Who is Julian Koster and what did he do? Nesey Gallons allegations explored as Neutral Milk Hotel singer issues statement

Julian Koster, bassist for Neutral Milk Hotel and leader of Music Tapes, has been accused of s*xual assault and grooming by Elephant 6 Collective artist Anna "Nesey" Gallons. Gallons shared these allegations through a series of Instagram posts on July 9.

Trigger warning: The article contains references to s*xual assault. Readers' discretion is advised.

According to J. Scott McClintock, who wrote Julian's biography for allmusic.com, he had been playing since high school. His musical journey had been described as "experimental and explorative." Julian launched his first music tape when he was only 16 years old.

Julian Koster was also a part of In the Aeroplane Over the Sea, the popular second album of Neutral Milk Hotel. In the 2000s, Koster was mostly busy with Music Tapes.

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Exploring s*xual assault allegations against Julian Koster

Anna Gallons had accused singer Julian of s*xually assaulting her in her teenage years. She claimed in her Instagram post that the relationship with Koster was getting s*xual quite regularly. She wrote,

"I began to communicate by telephone and correspond via email with Julian Koster routinely in early Y2K at age 15, each exchange gradually becoming more intimate, though seemingly innocent..."

Gallons revealed that she and Koster began a s*xual relationship a few weeks before her 17th birthday. She stated she was assaulted twice in 2005 but didn't speak out because they were close friends. She also mentioned being manipulated psychologically and emotionally, which prevented her from reporting him.

Gallons accused Koster's PR team of silencing her and claimed that while she wasn't an adult, others could have reported him. Neutral Milk Hotel's founder Jeff Mangum's name was also mentioned in the allegations.

On Thursday, July 11, Julian Koster took to Instagram claiming that the allegations against him were false. He additionally said that the accusations were part of a campaign against him. He also mentioned that they got into a consensual relationship in 2001, and it continued till 2008. He continued:

"When the relationship began I was 28 and Nesey was 16, just before her 17th birthday. Though 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've apologized to Nesey many times for that..."

He added that he felt accountable only due to the age gap that they had when the relationship was established. While Koster had denied the allegations and had made further claims, Gallons and her husband didn't respond to them as of now.