The Local Rock Band That Became Indie Rock’s Biggest Band

Ruston, Louisiana may be well known for Louisiana Tech University, but the town is also known for creating one of the most revered indie rock bands of all time. The Elephant 6 Recording Company started sometime in the late 1980s in Ruston, being a collective of likeminded musicians who'd grown up in the area and/or had been students at Tech. Eventually many of the members moved over to Athens, Georgia where they grew throughout the 90s and early 2000s.

The most notable band to come out of Elephant 6 is by and large Neutral Milk Hotel, a folk inspired indie rock band which found it's early roots in Ruston. Neutral Milk Hotel's second album, In the Aeroplane over the Sea, is regarded by many as the best album of all time, receiving a 10/10 review from the music critic website Pitchfork. The Elephant 6 Recording Company has more than one notable artist, including acts like The Apples in Stereo, The Olivia Tremor Control, and Of Montreal, as well as countless other artists who've contributed in some way to Elephant 6's legacy.

The collective was started by 4 friends in their teenage years, Bill Doss, Jeff Mangum, Robert Schnieder, and Will Cullen Hart. They would slowly begin recording and self-releasing music while building a small community around them that eventually bubbled into the topic of its own documentary. Filmmaker C.B. Stockfleth spent over 10 years meeting with many members of the collective to build a comprehensive view into the history and legacy of this musical collective that inspires many artists today, taking it all back here to North Louisiana. The documentary is titled The Elephant 6 Recording Co. and can be found online on Prime Video or Apple TV, as well as a physical DVD release.