Robert Schneider

Robert Peter Schneider (born March 9, 1971) is one of the co-founders of The Elephant 6 Recording Company, along with Will Cullen Hart, Bill Doss, and Jeff Mangum. He is perhaps best known as the lead singer/songwriter behind The Apples in Stereo.

Biography

After spending the first six years of his life in Cape Town, South Africa, Robert Schneider's family moved to Ruston, Louisiana. In Louisiana, Schneider befriended Mangum, Hart and Doss and began discovering and playing music with them. After graduating from Ruston High School, where he was class president, Schneider moved to Denver, Colorado to attend college. His academic interests still remain strong, being an avid mathematician, focusing on analytic number theory.

The Apples in Stereo and Elephant 6

He met Hilarie Sidney, whom he later married (although years later, they divorced), Jim McIntyre and Chris Parfitt, who soon formed the indie pop band The Apples (which was later changed to The Apples in Stereo). The group made their first release in 1993 with the Tidal Wave EP that became the inaugural release on Elephant Six's label imprint.

Schneider's prowess in harnessing the sounds of Elephant Six bands became apparent with his distinct production style. In addition to producing all of the albums for The Apples in Stereo, he's produced work for the Olivia Tremor Control and the Minders, but is most well-known for his work on Neutral Milk Hotel's critically lauded In the Aeroplane Over the Sea. The Wall of Sound production style implemented by his heroes like Phil Spector and Brian Wilson were used on these records and cemented Schneider as the recognizable man behind the bands of the Elephant 6 label.

Solo work

Schneider has a number of solo projects. One, a project called Marbles, began with lo-fi Beach Boys-esque recordings done with Will Cullen Hart, and is the name most of Schneider's solo work appears under. Another, Orchestre Fantastique, is an instrumental venture which recorded a soundtrack for the unreleased film Dean Quixote. He is also a member of "Thee American Revolution" formed in Lexington, Kentucky.

Schneider formed a new band in 2004 called Ulysses and released another Marbles album in 2005. During 2006, it was announced that Schneider was debuting in a new band with his brother-in-law, Craig Morris of Ideal Free Distribution, called The American Revolution. In August 2006, he began performing children's music under the alias Robbert Bobbert & the Bubble Machine.

Recent news

On December 20, 2006 Schneider appeared on The Colbert Report for the season's rock-themed finale. He performed an original composition ("Stephen, Stephen") about the show's host, Stephen Colbert, and then closed the show alongside Chris Funk (of The Decemberists), Peter Frampton and Rick Nielson with an "all-guitar jam".

Performing Discography

The Apples in Stereo

For a complete list, see The Apples in Stereo discography

Fun Trick Noisemaker (1995)
Tone Soul Evolution (1997)
Her Wallpaper Reverie (1999)
The Discovery of a World Inside the Moone (2000)
Velocity of Sound (2002)
New Magnetic Wonder (2007)

Marbles

For a complete list, see Marbles discography

Inverse Gazebo (Cassette Only) (1993)
Warm Milk and Chocolate (Cassette Only) (1993)
I ♥ the Animals (Cassette Only) (1993)
Pyramid Landing (And Other Favorites) (1997)
Expo (2005)

Ulysses

010 (2004)

Orchestre Fantastique

Dean Quixote Soundtrack (2001)

Producing Discography

In addition to producing nearly all of the albums for The Apples in Stereo, Schneider has produced many for fellow Elephant 6 bands, including the following.