Robert Peter Schneider was born on March 9, 1971. He is an American musician and mathematician. He is the lead singer, songwriter, guitarist, and producer for the rock/pop band the Apples in Stereo. He has also produced and performed on albums by bands such as Neutral Milk Hotel, the Olivia Tremor Control, the Minders, and others that play psychedelic and indie rock music. He has also worked with Yoko Ono and Cornelius. In 1992, Schneider helped start the Elephant 6 Recording Company. In 2018, he earned a PhD in mathematics from Emory University, with Ken Ono as his advisor for his doctoral studies. As of September 2022, he is an assistant professor of mathematical sciences at Michigan Technological University. His research focuses on number theory and combinatorics, including the study of integer partitions and analytic number theory.

Life and career

Robert Schneider was born in Cape Town, South Africa, and lived there for six years before his family moved to Ruston, Louisiana. His father was hired to teach architecture at Louisiana Tech University. In Ruston, Schneider became friends with Bill Doss, Will Cullen Hart, and Jeff Mangum, and began making music with them. After graduating from Ruston High School, where he was president of both the junior and senior classes, Schneider spent two years at Centenary College in Shreveport, Louisiana. He then moved to Denver, Colorado, to attend the University of Colorado. Although he later left school to focus on music, he continued to study analytic number theory as a serious interest.

In 1991, shortly after moving to Denver, Schneider met Hilarie Sidney, Jim McIntyre, and Chris Parfitt. Together, they formed the indie pop band the Apples, which later changed its name to the Apples in Stereo. The group released their first recording, the Tidal Wave EP, in 1993. This was the first release on the Elephant 6 record label.

Schneider became well-known for his work as a music producer, especially for the Apples in Stereo and the band Neutral Milk Hotel. He used a production style inspired by artists like Phil Spector and Brian Wilson, which helped shape the sound of many bands on the Elephant 6 label. These bands became famous in the 1990s for their psychedelic pop and experimental music.

Schneider has also worked on solo music projects. One project, called Marbles, began with simple recordings influenced by the Beach Boys and was created with Will Cullen Hart. His first solo album, "Pyramid Landing" and Other Favorites, was released in 1996. Another project, Orchestre Fantastique, created a soundtrack for a film called Dean Quixote, which has not yet been released. Schneider also wrote music with Andy Partridge of XTC in the early 2000s, though no recordings were made from that collaboration. He also wrote songs for television commercials, including several for Kohl's department store.

In 2004, Schneider formed a band called Ulysses in Lexington, Kentucky. The band released an album called 010 in 2005, which was recorded live with one microphone. That same year, he also released a second Marbles album, Expo, which was influenced by artists like Electric Light Orchestra and Michael Jackson.

In 2006, Schneider joined a band called Thee American Revolution with his brother-in-law, Craig Morris. The band released an album called Buddha Electrostorm in 2009. The album was later reissued in 2011.

Since 2007, Schneider has performed and recorded children’s music under the name Robbert Bobbert. He released an album called Robbert Bobbert and the Bubble Machine and also composed music for an animated show called Shorty McShorts' Shorts.

In 2017, Schneider formed a new band called Air-sea Dolphin in Atlanta. The band includes musicians Matt Chapman, Mike Chapman, Ryan Sterritt, and James Huggins III.

Schneider has explored music inspired by math. He created a musical scale based on logarithms and used prime numbers in compositions. He also wrote a plan for an electronic piece that would last millions of years. In 2010, he began using a mind-controlled synthesizer, which uses a special device made from a toy called the Mattel MindFlex. This device allows a performer to control music using brainwave sensors.

In 2012, Schneider completed his bachelor’s degree in mathematics from the University of Kentucky. He also stopped touring, though it is unclear if this break is permanent. In 2018, he earned a PhD in mathematics from Emory University, where he studied number theory with Ken Ono. From 2018 to 2022, he taught mathematics at the University of Georgia. As of September 2022, he is an assistant professor of mathematical sciences at Michigan Technological University.

In 2007, Schneider introduced a new musical scale called the non-Pythagorean scale. This scale uses frequencies based on logarithms. The scale was first used on the Apples in Stereo album New Magnetic Wonder. The album included two short songs using the scale. Enhanced versions of the album also included a third song and information about the scale, such as audio files and instructions for using a MIDI keyboard to play in this scale.

Producing discography

Besides making all the albums for the Apples in Stereo, Schneider has created, recorded, and mixed many albums for other bands in the Elephant 6 group and other artists, including the following.