Neutral Milk Hotel was an American indie folk band. The band's chief songwriter, Jeff Mangum, played with a number of other musicians on the band's two full-length albums. Notable contributors to the band's oeuvre include Jeremy Barnes (drums), Scott Spillane (horns), Julian Koster (banjo/bass guitar/saw), and producer-instrumentalist Robert Schneider. Neutral Milk Hotel is a part of The Elephant 6 Recording Company, based out of Athens, Georgia. History Origins Jeff Mangum, along with high-school friends Will Cullen Hart and Bill Doss, formed the The Olivia Tremor Control, with Mangum 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 most well-known of these tapes was called Pygmie Barn in E Minor.