Anna “Nessie” Gallons, a musician who has been associated with the Athens, Georgia-based collective Elephant 6 since the 2000s, has an Instagram post on July 9 accusing Neutral Milk Hotel bassist Julian Koster of grooming her as a teenager and sexually assaulting her.
“I began phone and email correspondence with Julian Koster regularly at the onset of Y2K at the age of 15, each exchange becoming progressively more intimate, though seemingly innocent,” Gallons wrote. “He conveyed the idea that our connection was like no other he had ever known. … He invited me to visit him in New York, he doesn't hesitate to let me take weed and look dreamily into his eyes. Less than a year later, in April 2001, about six weeks before I turned 17, that relationship turned sexual. This, by all common definitions, constitutes “grooming”. She further alleged that he assaulted her twice in the summer of 2005.
In a statement posted on Instagram On July 11, Koster admitted the basic details of their previous relationship, which he described as consensual, but vehemently denied that any assault took place. “It's painful and scary to share,” Koster wrote. “I have been bullied, manipulated and abused by Nessy Gallons for many years. Nesey's recent statements are part of a campaign against me, documented in thousands of disturbing, abusive and obsessive messages.”
Koster continued: “Nesey and I began a consensual relationship in 2001, which continued until 2008. When the relationship began I was 28 and Nesey was 16, just before her 17th birthday. Although this put her over Georgia's legal age of consent when our relationship began, it was wrong to allow the relationship to happen at all and I have apologized to Nesey many times for it. I should have been more responsible for the age gap, but I deny all the other accusations he has made against her.”
In her original posts, Gallons wrote that she kept the alleged assaults secret and supported Koster's career, but that Koster distanced herself from her in late 2008. “I felt compelled to protect my friends at [Elephant 6] our community and fans, holding this until 2020, when the first utterances of this story escaped my broken lips in any name-naming capacity, and were quickly silenced as soon as I was approached with the possibility of reconciliation, then deleted by the willing group of PR,” Gallons wrote.
He added that he received some support from members of the Elephant 6 community, which includes Neutral Milk Hotel as one of its core acts. He also asked Neutral Milk Hotel frontman Jeff Mangum in the post why he didn't speak up.
“The point of this is to find peace and move on,” Gallons wrote. “I'm done with this nonsense and ready to start living.”
Koster's statement presented a very different version of recent events, which he characterized as a manipulative and abusive pattern of behavior by Gallons and her husband. He claimed that his efforts “to listen [Gallons] and to acknowledge the pain she feels” have led to “increasingly disturbing behavior on the part of both Nesey and [her spouse], including thousands of threatening and manipulative messages intended to punish me for not going along with what they want. In these messages, they asked me to have a romantic relationship with them, marry Nesey, move in with them away from my friends and family, finance their living expenses, and let them control me emotionally, physically and sexually. They have repeatedly threatened to harm me or themselves if I do not “obey” them…. I have lived in fear for years and I can no longer tolerate being abused and controlled.”
Koster added that he is seeking an order of protection against both Gallons.
In reply to a comment to which the poster said they found Koster's music inspiring, Gallons agreed. “My love for Julian has both saved lives and killed me, despite his actions there is no doubt that he has a beautiful mind and soul and creates beautiful inspiring art,” she wrote. “The dark parts complicate things, but nothing can change the fact that he is truly bright. No one in the world ever loved him more than I did, and I still do.”
from our partners at https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/neutral-milk-hotel-julian-koster-accusation-1235057148/
