The time the Elephant 6 thing was getting out of hand, and we started seeing all of these bands that had little Elephant 6 logos on them all over the place" said Spillane. Bands began to tour more often, and the members had less time to interact with each other. Additionally, Neutral Milk Hotel and the Olivia Tremor Control went on hiatus. Mangum became reclusive as he struggled to cope with his newfound stardom, while

1804-726: The two main hub cities, Elephant 6 bands began forming in various cities in the United States, such as the Essex Green and the Ladybug Transistor in Brooklyn , and Beulah in San Francisco . In the early 2000s, Elephant 6 stagnated in activity. Neutral Milk Hotel member and the Gerbils frontman Scott Spillane identifies the sudden uptick of bands across the country as an important factor to this period. "At

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1848-429: Was Cul-De-Sacs and Dead Ends by the Minders in 1999. The collective slowly dissipated, although bands like the Apples in Stereo, Elf Power, and of Montreal continued making music throughout the 2000s. The collective was relatively dormant until the release of New Magnetic Wonder , a 2007 album by the Apples in Stereo. New Magnetic Wonder featured all four of the collective's originating members. While recording

1892-474: Was exactly what I was looking for, a new take on that stuff." In 2022 a documentary was released called A Future History Of: The Elephant 6 Recording Co. On RottenTomatoes the film currently has a 100% positive review rate. The official Elephant 6 website lists forty-seven acts associated with the collective, although Shook Jr. reports there are more than fifty. Among the collective's more notable acts include: Underground music Underground music

1936-423: Was released on SpinArt records in 2004. Although the record received a generally muted critical reception, the band continued to tour in its support. Doss continued to record songs for a new Sunshine Fix album until his death. He had said that the new material has a darker direction - "more Leonard Cohen than John Lennon" The Sunshine Fix released albums and EPs on a variety of record labels. This article on

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