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 inside story and creative evolution of the influential and idiosyncratic indie music collective that birthed formative groups including Neutral Milk Hotel, The Olivia Tremor Control, The Apples in Stereo, Elf Power, Of Montreal, and more.

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.”

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, and James 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.”

The Elephant 6 Recording CO. Film Showings

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

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