“A Vivid Time Capsule” (NY Times): Go See The Elephant 6 Recording Co.

NPR Music Watch Party Kicks Off Tonight At 8pm ET / 5pm PM HERE 

“Captures The Slippery Collective’s Rise To Indie Acclaim” (Pitchfork)

Now Playing in US Theaters, Available On-Demand Friday

Elephant 6 Members (Robert Schneider of Apples In Stereo, Will Cullen Hart of The Olivia Tremor Control) + Filmmakers Set For Reddit AMA Tomorrow, Begins 4pm ET / 1pm PT at r/indieheads

Fresh off of two sold-out New York City premiere screening events, The Elephant 6 Recording Co. is now playing in theaters and will be available on demand beginning on Friday, September 1.

The documentary — which explores the unique inside story and creative evolution of the influential and idiosyncratic indie music collective that birthed formative groups includingNeutral Milk Hotel, The Olivia Tremor Control, The Apples in Stereo, Elf Power, Of Montreal, and more — currently boasts a 100% score on Rotten Tomatoes. Stereogumdeems it “definitive” and says it “captures the collective’s whimsical essence,” whilePitchfork posits that “There’s a world in which The Elephant 6 Recording Co. would fire up young people everywhere to form their own multimedia art projects, like E6 did during its heyday.”

In a primer on both the film and the Elephant 6 collective, The New York Times praised the film as “A vivid time capsule of musical community before the internet, before tape trading became a thing of the past and before indie rock became such a marketable commodity.” Read more here.

Tonight, NPR Music will host The Elephant 6 Recording Co. Watch Party. This online screening begins at 8pm ET / 5pm PT, watch here.

Tomorrow, the filmmakers will be joined by Elephant 6 Members Robert Schneider (Apples In Stereo) and Will Cullen Hart (The Olivia Tremor Control) for a Reddit AMA. The AMA begins at 4pm ET / 1pm PT over at r/indieheads.

The Elephant 6 Recording Co. is directed by C.B. Stockfleth and produced by Lance Bangs, whose credits include videos for Nirvana, Odd Future, Neutral Milk Hotel and many others, plus films and documentaries for Jackass, Pavement and more. It is executive produced by Rob Hatch-Miller, who directed the documentary Other Music. It also features never-before-seen footage of the bands shot by Bangs, as well as interviews with Elephant 6 members — Robert Schneider, Bill Doss, Will Cullen Hart and many more — and notable fans including Elijah Wood, David Cross, Danger Mouse, andJames Mercer.

Around 1985, a group of Ruston, LA area high schoolers began experimenting with whatever random instruments and gear they could lay their hands on. Fanning out across the country to locations like Denver, CO and Athens, GA, their musical coming of age coincided with the new consumer availability of old-school 4 and 8 track recording technology and cassette tapes. Sharing like-minded sensibilities, influenced by past sounds and psychedelia, and with little to distract them, their efforts to create whole new musical worlds became the bands the Olivia Tremor Control, Neutral Milk Hotel, the Apples In Stereo and many more. While the collective grew to a natural breaking point, its founding members overcame obstacles and remained closely bonded, reuniting for tours and still collaborating today.

The Elephant 6 Recording Co. provides insight into this revolutionary era of popular independent music in America, the defiant DIY spirit in music making, and champions the integrity of an authentic quest for artistic expressiveness over the more mainstream image of being a “successful” musician in our fame-obsessed times.

“The film is designed to capture an era and a movement and to honor the spirit of this circle of small-town artist friends,” says director C.B. Stockfleth. “Their art was made better because they did things collectively, and gave each and every member a chance to share the spotlight.”

A full listing of upcoming screening events can be found below. 

THE ELEPHANT 6 RECORDING CO. IN THEATERS

8/31 – Memphis, TN @ Crosstown Arts

9/01 – Austin, TX @ Austin Film Society

9/01 – Chattanooga, TN @ Yellow Racket Records

9/02 – Seattle, WA @ The Grand Illusion

9/02 – San Francisco, CA @ Roxie (with Tammy Ealom from Dressy Bessy performance and Q&A, moderated by Kelley Stoltz)

9/03 – Akron, OH @ The Nightlight Cinema

9/06 – Portland, ME @ Space Gallery

9/08 – Austin, TX @ Alamo Drafthouse South Lamar

9/08 – Pittsburgh, PA @ Harris Theater (with Derek Almstead, ex-of Montreal, & Jennifer Baron of the Ladybug Transistor Q&As)

9/08 – Iowa City, IA @ Film Scene

9/11 – Nashville, TN @ Belcourt Theatre

9/12 – Albuquerque, NM @ Guild Cinema

9/14 – Chicago, IL @ The Davis Theater

9/14 – Santa Ana, CA @ The Frida Cinema

9/15 – Cambridge, MA @ The Brattle

9/19 – Lexington, KY @ The Living Arts & Science Center

9/21 – 10/01 – Edmonton, AL @ Edmonton International Film Festival

9/22 – Bowling Green, KY @ Western Kentucky University

9/24 – Montclair, NJ @ The Clairidge (with Ben Crum from Great Lakes Q&A)

9/26 – Fairfield, CT @ Fairfield Theatre

11/06 – Vermillion, SD @ Coyote Twin

PRAISE FOR THE ELEPHANT 6 RECORDING CO.

“A vivid time capsule of musical community before the internet, before tape trading became a thing of the past and before indie rock became such a marketable commodity.”

— The New York Times

“Captures the slippery collective’s rise to indie acclaim…There’s a world in which The Elephant 6 Recording Co. would fire up young people everywhere to form their own multimedia art projects, like E6 did during its heyday.”

— Pitchfork

“Definitive…captures the collective’s whimsical essence.” 

— Stereogum

“Joyous, heartfelt.”

— Aquarium Drunkard

“Bursting with personalities and candy-colored imagery.”

— Slate

“Impressive and important…the definitive document of a scene that is exceedingly difficult to define.”

— Film Threat

“A kaleidoscopic tapestry weaving together the sights and sounds of an underground music movement that should inspire any viewer.”

— Flagpole

“A great portrait of what makes a small-town music scene blossom into something bigger.” 

— Gambit

“Paints a kaleidoscopic picture of the elusive collective that birthed Neutral Milk Hotel, Apples in Stereo, of Montreal, and more.”

— Washington City Paper

“Separates itself from the legions of other musical history docs by staking out new territory and demanding Elephant 6’s rightful place in the mix.”

— In Review Online

“Showcases the magic of the collective in its prime.”

— Disappointment Media

“Explores a thrilling moment in retro-psychedelic indie pop…a satisfying survey of the movement.”

— The Reveal

“Appropriately chaotic, shaggy and baggy…engaging and interesting because the bands themselves were engaging and interesting too.”

— The Playlist

THE ELEPHANT 6 RECORDING CO. — CREDITS

Directed & Produced by

C.B. Stockfleth

Produced by

Lance Bangs

Starring:

Robert Schneider

Bill Doss

Will Cullen Hart

Jeff Mangum

Produced & Edited by

Greg King

Executive Producer & Music Supervisor

Rob Hatch-Miller

Executive Producers

Sean O’Neal

C.B. Stockfleth

Brian McPherson

Dan Efram

Executive Producer

Emmett James

Co-Executive Producer

Blue Resnick

Co-Producer

David Armillei

Associate Producers

Kelly Hart

Kara Taylor

Reiko Kondo

Bob Barress

Cinematography

C.B. Stockfleth

Lance Bangs

About Greenwich Entertainment

Founded in 2017, Greenwich Entertainment is an independent film distribution company specializing in compelling documentaries and distinctive narrative features. Releases include the Academy Award-winning Free Solo, Linda Ronstadt: The Sound of My Voicefrom Oscar winners Rob Epstein and Jeffrey Friedman, Quentin Dupieux’s Deerskinstarring Oscar winner Jean Dujardin, and Isabel Coixtet’s The Bookshop starring Emily Mortimer and Academy Award nominees Patricia Clarkson and Bill Nighy.

GreenwichEntertainment.com

For more information please contact:

Matt Hanks - mhanks@shorefire.com

James Rainis - jrainis@shorefire.com

Rachel Jacobs - rjacobs@shorefire.com