Will Cullen Hart was an American musician and visual artist who helped shape the indie-music scene of the 1990s. He co-founded the creative collective The Elephant 6 Recording Company and co-led the band The Olivia Tremor Control, blending psychedelic pop with experimental soundscapes. His recordings and visual art earned him a devoted following and influenced a generation of underground musicians.
Will Cullen Hart was born on June 14, 1971 in Ruston, Louisiana. His parents worked as interior designers and they separated while he was young, which led Hart to spend parts of his childhood living in Alabama, Colorado and Texas before he returned to Ruston in ninth grade. While at Ruston High School, he became friends with Jeff Mangum, Bill Doss and Robert Schneider, sharing an interest in home-recording and art.
Will Cullen Hart co-founded the band The Olivia Tremor Control and the collective Elephant 6 Recording Company, which helped shape a distinct indie-psychedelic sound. In 1996 the Olivia Tremor Control released Music from the Unrealized Film Script: Dusk at Cubist Castle, an ambitious double-album that combined pop songwriting with experimental tape loops and ambient noise. Hart’s role in the band emphasized collage-style recording and layered textures, alongside his partner Bill Doss.
After the Olivia Tremor Control disbanded around 2000, Hart formed the group Circulatory System, releasing the self-titled debut album in 2001. He continued to release solo work and experimental recordings under his own name and other aliases, exploring musique concrète and abstract sound construction.
Later, Hart and his old bandmates from the Olivia Tremor Control reunited briefly, resulting in the release of two new tracks, “Garden of Light” and “The Same Place,” which surfaced the same day Hart passed away.
Louis Nicollin died on 29 June 2017 at the age of 74. He suffered a heart attack while celebrating his birthday in Nîmes, France. His long-term club, Montpellier Hérault Sport Club, noted that he had been the club’s president since 1974 and announced his death with “great sadness”. At his passing, many in the football world praised him for being a character full of energy, passion and love for the sport.
At the time of his death, Will Cullen Hart had an estimated net worth of around $5 million. He earned this amount mainly through his work as a musician, visual artist, and co-founder of the Elephant 6 Recording Company. Most of his income came from album sales, music production, and royalties from his band The Olivia Tremor Control, which gained a strong cult following.