Remembering Will Cullen Hart: Founding Member of Elephant 6 Dies at 53

Will Cullen Hart, a founder of the Elephant 6 indie-rock collective, passed away on November 29 from a heart attack. He was 53 years old. His death was announced on the Elephant 6 website. Robert Schneider, a co-founder, noted that Hart died peacefully and happily shortly after the release of two new Olivia Tremor Control songs.

Hart was born in Athens, Georgia, in 1971 and grew up in Ruston, Louisiana. He was friends with Schneider, Bill Doss, and Jeff Mangum. Together, they released home recordings under the Elephant 6 name. After high school, Hart, Doss, and Mangum moved to Athens and formed the Olivia Tremor Control. Schneider started the Elephant 6 Recording Company to promote his band, Apples in Stereo.

The Olivia Tremor Control released their debut album, Music From the Unrealized Film Script: Dusk at Cubist Castle, in 1996. The band split in 2000. Hart later formed Circulatory System and released their debut album in 2001. Both bands reunited in 2009. However, the Olivia Tremor Control faced challenges after Doss’s death in 2012.

Hart’s last album with Circulatory System was Mosaics Within Mosaics, released in 2014. An Elephant 6 documentary was confirmed in 2014 and released widely in 2022 as A Future History Of: The Elephant 6 Recording Co.

In his tribute, Robert Schneider described Hart as creative, engaging, and deeply loved by his friends and community.