In 1991 Robert Schneider, met Jim McIntyre on a Denver bus. They struck up a conversation and found that they shared many musical interests. Jim later introduced Robert to Hilarie Sidney (Robert and Hilarie later married and divorced); Robert then met Chris Parfitt. The four soon began to discuss the idea of starting a Velvet Underground/Black Sabbath-ish band and maybe even a recording label.
Soon after, in Athens, Georgia with the intent of pushing psychedelic folk/rock music into the forefront they founded the very important independent label Elephant 6 Recording Company. Shortly after that while in Denver, Robert and Chris founded The Apples. Slightly later, they recruited Jim and Hilarie, finally releasing their first Elephant 6 album in 1993.
This article appears in May 5-11, 2010.