The Elephant 6 Recording Company (or simply Elephant 6) is a collective of American musicians who spawned many notable independent bands of the 1990s, including The Apples in Stereo, The Olivia Tremor Control, Neutral Milk Hotel, Beulah, Elf Power, Of Montreal, and Circulatory System.

The collective was officially founded in Denver, Colorado by childhood friends Robert Schneider, Bill Doss, Will Cullen Hart, and Jeff Mangum. The four grew up making music and sharing cassette tapes in Ruston, Louisiana while attending high school together. They started several bands and pet projects; Doss and Hart with The Olivia Tremor Control (then called Synthetic Flying Machine), Mangum with Neutral Milk Hotel, and Schneider with The Apples in Stereo.

It was Schneider who created the Elephant 6 record label when he moved to Denver, Colorado in late 1991 to attend the University of Colorado at Boulder. According to Schneider, Hart coined the name "Elephant 6" and Schneider added "Recording Company." In Denver, Schneider and new friends founded The Apples (which eventually became The Apples in Stereo). Recorded by April 1993, The Apples' Tidal Wave 7" EP was the first E6 release. Hart designed the Art Nouveau-inspired Elephant 6 logo for the label of The Apples EP. That logo was destined to be featured on a number of classic psychedelic albums from the 1990s to the present.