William Cullen Hart (June 14, 1971 – November 29, 2024) was an American musician, singer, songwriter and visual artist. He was a co-founder of

the Elephant 6 Recording Company The Elephant 6 Recording Company is a loosely defined musical collective from the United States. Notable bands associated with the collective include The Apples in Stereo, Beulah, Circulatory System, Elf Power, The Minders, Neutral Milk Hotel, ...

, as well as the rock band

the Olivia Tremor Control The Olivia Tremor Control were an American Psychedelic music, psychedelic band from Athens, Georgia that released two studio albums, a bonus disc, a singles collection and a live album between 1996 and 2000. The main members were Will Cullen H ...

. Following that band's breakup, Hart and several other former members regrouped to create

Circulatory System In vertebrates, the circulatory system is a system of organs that includes the heart, blood vessels, and blood which is circulated throughout the body. It includes the cardiovascular system, or vascular system, that consists of the heart ...

. Hart's music was characterized by its blend of

indie rock Indie rock is a Music subgenre, subgenre of rock music that originated in the United Kingdom, United States and New Zealand in the early to mid-1980s. Although the term was originally used to describe rock music released through independent reco ...

Beatlesque "Beatlesque" () or "Beatles-esque" describes a musical resemblance to the English rock band the Beatles. The term is loosely defined and has been applied inconsistently to a wide variety of disparate artists. Definitions To better explain what ...

psychedelic pop Psychedelic pop (or acid pop) is a genre of pop music that contains musical characteristics associated with psychedelic music. Developing in the mid-to-late 1960s, elements included " trippy" features such as fuzz guitars, tape manipulation, ...

and

musique concrète Musique concrète (; ): " problem for any translator of an academic work in French is that the language is relatively abstract and theoretical compared to English; one might even say that the mode of thinking itself tends to be more schematic ...

Recording career

Early years

Will Cullen Hart was born on June 14, 1971 in

Ruston, Louisiana Ruston is a small city in and the parish seat of Lincoln Parish, Louisiana, United States. The 2020 population was 22,166. Ruston is near the eastern border of the Ark-La-Tex region and is the home of Louisiana Tech University. Ruston is the prin ...

. His parents, both interior designers, divorced and moved around the country, leading Hart to spend parts of his childhood in

Alabama Alabama ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Deep South, Deep Southern regions of the United States. It borders Tennessee to the north, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gu ...

Colorado Colorado is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States. It is one of the Mountain states, sharing the Four Corners region with Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah. It is also bordered by Wyoming to the north, Nebraska to the northeast, Kansas ...

, and

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

before returning to Ruston in ninth grade. Among his friends there were future Elephant 6 collaborators

Bill Doss Bill Doss (September 12, 1968 – July 30, 2012) was an American rock musician. He co-founded The Elephant 6 Recording Company in Athens, Georgia, and was a key member of the Olivia Tremor Control. Following the band's breakup, he led the Sunshi ...

Jeff Mangum Jeffrey Nye Mangum (born 24 October 1970) is an American singer, songwriter, and musician who gained prominence as the founder, songwriter, vocalist and guitarist of Neutral Milk Hotel, as well for his co-founding of The Elephant 6 Recording Comp ...

and

Robert Schneider Robert Peter Schneider (born March 9, 1971) is an American musician and mathematician. He is the lead singer, songwriter, guitarist and producer of rock/pop band the Apples in Stereo and has produced and performed on albums by Neutral Milk ...

. The teenagers shared a passion and interest in home recording, influenced by

John Cage John Milton Cage Jr. (September 5, 1912 – August 12, 1992) was an American composer and music theorist. A pioneer of indeterminacy in music, electroacoustic music, and Extended technique, non-standard use of musical instruments, Cage was one ...

punk rock Punk rock (also known as simply punk) is a rock music genre that emerged in the mid-1970s. Rooted in 1950s rock and roll and 1960s garage rock, punk bands rejected the corporate nature of mainstream 1970s rock music. They typically produced sh ...

krautrock Krautrock (also called , German for ) is a broad genre of experimental rock that developed in Germany in the late 1960s and early 1970s. It originated among artists who blended elements of psychedelic rock, avant-garde composition, and electron ...

, and 1960s

psychedelic Psychedelics are a subclass of hallucinogenic drugs whose primary effect is to trigger non-ordinary mental states (known as psychedelic experiences or "trips") and a perceived "expansion of consciousness". Also referred to as classic halluci ...

bands like

The Beatles The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band formed in Liverpool in 1960. The core lineup of the band comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are widely regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatle ...

The Beach Boys The Beach Boys are an American Rock music, rock band formed in Hawthorne, California, in 1961. The group's original lineup consisted of brothers Brian Wilson, Brian, Dennis Wilson, Dennis, and Carl Wilson, their cousin Mike Love, and their f ...

and

The Zombies The Zombies are an English Rock music, rock band formed in St Albans in 1961. Led by keyboardist/vocalist Rod Argent and lead vocalist Colin Blunstone, the group had their first British and American hit in 1964 with "She's Not There". In the U ...

. Some of his earliest musical projects were his solo recording moniker The Always Red Society, which released its sole tape ''Giant Chocolate Think Tank Blues'' in 1993 and reissued 2014, and Cranberry Lifecycle with Mangum, a "little 4-track pop thing," which were spoken of very highly by Schneider and remained highly sought after by fans until finally leaked in 2023. Mangum, Doss, and Hart then formed the group Synthetic Flying Machine, which evolved to become

The Olivia Tremor Control The Olivia Tremor Control were an American Psychedelic music, psychedelic band from Athens, Georgia that released two studio albums, a bonus disc, a singles collection and a live album between 1996 and 2000. The main members were Will Cullen H ...

The Olivia Tremor Control

The Olivia Tremor Control's first release was the

extended play An extended play (EP) is a Sound recording and reproduction, musical recording that contains more tracks than a Single (music), single but fewer than an album. Contemporary EPs generally contain up to eight tracks and have a playing time of 1 ...

(EP) ''

California Demise ''California Demise'' is an EP by the Olivia Tremor Control. It was recorded at 210 Sunset Ave on various four tracks by the Olivia Tremor Control, then consisting of Bill Doss, Jeff Mangum and Will Cullen Hart. This was the second Elephant Si ...

'' in 1994, which presented many of the band's signature elements, like, for example, complex vocal harmonization. After the EP, the band briefly disbanded, with Hart moving to

Denver, Colorado Denver ( ) is a List of municipalities in Colorado#Consolidated city and county, consolidated city and county, the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Colorado, most populous city of the U.S. state of ...

, before returning to Athens to reunite with Doss and record the band's debut album, '' Music from the Unrealized Film Script: Dusk at Cubist Castle'' at Pet Sounds studio, with

as producer. His artistic difference to Doss became evident during recording for the album, with Doss leaning towards pop music and Hart writing more experimental material. In line with his experimental leanings, Hart was influenced by the 1969

White Noise In signal processing, white noise is a random signal having equal intensity at different frequencies, giving it a constant power spectral density. The term is used with this or similar meanings in many scientific and technical disciplines, i ...

album '' An Electric Storm'' which led to the splicing of his bandmates' songs with experimental electronic pieces in 1999's '' Black Foliage: Animation Music Volume One''. The album was as ambitious of an undertaking as ''Dusk'', and was met to positive reviews, with

Pitchfork A pitchfork or hay fork is an agricultural tool used to pitch loose material, such as hay, straw, manure, or leaves. It has a long handle and usually two to five thin tines designed to efficiently move such materials. The term is also applie ...

's Paul Thompson describing it as "among the most satisfying psychedelic albums of any decade", going on to compare it to the Buddhist concept of

Bardo In some schools of Buddhism, ''bardo'' ( Wylie: ''bar do'') or ''antarābhava'' (Sanskrit, Chinese and Japanese: 中有, romanized in Chinese as ''zhōng yǒu'' and in Japanese as ''chū'u'') is an intermediate, transitional, or liminal state b ...

Circulatory System, Olivia Tremor Control reunion and death

After the release of ''Black Foliage'', tensions grew between Doss and Hart. According to Doss, Hart wanted to take a hiatus from music, and was suffering from early symptoms of then-undiagnosed

multiple sclerosis Multiple sclerosis (MS) is an autoimmune disease resulting in damage to myelinthe insulating covers of nerve cellsin the brain and spinal cord. As a demyelinating disease, MS disrupts the nervous system's ability to Action potential, transmit ...

. The two had a falling out, and the Olivia Tremor Control broke up in 2000, releasing both an early singles compilation,

Singles and Beyond ''Singles and Beyond'' is a compilation album by American indie rock band the Olivia Tremor Control, consisting of several rare or out-of-print tracks by the band. Track listing All songs written by the Olivia Tremor Control. #"Love Athena" – ...

, and a

John Peel John Robert Parker Ravenscroft (30 August 1939 – 25 October 2004), better known as John Peel, was an English radio presenter and journalist. He was the longest-serving of the original disc jockeys on BBC Radio 1, broadcasting regularly from ...

session before moving off to other projects. Doss would reactivate his solo recording project

The Sunshine Fix The Sunshine Fix was an American indie rock group that released three albums from 1993 to 2004. Their main singer and songwriter was Bill Doss, known from the Olivia Tremor Control. The name predated the Olivia Tremor Control and remained in use ...

, and Hart formed his next project:

with some ex -

members Member may refer to: * Military jury, referred to as "Members" in military jargon * Element (mathematics), an object that belongs to a mathematical set * In object-oriented programming, a member of a class ** Field (computer science), entries in ...

of the Olivia Tremor Control, which released their

self-titled An eponym is a noun after which or for which someone or something is, or is believed to be, named. Adjectives derived from the word ''eponym'' include ''eponymous'' and ''eponymic''. Eponyms are commonly used for time periods, places, innovati ...

debut album in 2001 on Cloud Recordings. A companion album of ambient noise and sound coloages known as ''

Inside Views ''Inside Views'' (2001) is essentially a remix album of Circulatory System's first album, ''Circulatory System''. It is made up of "cut and paste style fragments, demos and animation derived from pieces of the circulatory system album". The albu ...

'' was released as well, in a similar vein to ''Cubist Castle'' companion album '' Explanation II'' years prior. Hart also released two musique concrète albums under his own name that year, ''Circuits'' and ''Silver''. The Olivia Tremor Control's gradual reunification process began when they were invited to play the UK music festival All Tomorrow's Parties in April 2005. This edition of the festival was curated by the actor Vincent Gallo The band started working on a new album, the as-of-2025 unreleased ''The Same Place'', and released two new singles, although the recording process was slowed after Doss' death due to an aneurysm at the age of 43 in 2012. Hart, and the remaining members, decided to continue working on the album in his memory, with Hart saying in 2019 it would be the band's final album: "We have three sides worth of songs done, though they're not sequenced properly yet to run three sides." In 2009,

released the album ''

Signal Morning ''Signal Morning'' is the second studio album by the psychedelic rock band Circulatory System (band), Circulatory System. It was released on September 8, 2009, on the Cloud Recordings label. Track listing All tracks composed by Will Cullen Hart ...

'' on Cloud Recordings. 2009 also saw the release of '' Side 3'', an album of alternative mixes and b-sides from ''Signal Morning'', sequenced by ''Olivia'' and Circulatory System drummer Derek Almstead. In 2014,

released their third album, double LP '' Mosaics Within Mosaics'', also on

Cloud In meteorology, a cloud is an aerosol consisting of a visible mass of miniature liquid droplets, frozen crystals, or other particles, suspended in the atmosphere of a planetary body or similar space. Water or various other chemicals may ...

. On November 29, 2024, the Olivia Tremor Control released the singles "Garden of Light" and "The Same Place", the band's first new music in 13 years, as part of the soundtrack for the documentary ''The Elephant 6 Recording Co.'' (2022). Hours later, E6 co-founder

announced Hart had died that morning. The status of the as-of-yet unreleased 3rd Olivia Tremor Control album ''The Same Place'' is unclear.

Personal life and death

Will Cullen Hart was also a visual artist. He created most, if not all, of the artwork for the Olivia Tremor Control and Circulatory System (among other Elephant 6 bands), as well as individual pieces. In a 2008 online interview, John Fernandes stated that Hart had been diagnosed with

. Hart was married to his wife, Kelly Hart, since 2012. Hart died from a heart attack on November 29, 2024, at the age of 53.

Discography

The Olivia Tremor Control * '' Music from the Unrealized Film Script: Dusk at Cubist Castle'' (1996) * '' Explanation II: Instrumental Themes and Dream Sequences'' (1998) * '' Black Foliage: Animation Music Volume One'' (1999) * ''

'' (2000) * ''John Peel Session'' (2000) * ''The Same Place'' (TBA) Circulatory System * ''

'' (2001) * ''

'' (2009) * '' Side 3'' (2010) * '' Mosaics Within Mosaics'' (2014) Solo * ''Giant Chocolate Think Tank Blues'' (as The Always Red Society) (1993, reissued 2014) * ''Circuits'' (2001) * ''Silver'' (2001)

References

External links

Cloud Recordings, the label founded by Hart

Review of Will's art book
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Hart, Will Cullen 1971 births 2024 deaths Elephant 6 artists People with multiple sclerosis Ruston High School alumni 21st-century American guitarists The Olivia Tremor Control members Musicians from Athens, Georgia