![\"\"](\"\/beta\/\/media.wonderlandmagazine.com\/uploads\/2011\/06\/DSCN0734.jpg\" "\\"Animal")
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Dave Portner, Josh Dibb, Noah Lennox and Brian Weitz met in 1992 at high school in Baltimore. In 2000 they formed noise band Animal Collective, changed their names to Avey Tare, Deakin, Panda Bear and Geologist respectively, and vowed to keep things fluid. Sometimes they wear animal masks. Sometimes they don\u2019t. Usually they perform and record together. But not always \u2013 for their eighth and latest album, Merriweather Post Pavilion<\/em>, Deakin has taken a backseat. The only constant in their music, in fact, is that it has remained steadfastly experimental \u2013 somewhere between early Pink Floyd tomfoolery, Talking Heads\u2019 art rock and Euro dance pop. Geologist (\u201cI did biology in college but a friend thought I was studying rocks and it just stuck\u201d) \u2013 the one to be found standing downstage wearing a headlamp and twiddling knobs \u2013 sheds some light on planet Animal Collective\u2019s new obsession with all things water\u2026 What kind of animal is the new album?<\/strong> What\u2019s your contribution to the record?<\/strong> Where does the Merriweather Post Pavilion<\/em> title come from?<\/strong> Words: Will Alderwick<\/p>\n A full version of this article first appeared in<\/em> Wonderland #16, Dec\/Jan 2008\/09<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Dave Portner, Josh Dibb, Noah Lennox and Brian Weitz met in 1992 at high school in Baltimore. In 2000 they formed noise band Animal Collective, changed their names to Avey Tare, Deakin, Panda Bear and Geologist respectively, and vowed to keep things fluid. Sometimes they wear animal masks. Sometimes they don\u2019t. Usually they perform and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":485,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9419],"tags":[163,110,164,128,148],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n
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\nSomething that lives in a coral reef. Not exactly a fish, something a little more human \u2013 a mer-person.<\/p>\n
\nI bring outdoor samples and field recordings to help create the environment of the melody. I made some just around the corner from where we recorded the album \u2013 kids playing in the street. The more scientific ones I find from other people. Like the underwater stuff I don\u2019t have the means or the technology to do myself. This record combines the outdoors of the area that we grew up in, Maryland, mixed with coral reef and lagoons.<\/p>\n
\nIt\u2019s a venue in Baltimore, an outdoor amphitheatre. We liked the way the words sounded together. And it had \u2018weather\u2019 in it, which was important because we\u2019d imagined pictures of weather patterns whilst we worked on the songs. Some sunshine, gentle rain, even some tornadoes and sandstorms but without the violent connotations.
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\nWhat was your first pet?<\/strong>
\nA turtle called Teddy. I\u2019m not sure who named him.
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\nWhich mythological figure would you like to be?<\/strong>
\nThe sea god Poseidon because he can hang out underwater.
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\nWhat are your most recent record purchases?<\/strong>
\nThis 80s new-age record by Clare Hammel called Voices<\/em>. The new Arthur Russell collection Love Is Overtaking Me<\/em>. Some of Lee Hazelwood\u2019s mid-60s stuff. A ballet by a Japanese composer called Tagi Ito. And some old Grateful Dead on eBay.
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\nWhat\u2019s Animal Collective\u2019s worst gig to date?<\/strong>
\nWe played a festival in Belgium at the end of a really long tour. We\u2019d had too much to drink and no time to do a sound-check. We couldn\u2019t hear what we were playing and after aborting two songs halfway through we just walked off stage and trashed some equipment on the way. That was a low point. But we did an acoustic set in the parking lot afterwards to make up for it.
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\nHow come Deakin isn\u2019t going to be touring with you?<\/strong>
\nHe recorded the album with us. We\u2019ll work around his parts when we\u2019re on the road. It feels really natural to us. It\u2019s the way it\u2019s been since high school. Some people felt like playing some nights and others felt like hanging out with their girlfriends. We established early on that not everyone had to be there to make music. You just make music with whoever is there. It keeps everything feeling really loose and that\u2019s the way it works best for us. <\/p>\n