Neutral Milk Hotel was an American alternative rock band formed by singer, guitarist, and songwriter Jeff Mangum in 1989 in Ruston, Louisiana. On the band's full-length albums, Mangum played with a number of other musicians, notably Jeremy Barnes (drums), Scott Spillane (horns), Julian Koster (musical saw/banjo/accordion/bass guitar) and producer-instrumentalist Robert Schneider. Neutral Milk Hotel were one of the original members of the Elephant Six Collective, based in Athens, Georgia. The outfit went on hiatus in 1998. In 2013, the band made a reunion tour and subsequently played concerts sporadically until going on indefinite hiatus in mid-2015.
Funny enough the band is named in the movie "Yesterday" when playing Yesterday on his new guitar and he has to explain who the Beatles are. " There's this problem with musicians: they have this encyclopedic knowledge of obscure pop, make you feel stupid when you haven't heard a band. Like Neutral Milk Hotel, or The Monophonics, or -- in this case -- the Beatles."
Origins
Jeff Mangum was a member of The Olivia Tremor Control, along with his friend Will Cullen Hart and Bill Doss, appearing on their first release, the California Demise 7".
Prior to recording for friends under the NMH moniker, Mangum recorded at least one cassette under the name Milk: the only known tape was called Pygmie Barn in E Minor. This is the earliest known recordings that Mangum initiated and executed himself, on the cover there is "all songs: j.m '89. art: w. cullen hart". There is only an estimated dozen or so copies ever made of this tape, none of which have been made public. The tracklist etc. are also unknown.
Neutral Milk Hotel began life in Ruston, Louisiana, United States in the early 1990s, simply as a recording project for Mangum.
