Neutral Milk Hotel

Neutral Milk Hotel began as one of Jeff Mangum's home recording projects. 

In 1996, he worked with childhood friend Robert Schneider to record the album 'On Avery Island', which received modest reviews and sold around 5,000 copies. Mangum recruited musicians Julian Koster, Jeremy Barnes, and Scott Spillane for the band's second album, 'In the Aeroplane Over the Sea'.

In the meantime 'In the Aeroplane Over the Sea' is heralded as a landmark album for indie rock and one of the greatest albums of the 1990s. 

Many indie rock groups such as Arcade Fire and the Decemberists were influenced by Neutral Milk Hotel's eclectic music and earnest lyrics.