Will Cullen Hart
Encyclopedia
The Elephant Six Collective
The Elephant 6 Recording Company is a collective of American musicians who spawned many notable independent bands of the 1990s, including The Apples in Stereo, The Olivia Tremor Control, Neutral Milk Hotel, Beulah, Elf Power, Of Montreal, and Circulatory System.-Foundation:The collective was...
, as well as the rock band The Olivia Tremor Control
The Olivia Tremor Control
The Olivia Tremor Control is an indie rock band prominent in the mid to late 1990s which, along with The Apples in Stereo and Neutral Milk Hotel, was one of the three original Elephant 6 projects...
. Following the band's breakup, Hart and several other former members regrouped to create Circulatory System
Circulatory System
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....
.
Hart grew up in Ruston, Louisiana
Ruston, Louisiana
Ruston is a city in and the parish seat of Lincoln Parish, Louisiana, United States. The population was 20,546 at the 2000 census. Ruston is near the eastern border of the Ark-La-Tex and is the home of Louisiana Tech University. Its economy caters to its college population...
, with Bill Doss
Bill Doss
Bill Doss is among the co-founders of The Elephant 6 Recording Company, based in Athens, Georgia, and one of the key creative forces behind The Olivia Tremor Control, one of the leaders of the collective, and later, following the band's break-up, The Sunshine Fix...
, Jeff Mangum
Jeff Mangum
Jeff Mangum is a musician best known for being 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. Mangum, along with the other founding members of the Elephant 6, attended Ruston High School in the late...
and Robert Schneider
Robert Schneider
Robert Peter Schneider is one of the co-founders of The Elephant 6 Recording Company, along with Will Cullen Hart, Bill Doss, and Jeff Mangum...
, the founders of the Elephant 6 Recording Company in the early 1990s. Doss and Hart (and even Mangum in its early forms) combined their musical efforts in The Olivia Tremor Control.
Hart and Doss blended their differing musical inclinations for the band: Hart being known as the sonic experimenter, Doss the proponent of pop
Pop music
Pop music is usually understood to be commercially recorded music, often oriented toward a youth market, usually consisting of relatively short, simple songs utilizing technological innovations to produce new variations on existing themes.- Definitions :David Hatch and Stephen Millward define pop...
. This difference is evidently clear in the music produced by each since the end of the Olivia Tremor Control. Hart's Circulatory System maintains an interest in experimentation, while Doss' Sunshine Fix focuses on the simplicity of Beatlesque pop.
Will Cullen Hart is also a Visual artist. He has created most, if not all of the artwork for the Olivia Tremor Control and Circulatory System (among other Elephant 6 bands), as well as individual pieces.
In a 2008 online interview with John Fernandes
John Fernandes
John Fernandes is an American multi-instrumentalist musician.-Professional career:Fernandes, along with several other members of the Elephant Six Collective, joined the acclaimed psychedelic pop group The Olivia Tremor Control in Athens, GA in 1994...
, it was revealed that Hart has been diagnosed with multiple sclerosis
Multiple sclerosis
Multiple sclerosis is an inflammatory disease in which the fatty myelin sheaths around the axons of the brain and spinal cord are damaged, leading to demyelination and scarring as well as a broad spectrum of signs and symptoms...
.