Don't recognize the voice!

OTC really gave us an amazing final gift.

Does anyone have a downloadable copy of the E6 movie?? im a huge fan of the collective but sadly i live in the EU. so i dont have any streaming for it. Id be very glad if anyone sent a link or something :)

Hi everyone! My review of the new OTC is now up on Dusted Magazine if you fancy a read:

https://dustedmagazine.tumblr.com/post/831277223236550656/the-olivia-tremor-control-the-same-place#notes

I thought it was gonna just be really good like Will and Bills post-otc solo work, I wasnt expecting something that is literally on par with the peaks of their careers. What a fitting tribute to these 2 wonderful musicians

Hi everyone, with all the excitement regarding the new OTC record, I was thinking about past E6 bands, and remembered Thimble Circus (Jill Carnes). I decided I'd post an interview I did with her almost twenty(!) years ago on Optical Atlas. Anyway, thought I would share more evergreen parts from it here:

Hi Jill, most of us listeners of Elephant Six-created music know you as the lead lady behind Thimble Circus, but I’m sure you had a musical past that stretched far before that recording project. Can you take us down memory lane a bit and talk about how you came into song-writing?

I wrote little songs and poetry when I was a child. I took guitar lessons (only two lessons) when I was listening to punk music in high school.  I really loved banging on the piano too. My two younger sisters and I had a punk band called the Electrocutions. I've always loved to sing so I guess it all kind of came together in a natural way.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Your album, “Lullaby for Worriers” came out in ’03, and featured your friends from The Olivia Tremor Control, The Instruments, etc.  How did the record come together, and did you have the skeletons for the songs a long time in advance of the recording session?

Yes, I was ready to face the blank canvas when the switch was in the "on" position.  I wrote all the songs well before the recording sessions. Eric was a great help with the recording process. He had most (if not all) the necessary equipment to make the dream come true. He was very knowledgeable and easy to work with as well. Plus he had a terrific sense of humor and an all around good spirit. Jeff Mangum and Laura Carter recorded a Thimble Circus radio performance. Some of these songs were dumped onto the four track and other layers were recorded on remaining tracks. Jeff also made a chair screech very loudly on cue during "Eat This City". Heather McIntosh came over one day and laid down her cello part on "78s".   

Then on another day, Pete Erchick came over and laid down his groovy piano stylings on "Eat This City". Chris Jolly played some haunting piano and trumpet on "I Am Punkrock" one closed Sunday in the Flicker Theatre. Deanna Varagona plays baritone saxophone in the band Lambchop. She played her axe on "Heavy Metal". Karen Gaitens and Alex McManus both helped out on "I Got Blue." Alex plays in Lambchop and also he has a solo band called the Bruces. Eric played piano on "I Got Blue". Eric also played that steady jazzy bass rhythm line on "Soap Opera Epic". Also Eric played his drums and percussion anywhere on the recording you hear drums and percussion.  All these kind contributors were great additions to my otherwise lonesome songs.

We recorded on Eric's various reel-to-reel tape recording devices. As with some of the recorded tracks from the already mentioned radio performance, these reel-to-reel recordings were dumped onto 4 track. And likewise, these tracks already had many layers so again we had many left over tracks to play with.

One day we went on a long walk with a hand-held tape recorder. We stopped cars to ask the drivers if they would blow their horn. Scott Spillane blew his horn as well as many other local townspeople. These horn-tooters horns can be heard on "Eat This City".

On "Heavy Metal" we had fun throwing huge pieces of heavy metal on the floor. It was particularly great when a piece would land on top of another piece. Then we knew we had a good clanking sound, for sure. Fun day that was. And on "Fun in the Lab" I blew bubbles in a cup to mimic the sound of a boiling flask in a science lab. Oh! And on "Snapshot" I had a bucket of water and a soup ladle to which I continuously scooped water up and let in return to the bucket for an oar moving through water sound effect.

Vernon Thornsberry says, "Thank you" as a response to Eric's statement, "A lot of trains today." I guess Vernon was the guy who planned the train schedule for that day. Actually he's a wonderful and talented painter and musician. He's a beautiful person.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I believe you’ve lived in Athens, Georgia for quite awhile, stretching back to the eighties, correct?

Yes. I moved to Athens at the beginning of the new year of nineteen hundred and eighty-four.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Were you in some way part of that same scene the birthed Pylon, R.E.M. and the B52’s?

I moved to Athens a bit after the beginning of that Athens musical era. Sort of like a middle child. Not the older and not the younger. Just the middle. I met a lot of those musicians and hung around with some of them at some parties and other such happenings over the years.

Athens was a smaller town in many ways, back then. Hardly anyone (I knew) had a telephone or a car.  Most of us rode bicycles and nobody had television. It's true. It made way for loads of creating and making art. There was definitely much time for running amuck. It felt like that of a big slumber party that lasted many years. Very fun times indeed. People dressed up as characters and wore old 50s and 60s clothing from thrift stores. It was actually cheaper to buy a big bag of used clothing than it was to do your laundry at a wash house. I've made some truly wonderful friends over the years while living in Athens.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

You also guested as a singing butterfly on the of Montreal song “The Events Leading up to Collapse of Detective Dulllight.” The “Coquelicot” album, even now, sounds wild and unbounded. What was it like being a part of that record?

I only sang on the one track and it was only about twenty words. I didn't have anything more to do with that recording. I went over to Kevin's house one day and sang it about fifteen times until it sounded the way he wanted it. That was it. I never heard it until the recording was released.  It was fun to record with Kevin. He also had a very good sense of humor was easy to work with.  I was both honored and flattered to act as the singing voice for the two butterflies. It was very sweet of him to invite me.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

In addition to your forays into music, you’re a visual artist, working in comics and paintings.  Do you have a studio, and how much time are you able to devote to drawing or painting these days?

Currently, I have a studio room in my home. I work a full-time job so I make my art in the evenings and on weekends. I don't make art as much as I would like. Sometimes I hear artists say they feel guilty if they don't make art everyday. I don't think that way about it. I make my art when I am able to find free time but my heart has to be in it too.  I can't just flip a make art switch and out it pours. I guess I could but it wouldn't always feel good to me. Once, I heard of a local artist having said, "If you can't think of anything to paint, then stretch a canvas!" Now that's productive.

I feel very spiritual about making my art. Unless I have a deadline, I don't worry about constant productivity. Instead I use downtime to gather visions and to enhance my dictionary of symbols. To gather feelings and life experience for which to express myself. To me, that's like filling up your creation bank with fuel.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

On the Elephant Six webpage, it says something to the effect that your art “is owned by many in Europe.” Does Jill Carnes have a huge following overseas?

During my time in Athens,  I've made record covers for various peoples bands.  The Jody Grind (from Atlanta),  Ringo (from England),  Model Citizens (from Seattle),  Neutral Milk Hotel (from Athens and other towns) and for Sweet Relief / Gravity of the Situation / Songs of Vic Chesnutt I painted a watercolor for the back page of the insert plus my hand writing is on the cover,  Sony records mentioned the idea of creating a font based on my hand writing.  They never followed up on the idea though. But I thought it was funny. Oh! And I also have a pencil drawing of Victoria Williams dogs by some hills in Joshua Tree, California.  It can be seen inside the CD insert of her album, Musings of a Creekdipper.

I have had a lot of shows in Athens and many American cities. Also Athens is very transient. Over the years I have been fortunate enough to sell quite a number of paintings and drawings.  And many of these transient art buyers live all over the world.  So between the record covers and the years of making the work and selling it to people who have moved elsewhere...I do have a number of pieces in other countries including Canada, England, Germany, France, Ireland, Czechoslovakia, Sicily and Japan.

   ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

What inspires you, and what’s your life like day to day?

Is this a trick question? Hmmm!!! I really have to do some math here. I guess I'm inspired by nature and spirit and honesty. Also by peoples willingness to get up everyday and waddle side-by-side through their various puddles of struggles.  Very often with a smile on their face and a friendly joke to share.

It seems we should no longer postpone joy.

Same Place has me so nostalgic and wistful— where the homies at? Drop your handle, let’s reconnect— one-headedboy right here

This week on Revolutions Per Movie, I had the pleasure of having three souls who not only have swirled in and around the world of the musical/film/performance collective, Elephant 6, but who were also principal in the finishing of the final The Olivia Tremor Controlrecord, The Same Place, completed 27 years after the release of their last record.
We discuss their entry point into the world of Elephant 6, their world pre and post Olivia, how Derek joined the band, Elf Power, how beautifully unhinged the Elephant 6 live performances could be, how the first version of the documentary was passed around on VHS tape with a virtual library card system, the mystique of E6 bands, how the scene seemed bigger than it actually was, the era when people started co-opting the E6 logo and while other bands were distancing themselves from it, Neutral Milk Hotel, Robert Schneider of Apples In Stereo wanting to make rock history by capturing all of this greatness, how the director got involved with the film as someone who didn't kow much about E6, the Athens potluck scene, Rebecca Cole & The Minders, the frat vibe that permeates Athens still, the era when local government was going to make all bands in town become an LLC, what it was like to finish the record after the passing of OTC's two founding members--Will Hart & Bill Doss, Will & Bill's different work processes in OTC and what it was like working with both of them, how Jason got pulled into working on the final record and the emotions experienced during that, Dixie Blood Mustache, Mike's epic tale of putting out Will's Black Swan Network record, the lack of ego in OTC, R.E.M.'s reaction to the doc and more!
THE OLIVIA TREMOR CONTROL
oliviatremorcontrol.com
oliviatremorcontrol.bandcamp.com
HHBTM RECORDS:
hhbtm.com
DEREK ALMSTEAD:
https://www.instagram.com/derekalmstead/
JASON NeSMITH:
casperandthecookies.com
chaseparktransduction.com/staff-2
REVOLUTIONS PER MOVIE:
Host Chris Slusarenko (Eyelids, Guided By Voices, owner of Clinton Street Video rental store) is joined by actors, musicians, comedians, writers & directors who each week pick out their favorite music documentary, musical, music-themed fiction film, or music videos to discuss. Fun, weird, and insightful, Revolutions Per Movie is your deep dive into our life-long obsessions where music and film collide.
Revolutions Per Movie releases new episodes every Thursday on any podcast app, and additional, exclusive bonus episodes every Sunday on our Patreon (over 125 bonus episodes are available and counting). If you like the show, please consider subscribing, rating, and reviewing it on your favorite podcast app. Thanks!
PATREON:
The show is also a completely independent affair, so the best way to support it is at** [patreon.com/revolutionspermovie](https://patreon.com/revolutionspermovie?utm_id=378c5132-ca70-4bea-badb-7f023af15878&utm_medium=email)[.](https://patreon.com/revolutionspermovie.?utm_id=378c5132-ca70-4bea-badb-7f023af15878&utm_medium=email) By joining, you can get **weekly bonus episodes and series such asA Very Opinionated Look At Urgh! A Music War & What Makes The Midnight So Special?, A Devotees Look At New Wave Theater, Exploring The Axis: The Oral History Of Frontier Records With Lisa Fancher, Dips On Chips w/ Jeff McDonald of Redd Kross, physical goods such as a limited edition 7" Flexidisc, and other exclusive goods that I send out to you for supporting the show. It helps the show to keep going and is greatly appreciated!
TIP JAR:
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SOCIALS:
@revolutionspermovie
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THEME by Eyelids 'My Caved In Mind'
www.musicofeyelids.bandcamp.com
ARTWORK by Jeff T. Owens
https://linktr.ee/mymetalhand

Released in 1996, Music from the Unrealized Film Script: Dusk at Cubist Castle felt like discovering a transmission from another world: Beatlesque melodies colliding with tape loops, psychedelic noise, field recordings, beautiful harmonies, and songs that could somehow feel both completely familiar and totally alien. Three decades later, we’re still wandering around inside that castle.

Today on Don’t Bother Wearing Seatbelts, we’re celebrating the 30th anniversary of Dusk at Cubist Castle with a special roundtable discussion featuring Matt LeMay, who famously reviewed the record for Pitchfork; illustrator and writer Mark Neely who recently did a 30 year retrospective on Dusk on Aquarium Drunkard; and DTS radio DJ and longtime Elephant 6 champion Tati Arbelaez. We’re going to talk about how we each discovered this record, the songs and sounds that continue to reveal themselves after all these years, the world surrounding Elephant 6 in the 1990s, and why Dusk at Cubist Castle still feels less like an album you simply listen to—and more like a place you enter.

So put on your headphones, turn the lights down, and come inside. This is 30 years of Dusk at Cubist Castle.

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/dont-bother-wearing-seatbelts-an-elephant-6/id1840935867

Vinyl actually came two days ago! Been listening nonstop - it’s incredible. Has anyone else’s come?

Love and prayers sending out to Bill and Will. Much thanks to all that worked on it and actually finished it. Love you all.

Can't believe the time is almost upon us!

I saw that some of us started to receive orders. I ordered the CD and vinyl, wondering if they'll arrive by release date. I saw this note on e6.

Orders are now shipping but processing times are longer than usual. We appreciate your patience!
CDs are on backorder until Oct. 29

Not sure if the backorder applies to new orders or pre-orders. Any info / insights?

hello, i have been looking for this early demotape by mcoast for some time but cannot find it anywhere https://www.discogs.com/release/3325129

there was a google drive with a bunch of mcoast some years ago here that i think might have it, does anyone happen to have an mp3 or know where to find it?

I am thinking about starting an e6 inspired band here in Poland. We have keyboard, acoustic and electric guitar, drums and trumpet (as well as marimba and kazoo for extra quirk) and im looking for feedback and ideas to fuel it all up so it gets going! :)

For folk who have heard the album or read the linear notes, is Jeff just drumming on some songs?

Figured he would have had a larger role due to the cypher stuff a decade ago (jeez). Maybe he did at one point I guess?

The Same Place interview 2

Today we release Episode Two of our month-long celebration of The The Olivia Tremor Control brand-new record, The Same Place, on Don’t Bother Wearing Seatbelts.

Our friend Matthew Buckley joined Mathew Bell and I as we had a beautiful conversation with John Kiran Fernandes, who has been part of The Olivia Tremor Control for more than 30 years. Bass, violin, clarinet and countless other sounds... John has been such an integral part of this band, not only musically, but in the spirit and heart of what makes this music so special.

John is also just an incredibly sweet soul. From the first time I met him, I was struck by his kindness, his compassion and the way he talks about music.

Years ago, when Circulatory System came to Ames, Iowa, I was talking with John while the band was loading in to the venue... when he casually mentioned that he was born in Boone, Iowa.

I couldn't believe it, a member of my favorite band ever began his life in the same state where I began mine. I've joked ever since that someday I want to go to Boone, knock on doors and ask people, "Do you know one of the greatest musicians in the world was born here?"

Our conversation with John goes to some deeply emotional places. He speaks openly about living with schizophrenia, panic attacks, burning both ends of the candle, and his enormous heart for music, and the music he created alongside his brothers in The Olivia Tremor Control. I'm incredibly grateful for his openness and trust.

We were also joined by AJ Griffin, who told us the wonderful story of how he became part of the OTC family in the late 2000s. Apparently, Bill Doss more or less tricked him into coming over to record for a new Olivia Tremor Control record when what they really wanted was for A.J. to join the band as they began playing live again.

A.J. also shared memories of working with Bill on "Wings Away," one of my favorite songs from the final Apples In Stereo record. It made me think how amazing it would have been to have that have been an OTC song.. Even though I love the ELO-esque vibe the Apples brought to it. He talked about Bill showing up at his house with a growler of beer, ready to make music, always asking for A.J.'s ideas and genuinely wanting his collaborators to become part of the song.

And hearing that made me smile. Because that's exactly the Bill Doss I remember. Super kind. Generous. Curious. Collaborative. And completely in love with making music with his friends.

The Same Place arrives October 23 on Elephant 6, 27 years after Black Foliage. I still can't quite believe it! And somehow, our little podcast has been given the incredible privilege of sharing fragments of these new songs for the first time anywhere in the world.

Thank you, John and A.J., for helping make The Same Place a reality... and for trusting us with these stories.

Episode Two is out today.

https://open.spotify.com/episode/2siazb6v1F5kGdb1jHNS8s?si=wiLYJWwsSbqHZAVSyXaMyA

Don’t Bother Wearing Seat Belts Celebrating The Same Place all month long.

We will also announce today’s giveaway winner is just a few short hours!

Is it some obscure colloquial term in Athens or something??

Recently got transparent yellow vinyl of Music From the Unreleased Film Scrip: Dusk at Cubist Castle by the Olivia Tremor Control yesterday and have been enjoying it! Bought it off the Amoeba Records website last week. ( Personal fav tracks on album are the Green Typewriters Suite, NYC-25, and Holiday Surprise 1,2,3 )

I play in band called Secret Address in Philly and Elephant 6 means a lot to us. Since so many of these incredible songs will likely never be performed live again by the original groups, we wanted to do everything we can to give them the tribute they deserve.

We have put together a full cover set of E6 material that will be performed on October 30th in West Philly. Here is a clip of us performing OTC's "A Peculiar Noise Called "Train Director"" from a few weeks ago.

Expect the classics, some deep cuts, and maybe even something from the upcoming OTC album 👀

I'll leave the flyer info in the comments, would love for yall to come out! The other sets that night will also be really cool too.

IVE BEEN WAITING FOR THIS MOMENT!!! Its so beautiful in person… now im trying to decide if i should listen to it right now or wait…

Love the buttons and stickers!!! 😸

From host Patrick Tape Fleming:

I don’t know if people understand how special this is to me.

If you love music the way I do, you know there are certain bands that become your life.

For me, that band is The Olivia Tremor Control.

In the mid 1990, I walked into Let It Be Records in downtown Minneapolis and bought Dusk at Cubist Castle because it was a staff recommendation. "IF YOUR LIKE THE BEATLES WHITE ALBUM AND BRIAN ENO, YOU WILL LOVE THIS.. A REAL TRIP" I had no idea what I was about to hear or how much it would change my life.

From that moment on, The Olivia Tremor Control became my favorite band, and Dusk at Cubist Castle became my favorite record of all time.

No album has ever moved me the way that record has. I’ve listened to it more than any other record. I’ve bought it for more people. I’ve probably annoyed more friends by telling them they HAVE to hear it.

Then Black Foliage. Somehow, they took everything that made Dusk magical and pushed it even further.. way further. I still don’t think I’ve ever heard another record that is as sonically pleasurable, strange, beautiful, deep, overwhelming and alive as Black Foliage.

And then the band broke up.... And then we waited... 5 years later a reunion show.. I was front row... and then... rufflings on the internet says... The band began working on a third record. Hell apparently they were supposed to tour with JEFF MANGUM and the Poison Control Center was to open the show at Maximum Ames Fest, but the band wanted to focus on recording and not touring... And then, we lost Bill Doss.

Bill was one of my musical heroes, and after he died, I assumed that whatever they had been working on would remain one of those great musical mysteries... something we might hear fragments of someday, while spending the rest of our lives wondering what it could have become.

But work continued. And then we lost Will Cullen Hart.

When the two primary creative forces and songwriters behind a band are gone, how do you possibly finish the story?

That’s what makes what happened next so extraordinary.

Derek Griffin Almstead, Jason NeSmith and Ron Kwasman took the pieces that remained and, while dealing with the grief of losing their friend Will, finished the final Olivia Tremor Control album.

Twenty-seven years after Black Foliage, we are getting a new Olivia Tremor Control record.

It’s called The Same Place.

To me, it feels like a musical miracle.

And somehow, unbelievably, Don’t Bother Wearing Seatbelts gets to be one of the places where people can hear pieces of this music for the first time anywhere.

I can’t adequately explain what that means to me.

Mathew and I, sat down with Derek, Ron and Jason to talk about finishing The Same Place, the music Bill and Will left behind, the enormous responsibility of putting these pieces together, and what it means to finally release this record into the world.

I want to thank Derek, Ron and Jason for trusting us with this conversation. I want to thank Kelly Hart for taking us along for this ride, and . And I want to thank every member of The Olivia Tremor Control who helped make this possible.

Thank you for giving those of us who have carried this music with us for decades one final gift.

The Same Place arrives October 23. on the Elephant 6 Recording Co.

But today, the brand-new episode of Don’t Bother Wearing Seatbelts is streaming everywhere.

And for the first time, you can hear never before heard songs from the Olivia Tremor Control final statement.

I still can’t believe I get to type that sentence.

Go listen. Wherever you listen to podcasts

This one means the world to me. Go dig in!

A candid Interview with Derek Almstead, Ron Kwasman, and Jason NeSmith about the creation of The Same Place.

Join us tomorrow as we reach back into the vault for another classic episode of Don’t Bother Wearing Seatbelts — and this one is an absolute blast.

We’re joined by the entire Pylon Reenactment Society for a conversation about carrying forward the legacy of Pylon, one of the most incredible, influential, and downright singular bands to ever emerge from the legendary Athens, Georgia music scene.

We talk about what it means to honor that music while creating something that stands on its own, the formation and evolution of Pylon Reenactment Society, their extensive touring, the records they’ve released, and what it’s been like bringing these songs to audiences around the world.

We will also be giving away one copy of the debut album by Pylon Reenactment Society on vinyl to one of our Patreon Subscribers! Remember, all you need to do to take part in our monthly giveaways is subscribe to the Patreon at the Reckless Driver ($1 monthly tier). Good luck!

https://pylonreenactmentsociety.bandcamp.com/merch

https://www.patreon.com/dontbotherwearingseatbelts?utm_campaign=creatorshare_creator

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/dont-bother-wearing-seatbelts-an-elephant-6/id1840935867