‘The Elephant 6 Recording Co.’ Doc Highlights “Transient Oddballs” Of ’90s Psychedelic Rock Scene; Watch The Trailer

Peter White
·2 min read
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The Elephant 6 Recording Company is a music collective that featured ragtag psychedelic rockers such as Neutral Milk Hotel and Olivia Tremor Control.

The Athens, GA scene, which was full of “transient oddball” rockers in the 1990s, is now getting its moment in the spotlight with a new eponymous documentary set to premiere at Doc NYC 2022.

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You can watch the trailer above.

The scene, which developed a loyal following that shared cassette tapes and 45s and packed into raucous live shows, also featured bands such as The Apples in Stereo, of Montreal and Elf Power.

The Elephant 6 Recording Co. is directed by C.B. Stockfleth and produced by Lance Bangs, who is involved in the Jackass universe and has directed music documentaries about the likes of Pavement. It is exec produced by Rob Hatch-Miller, who directed the documentary Other Music. It also features never-before-seen footage of the bands shot by Bangs.

The film, which features interviews with the likes of Robert Schneider and Jeff Magnum as well as Elijah Wood, highlights how difficult it was to track down information about these DIY bands in the ’90s that made music on creaky 4-tracks.

The doc got a lot of attention a couple of years ago when Stockfleth put out flyers suggesting that film was being released first on VHS.

The film will have its premiere November 10 at the IFC Center in New York and will feature a Q&A with Stockfleth, Greg King, Bangs, Hatch-Miller and Schneider.

“I had been making music videos and concert videos for our friends and decided to make a big six-camera shoot for an Apples concert in 2007. I think Robert was impressed with how it turned out and approached me one night about what I thought about making a film about members of the Elephant 6 collective — at the time I knew nothing about them. He seemed to think that my small-town background, temperament, and persistence, along with his blessing, would allow me entrance to their somewhat secretive and protective world. And that’s how it began,” said Stockfleth.

“He introduced me to Bill Doss who introduced me to Will Cullen Hart and on and on it went. Each person vouching for me along the way. Many of these people are eccentric and quite private and being invited into their home to film them was not always easy to negotiate, but little by little, that’s what happened. It took years of building trust, one person at a time before I felt fully embraced and trusted and given intimate access.”

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