Neutral Milk Hotel

Neutral Milk Hotel is primarily the solo project of Jeff Mangum, guitarist/vocalist from Louisiana. Later, Jeremy Barnes (battery), Scott Spillane (cor) and Julian Koster (bass, banjo) will be added. Mangum began recording some demos as NMH in the early 1990s; Most of the songs composed at that time, however, remain at the stage of pure experimentation. Mangum's first 'significant' release was a 7", in 1994, entitled Everything Is and released by Cher Doll Records.
It is not until 1996 that Mangum surrounds and releases a first LP: On Avery Island, which marks the spirits by its festive spirit and clumsy vocals. Shortly thereafter, the band formed definitively and moved to Athens, where the collective Elephant 6 (The Microphones, of Montreal, A Hawk And A Hacksaw) was also formed. Two years later, NMH was released in The Aeroplane Over The Sea (1998), following the drama of an Eastern European family in the 1940s according to Mangum's recurring dreams. This last album is the band's greatest success, which inspired many indie rock/pop bands in the 2000s (The Unicorns , Islands , Clues , The Apples in Stereo , The Decemberists ), thanks to its grandiose instrumentation, bright brass and positive atmosphere.
Since 1999 and the group's sudden and unexplained hiatus, little news from James Mangum has filtered despite the reissues to which Neutral Milk Hotel albums have been given. The other members of the group continue their activities in other musical groups: Julian Koster is The Music Tapes, Scot Spillane plays in The Gerbils and Jeremy Barnes is one of the halves of A Hawk And A Hacksaw.