CA2 Q&A and Reddit AMA Archive


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jfw7
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Joined: Sat Jun 22, 2013 5:14 am

Post Posted:

you do good work ITT fovrodi
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Fovrodi
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Post Posted:

Thanks! I take it ITT stands for “In This Thread”? Hehehe
Chubby_Dork wrote:
Thanks for finding these! Do you just use the wayback machine to find these?

Yeah! I was pretty useless at using that site for a long time but getting a hang of it now. Guess I should be including links here too :)
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Post Posted:

Fovrodi wrote:
Thanks! I take it ITT stands for “In This Thread”? Hehehe
Chubby_Dork wrote:
Thanks for finding these! Do you just use the wayback machine to find these?

Yeah! I was pretty useless at using that site for a long time but getting a hang of it now. Guess I should be including links here too :)

That would be super cool!
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Fovrodi
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Post Posted:

Ok, updated last few posts and provided links for most of the q&a's. Don't worry if you notice anything missing it's because I found it was a repeat of something earlier in the thread. Here's some more that got lost in an accidental closed tab, juggling a lot here. Sadly a lot of deakin's are partials and there are probably a dozen I didn't include because they were so incomplete I didn't think it was worth including, but if you're really curious the links on the Deakin partial posts will take you to the page.

Avey on his favorite bass drum sounds
Spoiler: show
Q:[what bands have your favorite bass drum sounds?] if any?

I'm trying to do the whole bass drum is louder than everything else thing and have found a couple of good sounds from The Microphones and random reggae albums I have that I never listened to

A: i really like the bass drum sound on supersilent 1. especially the last track. They have a really good roomy drum sound. I like the way the drums sound on ocean rain by echo and the bunnymen. The brush sound has a nice effect.... inspired me for spirit. Are you asking cause you are looking to sample stuff? dont know if either of those would be helpful in that case...do you just want a sweet bass drum sound?

d

source
Geo on choosing favorites out of the band's work
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Q: [your favourite songs by Animal Collective] do you guys even think about stuff like that?

if so, what is the best you've done, in your opinion (open to all members of the band)

A: i probably could think about it, but i don't really revisit our past and listen to our old stuff. right now one of my favorite songs is one we haven't released [Note: posted during production of MPP], and that is probably because i haven't had to go through the process of hearing it 500 times during the mixing process. after that happens, it'll probably join the rest of them.

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Geo on forum browsing
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Q: I'm guessing the answer is probably "we don't really have time" but I'm just curious if you guys ever get to browsing any of the rest of the forum or reading any of the other threads. I haven't seen you post in any of them but that's a different story...

if you by chance do read them... you should throw in a comment here or there. It'd be fun for the rest of us and I'm sure we wouldn't bite you guys or anything.

A: pretty much only this one and the live one. the lack of reading the discussion one isn't so much because we don't have time, but more because its not that enjoyable or healthy to read other people discussing you or your music. even the positive stuff isn't good to hear so much. but sometimes a title of a thread catches your eye and its hard to resist. and even in this section we have to deal with reading people's opinions and arguments about us.

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Geo on bandmembers' age
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Q: how old are the memebers of AC?

A: our lack of answering this question is not because its creepy - its a pretty standard question. its because of one of the other reasons i've stated which is that we've answered it a ton of times. right now and for the rest of 2007, two people are 29 and two are 28.

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Geo hazy on past tour pre-show music
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Q: I was wondering which artists/songs were on that playlist before and after you guys came on at the 9:30 club (assuming you were the ones that had that music on). I've been gettin real into reggae, especially after comin back from 6 months in Kenya where reggae is huge. My current knowledge is limited, but I loved what I heard there. Thanks!

ps - that show was amazing. third time i've seen ac and def the best.

A: we did play a lot of king tubby on tour, but not sure what we played that night.

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Geo on vinyl repress plans
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Q: Does anyone (AC or not) know if the Person Pitch vinyl is going to be repressed? Or Here Comes the Indian? And are Feels and Sung Tongs now out-of-print as well?

And what about Strawberry Jam? Domino says they're out of stock. I've got my copy, but I'm worried about everyone else.

Thanks and peace.

--charlie turtle

A: as far as i know right now feels and sung tongs vinyl may be out of print, and fat cat has no plans for repress. they might not be getting enough orders to justify the cost, but we have no idea. paw tracks also may be holding back on an indian repress. not sure about person pitch. just because its not being repressed and is out of print doesn't mean you can't find it in stores.

source
Geo
Spoiler: show
Q: I loved how great the lights where for the tour and great set up with good sound, it would be cool to see a dvd or something come out of it. Something like the grass dvd but more of a tour video with some music videos. Have anything along the lines of that in the works? Just Curious.

A: yeah we did film the show in LA, but right now it was just because it was a nice thing to have. no live dvd is being planned as of yet, but as we always say when we're asked this question, its always a possibility.

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Geo on band breaks, hiatuses
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Q: [Band is on hiatus?] Is this true?

It was on the Wiki, but it's now been taken down - and Zoomb sorta confirmed that he heard you guys were going to take a break. What's the whole story with this? Are you going to record the new stuff?

A: if we say we're taking a break, that probably doesn't mean what you think it does. we take breaks all the time. august was a break, now we have a 2 week break, etc. come november we're taking a long one, but its only from touring really. we still have lots of music to be working on.

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Geo and Deakin on Eric Copeland's Hermaphrodite
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Q: I was wodering if there is any more information on this release apart from that it's out in august and is "brutal weird playful and awesome".

I'm curious about it.

Deakin: well, i love it. especially walking around on a sunny day in the city with headphones.

Geo: it's coming out, don't worry. i can't remember when the release date is gonna be though.

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Deakin provides a short update on Animal Crackbox and Oddsac
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Q: live boxset & movie update?

A: working on it. :twisted:
(Partial) Geo on Visionaire Sound
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we had forgotten about this...we decided we couldn't do anything as a band but decided noah would do something short for them. they never confirmed they received it so we were surprised to see it ann ...

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(Partial) Geo on studio exclusive songs
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Q: Why are some Strawberry Jams studio exclusive?

A: what the second dude said. maybe they'll be played live one day, we haven't talked about what we're gonna play in the fall, other than the new jams. no idea what older ones we'll play.

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(Partial) Geo provides an ODDSAC update
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good. simiilar to the live box set we all have other things we have to put energy into so we work on it as much as we can when we can. danny does the live visuals for black dice, and for noah's show

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(Partial) Deakin reflects on Conan performance
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It was honestly difficult to tell what conan thought. he is (understandably) consumed with quite a lot and does this so much that i imagine it is difficult to always relate to what is going on. he t ...

source
Last edited by Fovrodi on Fri Aug 31, 2018 4:21 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Fovrodi
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Post Posted:

This one I emailed to my girlfriend at the time and she hated it.

If you hang out with us youd see we can function like normal people. I think thats why alot of journalists might wonder if we are "putting people on" or somthing you know? But hey.... noone ever knew who jack the ripper was you know? and that is why he is my hero.

- Avey Tare, Animal Collective
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Post Posted:

Geo announces Strawberry Jam
Spoiler: show
hey from the road...if anyone has gone to the first couple shows, thanks, and hope you had a good time. we're pretty psyched on the new set and people seem to be willing to come along for the ride and hear mostly new jams which has been sweet. so anyways, the first batch of promos of our new record will be going out this week and that means the title and tracklisting will freebird, so here you guys are before any of that happens...

AC- Strawberry Jam

1. Peacebone
2. Unsolved Mysteries
3. Chores
4. For Reverend Green
5. Fireworks
6. #1
7. Winter Wonder Land
8. Cuckoo Cuckoo
9. Derek

there you have it. i'm sure people will have questions and stuff which we'll answer in time. as usual we don't have regular internet access or tons of time on the road so we might not be in constant contact for the next couple weeks. hope to see those of you coming out to the shows.

[...]

i actually meant to say this in my first post...no, none of the new songs are strawberry jams. we've played most of them for the past 1.5 years so to us they aren't new. however, it's inevitable that people will assume they are hearing the next record when they hear we're playing mostly new stuff. i've even seen it written in show previews. we have about 9 new songs on this tour that we put together in just the last two weeks, plus the reworked older jams. it was an intense but fun practice sesh. so yeah, we're two albums ahead now just like when, as you said, we played all feels songs before sung tongs had come out.

Link
Josh and Geo respond to having missed a gift thrown on stage during a show
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Q: hey.. i traveled from philly to see you guys at coachella. great set.. nice to see some of the buzz-fans run away in terror.

heres my question... sometime during the end of your set i tossed a homemade macaroni necklace at deakin. did ya get it? my parents never made me play little-league baseball so my aim is way off, so it landed... like... behind you.

just hoping you got it, and it wasnt swept off stage or picked up by one of the dudes from mmj.

Geo: man, thanks for coming from so far. i never saw the necklace but maybe josh did. we were in a rush to get our stuff off stage before the stage hands started doing it for us so there was a lot of commotion.

Josh: Hey man,

wow. That sucks. I never saw it. I'm really sorry. I really love when people do that kind of thing and I am always really appreciative. As we speak I am wearing a bracelet that I got from a kid in (shit... it's all a bliur...)... it was either Lansing or Atlanta. how I could mix up the two, I have no idea. I also have a pin that I got from a dude in Atlanta that I wear on my coat.. I have a whole box at home of crazy stuff that I have gotten over the years. Once somebody gave me a bar of soap with a face carved in it and their name on the back. Drawings, tapes, bracelets, necklaces. Yeah, the last time I got a necklace was in... shit... i remember the place but was it in Pittsuburgh? I think so... anyway... I am really sorry that I didn't see it, but it was super crazy up there when we were done and I was feeling a tad dehydratedc myself. THanks so much for trying though. I hope you aren't too bummed. In fact... if anybody knows the couple that came to our show at the Blind Pig in Anne Arbor when we were on tour with Ariel Pink and gave noah and I a tape that they had made with some blank space and an invitation to fill in some of the blank space and send it back.... let me know... but.... Realizing that this might set off a couple of, "oh yeah, that was me, totally!" kind of responses, you would need to tell me something pretty specific about the artwork so I know it is the real deal. anyway.... thanks for coming out to Coachella. I am glad you enjoyed it and I am sorry it was such a short set.

joshmin

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Geo on Jamming and (then) label-mates Brother the Native
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Q: so i post on another forum with the roxanne jean polise guy and he said you two jammed recently. any chance of hearing this session, he rocks...

also if you guys go back do you have any old xdiedenroutey release you'd be looking to get off your hands?

thanks....

A: that wasn't me. i live in dc and don't jam with anybody local. sometimes people ask me too but i'd rather stay in my bedroom and work on stuff for future ac projects. i wanted to jam with orthrelm when they were recording their last record here but mick and i got lazy about calling each other to work it out. anyway, i've never even heard of that dude you speak of, but i know there is another musician named geologist. ariel likes him a lot and actually when we first met he asked me if i was him because he's a huge fan and i had to disappoint that time as well.

Q: oh iiiii know what the mistake was

is one of the guys in our brother the native named josh? because he said he jammed with josh and got a copy of that record and i immediately made the paw-tracks connection...

should've known

A: i don't know any of the our brother the native dudes. fat cat discovered them and we had nothing to do with it. i haven't heard their record yet either. i'm psyched for them though. they'rel ike 16 or 17 years old or something so i bet their stoked on what's going on.

Link
Geo and Josh (in depth) on album absences and their relationship to those albums
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Q: hey i was wondering if geologist or deaken feel awkward when asked about an album you werent featured on. do you feel like its not your place to comment on those albums? just curious. thanks.

A: i don't know if awkward is the right word. it's not embarrassing or anything. maybe if i was asked not to play on a record when i wanted to, then i would feel weird, but every record that's been done without me was done when i chose to leave the band for a while or when i just couldn't be there because i had other things going on. i feel bad for the journalist if its an interesting question that deserves an answer and i'm not able to give it to them. i feel fine commenting on those records because its easier for me to listen to them and love them as opposed to ones i play on. and if its just a factual question i know the answer to, i'll answer it. but if i'm asked about an anecdote or the motivation or inspiration behind something i'm not a part of, i'll decline. sometimes when we're dividing up interviews we ask if they're looking for answers about a specific album and then we know who should take it but since most interviews these days focus on feels or live shows, it hasn't been hard and we haven't had to do that for a while.

Q: so what exactly were the reasons you and josh wasnt part of the albums?

im guessing spirit was pretty much a solo thing for dave
and hcti you guys werent getting along or something EDIT EDIT EDIT:::::::so it was only dave and noah on sung tongs

but that still doesnt explain the others...

Geo: we all did play on here comes the indian, so i'm not sure what that means. let's see, there are 3 albums i don't play on,oh and prospect hummer for the most part:

spirit: yes, was supposed to be a dave solo record but he doesn't play drums so he asked noah.

campfire songs: was a pre-animal collective idea of dave and noah's. dave and i actually did perform baby canteen at a show in new york in 99 with some spirit songs. but when it was being worked out for recording and josh joined the project, i had gone to europe for a few months and then back to bmore because september 11th cost me a job in new york and i was broke. i was present for the recording though and helped out with the tech side. i read a book by candlelight while they played each take because it went into the night. sounds like a peaceful experience...recorded on a screened in porch. but we never mention (or may be we forget) that it was the middle of november and pretty fucking cold out there.

sung tongs: right before the tour for here comes the indian material, i found out i was accepted to my top grad school choice and that required me to move out to arizona. i still wasn't sure i was going to go and i didn't tell anyone i was accepted when we set out, but then we had a terrible 3 days on that tour in the pacific northwest where the van kept breaking down and we had to borrow money to get it fixed to we could keep going. they were pretty much the days that broke me. we also had broken equipment and other crazy dramas back home that happened those days. at that point we all knew we'd get back from tour, record the songs, and then we needed space from each other, and we still had more than 2 weeks left on the road. i was sitting on a rooftop by myself in san franciso and out of nowhere i just called the school and said they could expect me. an impulse decision that turned out to be one of the best decisions i ever made because i loved grad school. i went downstairs and told the dudes that after the era was over, i was heading to the desert for a full year,and that's where i went. when i returned in summer of 03, dave and noah had written sung tongs. there was talk of me sending them field recordings through the mail but i was kind of in my own world out there, and i only sent one. terrestrial tones used it instead.

prospect hummer: this was recorded on a tour that i couldn't go on. it was still back in the days of working a day job for me and i had been awarded a fellowship and a grant that i worked my ass off for and was super-psyched to get. my supervisors actually were really generous in giving me time off to tour and of the 3 AC tours that happened while i was working there, they let me go on 2 of them, but that prospect hummer one happened less than 2 months after i started the job and that was too early to take time off. had i gone,i would have been fired, and like i said, i loved the job and was psyched to be doing it.

those are my stories.

[...]

sometimes its weird to talk on here and i wonder what details are appropriate, but i just kind of think of it like an interview. if i was asked that in an interview i would have said the same things. and all the details i gave are things we've said before or were my own personal details. as you noticed i won't answer for josh.

Josh: Brian got it all about right. I will throw in a little about the weren't getting along bit and what I was doing during Sung Tongs and Danse Manatee.

In the spring of 2000 I decided to leave school for a while. A while later become permanent, but that is another story. That summer I felt obligated (appropriately so) to spend the summer in Maryland working off some substantial debt to my mother who had been supporting me in school. It was that summer that dave, brian and the newly arrived noah found a way of playing together that was very new to them. By the time I arrived in New York they had really found a way of translating what they had discovered to a live setting. It jsut wasn't the place for me to jump in. That is sort of a central philosophy to the music that we make. that is that we feel that time and place and ciircumstances are often as much a part of the composition process as... well... the composition. I was very enthusiastic and supportive of what was going on and was pretty involved in what we were doing. I was still running our record label and I came out on the road as a roadie/tour manager and a friend for the first tour with Black Dice.

HCTI was a new era and we all felt excited to find something new together. It was in a sense the first time that all four of us had played together. It was in many ways a great time. there was a lot going on creatively. this thing about us not getting along is a lot more complicated than I think that you guys mean when you say it. I don't really feel like going into it because it truly isn't really anyone's business. clearly it wasn't the end of the world as I still consider noah, dave and brian as my three closest, dearest and important friends.

By the time Sung Tongs started to happen I was dealing with a lot of things personally and wasn't really available to play music in any substantial way. I was for one thing really diving in to carpentry. I love building things and this was a very full time thing for me at that time. I was working between 40 and 70 hours a week and for the most part loving it. It is a whole other side of me that is really important and I needed to be doing that. The first time I saw noah and dave play a sung Tongs show, i was tearing up. I thought it was beautiful and I still do.

it has certtainly been a strange journey so far, and it still goes. How lucky we are.

Link
Geo (short) verifies the band is not playing Pitchfork fest
Spoiler: show
Q: Have you been asked to play? And do you think you will?
Sorry if that business is too private to discuss ... I'm just really wondering/hoping.

A: i don't know if we were asked but we're not going to do any more US festivals this year. only those euro jams.

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Geo on Hip-Hop, Ghostface
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Q: Hi,

I just wanted to say that the more I listen to Animal Collective, the more I listen and appreciate mainstream hip hop--in particular Missy Elliott.

I've been listening to her albums alot and seem to recall similiar sounds from AC songs. Do you actively sample hip hop tracks either in live or recorded versions of songs?

Thanks in advance

A: no, i don't think we would unless that was the purpose of the song, like a remix or a tribute track or something. but we do love missy. that old school joint song rules. so does the platinum chains one.

[...]

i think we already did a thread about hiphop a little while back, so you should be able to find it. we probably mentioned things like madlib, j dilla (donuts is my record of the year so far), wu-tang, jay-z, dre, outkast, aesop rock.

Q: On the Wu tip, did you guys check out Ghostface's Fishscale? That's probably my number 2 album of the year, and far and away the best rap release I've heard in awhile. I guess I should probably go check out Donuts, I don't think the AC would steer me wrong.

A: yeah i got it. at first i wasn't that into it, but once the record hits its stride, it's pretty sweet. i'm not sure i like it as much as pretty toney or supreme clientele, but it's good for sure.

Q: I think thats probably the most dead on thing i've heard about it. people are saying that its his best thing but supereme clientele is better. Also you're right about being hard to get into. i didnt like it at first but i let it sink in cause i didnt want to admit that ghostface could let me down and after the 3rd listen i was into it.

A: i liked it the first time i heard it, but i don't think the record really kills it until the 11th or 12th track. from there its pretty stright on good until the end. the beginning has too many skits for me to feel the flow.

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Geo on re-issuing Prospect Hummer
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A: hey i was wondering if you guys would ever consider releasing Prospect Hummer on vinyl if you had another ep under 20 minutes, so then you could put one on each side?? i could understand why you might not wanna mix new stuff with older stuff, but those songs on prospect hummer always seemed so made for vinyl to me... all beautiful psychedelic vintage animated film-ishness. it sounds warm and crackly to me even on cd without the crackle... just thought i'd throw that out there, thanks guys. :mrgreen:

Q: it's always nice to have stuff on vinyl, but it's never been discussed. fat cat would have to want to do it too.

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Geo on original Purple Bottle lyrics, Avey responds to harsh criticism
Spoiler: show
Q: [so what happens to the original purple bottle?] didnt you guy record the original lyrics too

will this be freebirded onto the internet or something...?...

Geo: its been printed in the press that we did record the original lyrics, so i don't mind saying that here as well. sent them to stevie for approval and his manager refused to even play it for him because he didn't like us.

Arukamon: on the album he sings it horrible both ways, like a barley legal call girl whisper-talking and exaggerating her breath like hell. live he actually sings and projects his voice..... i really hate the way he sings on feels and only thing worse is hes the only one singing almost all the time...

[...]

which brings me to ask if the new post-feels songs - revgreen, chores, amv, safer - are going to change radically or something, cause if they dont itll make the first time AC has taken a sound - in this case a formula (IMO) - and stretched it over more than just one record... i thought that was one of the big things they didnt do....

oh well sorry about the rant, just got to thinking...

Avey: you remind me of my girlfriend in college. Do you by any chance write for your college newspaper mr. formulacism. Ill bet you do. do you really have to be so negative? wouldnt only singing in an instrumental fashion be a formula in itself and only further animal collectives formulaicism? do you have the formula for that formula by the way? no wait youre right we should probably never record these new songs. how can we even have fun playing anymore. thanks for the advice.

daevy

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Geo on watermarks, freebirds, and music press
Spoiler: show
Q: [heard a rumor] that all of the strawberry jam promo's are watermarked. can anyone in the band confirm this? not trying to be facetious here because i plan on buying the album as soon as it comes out. i'm just frusterated that other people are hearing it and i can't.

Geo: no, they won't all be watermarked, so don't worry, you'll get your freebird eventually. i don't necessarily think we have to explain or justify the lack of freebirded version because we'd prefer that it wouldn't freebird at all, but i'll give you a run down of the process. first of all, it'd be impossible to release music 2 weeks after you're done when talkng about a large scale release. you have to manufacture the cds,lps, and artwork, then there is the time it takes for shipping to distributors, then stores have to decide how many to order and the distro has to fullfill all those orders. but you could probably do it in a month or so.

the 3 month thing is totally determined by print media. they plan the content of their issues 3 months in advance so if they're going to include a release in their reviews section, or do a feature article on a release, they need to hear it at least 2-3 months in advance. it has nothing to do with just leaving a lot of time to create a hype machine, though there's nothing wrong with generating some sort of anticipation to get people amped. i'm guessing that most of you are significantly younger than us and you've grown up in the internet/freebird era, so perhaps it seems strange to you that things aren't available to you immediately, but we grew up in the times when you'd hear about a release for 2-3 months in magazines and get ridiculously pumped up and then there'd be this one day and special event that everyone could look forward to and share together. it just doesn't go down that way anymore, but unfortunately the print media, who is directly competing with the internet media, has not changed their rules, hence promos and freebirds happen earlier than artists and labels would like.

we had to send out promos even earlier than usual this time, but it had nothing to do with domino or any of that. it had to do with the fact that we all live in different places and have different individual schedules and can only get together to do interviews and photoshoots with magazines at a certain time, and that free window of time is kind of early this year. so we had to send out a batch of promos to print media 4 months in advance. everyone involved thought it'd be a shame for the album to freebird 4 months in advance so the initial batch is watermarked. seems like people are being respectful so far but we'll see how long that lasts. i know how it feels as a fan when it seems unfair that journalists with less attachment to the music get to hear it first, and it is unfair to a certain extent, but hey, free and increased access to music is one of the perks of their jobs. it's not like they're making a lot of money or getting steady paychecks. don't hate on them too much, especially because it's pretty much always them who do freebird the albums way in advance. they're on your side for the most part.

Maury: [...] I understand there is a process of distribution and so on, but I've been following Nine Inch Nails lately, and Reznor has been complaining about the long wait from finishing his material and getting it out there, and how he would rather be able to release it instantly. Do you guys feel the same way, or is it different for you? [...] So what happens when a freebird from a watermarked batch gets on the internet? Do you guys figure out who freebirded it, and take them off your promo list? [...] Are you guys ever gonna release a live DVD?

Geo: answer a question and get a lot more back, hehehehe...i'll try here.

you could do a digital release right away if you want to, assuming you want it to get out that way first. i don't like digital releases and wish they didn't have to exist. i like them from an environmental standpoint but that's about it. if nin's label ismaking him wait 6 months, i can't comment on that. i have no idea why it would wait that long or why they couldn't get it into a release schedule earlier, but they have their reasons iguess. i still don't think it's evil to generate some hype for a period of time. i think maybe the labels aren't concerned with you, the big fans, buying the record. they know you will, or hope you will anyways. the reason for building hype is to get other people interested who have never heard you or never bought any of your records before. at least that's the way i see it; i don't know if that's actually the thought process. i guess from the label's perspective that translates to more money which is one of their goals, but for the artist maybe it will result in more people hearing their music and more people coming to the shows, which makes me stoked. i like more people coming on board and if the label helps that out in a respectable way, that's cool with me. it's our responsibility as musicians to make the longtime fans feel appreciated, not the label's. that's why we come on here.

i don't know how press gets approved for a promo. anyone can set up a website and request a promo. i know because we get those emails all the time. some kid just started a blog and asks to be sent a promo. i just forward it to the label becaus ei don't know who is who and what is what. they have a press list, as do publicists. even when we were running animal and doing all that work, we just got a copy of secretly canadian's press contact list and asked them who we should send promos too. we've never made one on our own. i do think that print media usually gets it first because for their magazine to hit the stands with the review and feature already printed they need more time. a website can just upload something whenever they want. they don't need to hear it months in advance. and in case you're wondering, i don't think stereogum got sent one. they probably heard it from a friend or something who is in print media. i don't know the full story

i don't know what happens if a watermarked copy gets freebirded. i know it can be traced. i heard a story recently of a magazine intern who got fired for freebirding a watermarked copy. i think maybe it was vice? i could be wrong about that. i don't think it has a lot to do with suing someone for lots of money. i think it has to do with the fact that press and labels and artists have a give and take relationship where a certain amount of trust should be involved and if you're the one responsible for an album freebirding your reputation will go to shit and you might not get sent any more promos or something. again, i don't know for sure though, i didn't ask, that's just my guess.

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Geo on their music being played in food establishments
Spoiler: show
Q: What are your thoughts about having your music played in a cafe? WOuld you mind?

Because I work at Moonstruck chocolate co. and our company claims we are not allowed to play music of our own because of royalty issues and whatnot. Would it be cool if I played Sung Tongs at work?

A: yeah i've never heard of that before. sounds like they just don't trust your taste. just kidding. i've been in cafes in dc and heard us and i've seen us in jukeboxes in bars and we've never had to give permission for that. play away if your boss will let you. we had a fan in elpaso who worked for baskin and robbins and he played hollindagain while he was working but he said the customers didn't like it much.

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Avey on experimental music
Spoiler: show
Q: i am sitting in a room is a great piece of work! i can't really tell if you're putting it down

A: no im not putting it down its probably right up there with henri chopin and robert ashley's automatic writing and other mind blowing pieces of experimental music you discover when exploring that world ahd think there is nothing better. Thats the joke though.... as good as it is, its also a very cliched piece of experimental music that one might bring up when speaking about intellectual music. And the reality of it is there comes a time when its not really somthing your gonna put on anymore. Youll just bring it up and talk about how great it is.

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Avey on getting comfortable singing, playing with Noah, being a "weird" band
Spoiler: show
Q: just watched a recent interview where you said it took you a while to get comfortable using you voice as an instrument. i was just wondering if noah had an impact on gettin over the fear or discomfort. in other words, was it reassuring having some else experiment with their voice as well, kind of like someone to vibe off of for yourself. i know you two still vibe off eachother in live shows, has this alwys been a personal connection between you two?

p.s. what do you think of the npr dude calling AC's performance "completely and beautifully, insane" haha i think thats pretty fucking awesome. cant wait for the new EP and take away show.

-ACK ACK

A: i think the comfortable side of it has more to do with recording alot and getting into a place where i could be singing and playing all the time and could really work on it. Before spirit i was recording a fair amount but not really able to foucs and work on the voice aspect of it all the time so i think it took awhile and it has taken awhile for me to even care about it. I would say noah has influenced me in that way.

i think once noah and i were able to play live together more often, (when he moved) to new york that was when we really started being very aware of what our voices were doing live or how they mingled. In baltimore whenever we would play noah would just play drums. If we recorded a song he might play another instrument or sing the song but for the most part when we just jammed he would play drums. Tho i remember a sweet synth jam he and i did once while we were recording spirit.
But when we didnt have drums in new york (for the first year half a year of us all being together) he played alot more acoustic guitar or keyboards and sang cause we played kind of quietly. We wrote two corvettes for the first show he and i did in nyc and for the last part (of the song) i remember talking specifically about how we wanted the C and T sounds of the part to be like electronic clicks that would overlap. We did alot more of this kind of stuff through sung tongs. I could see the new stuff lending itself to that too.

to answer about the npr thing...
Ill admit sometimes it gets annoying being classified as insane (whether its beautiful or not) or weird but only when that seems to be the aspect of our music that is highlighted. One time a guy came up to me after a show and said "that was good, but it should have been weirder" I just thought..well how subjective is that..you know? how am i supposed to interpret that? To some people its not weird or supposed to be thought about in that way (me being one of them) then if you look at something like (certain) people's comments about the peacebone video on youtube, you realize how the other side of the world thinks and that for some people we are too weird.
Its true that when i really examine the things that influence me, there is a touch of the "insane" in what i like but (especially now) i personally dont really focus on that kind of stuff at all. Its not entirely what we set out to do, but if we come across it musically i think its just cause it happens naturally. if i was sixteen and i read what that npr fellow said i would probably think "fuck yeah!". The thing is we dont try and be insane or be weird, so it annoys me more when people say oh they just wrote that to be weird or theyre just being crazy. Id say to be insanely beautiful is an awesome thing as long as the insanity doesnt consume you. To me any comment drastically negative or drastically positive is better than apathy tho.

Daev

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Reverend Green and Geologist on lights used for 2007 MPP shows
Spoiler: show
Q: does anyone know what kind of lights ac is using for the live show right now? the ones that face the crowd... they are so so beautiful! i love that they vary in color based on intensity and how they blend with the stage lights. any ideas? thanks!

Rev Green (aka Brad Truax): the lights we use are TRACPOD TP-81
LED lights

Geo: and they were played live masterfully by the reverend

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Geo (short) on Fall 2007 tour setup
Spoiler: show
Q: i was wondering about the instrument arrangements for the next fall tour. will it be electronic centered like this past tour? will there be guitars?

i'm eager to know.

A: no clue. obviously we enjoy playing the newest songs the most and they were written in that configuration, so it will be part of future tours.

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Avey and Geo (in depth) on recording in the studio [e: added extra Geo input]
Spoiler: show
Q: Hi guys. I'm curious about how ya'll track stuff where there's extra flex in the rhythmic pulse. I'm thinking of Whaddit I Done, Bees, or It's You for some examples. (Similar question, I suppose, for dynamic flex, like with Daffy Duck.) In general, is a good bit of stuff recorded live to multiple inputs, such that everybody can play off each other as in a show? And does Dave usually record his vocals and guitar (or whatever) at the same time?

Thanks so much for your music...I'm so deep under its spell that I can hardly get any of my own stuff done.

Geo: i'm not sure exactly what you mean by extra flex. just changes in the rhythm or dynamics within the song? we're just well rehearsed i guess since we usually play songs live for so long before we record them. we do record most of our stuff live and then do overdubs on top of that, so yes, we're pretty much always playing together and off each other. everything is on it's own track so we can mix it later, and it's that way on stage on too. it's essentially like we're on stage except we're spread out around the room and our amps are sometimes isolated but we use headphones and we each make a customized headphone mix for each song to try and recreate what we're used to hearing on stage, or what we need to hear to play it the best and make us pumped (which is different for all of us since we stand in different places and have different things coming out of our monitors in the live setting). then we just play the song as if it were a show. dave does it the same way too with the vocals sometimes, and noah too. it depends from song to song. the vocals are definitely the hardest thing to pull off live in the studio because other noise bleeds into the vocal mic and it's hard to get a perfect take when you're worried about playing another instrument at the same time. but everything is on it's own separate track so you can go back and redo or fix anything later, which happens a lot with vocals.

Q: I saw in the Wilco movie about the making of Yankee Hotel Foxtrot, that they built a little wooden room for jeff tweedy to do his vocals, so the other instruments wouldn't bleed into his mic. It was basically just some plexiglass, wood walls, and nails/tape. but you guys probably don't have the money or time to do that.

Geo: that's called an iso-booth, and it's a pretty common feature in most studios. it's good for piano too. you only have to build your own if you are building and recording in your own space, which we didn't do for this one. if you're building your own studio and buying all the gear and treating the room to get the acoustic response you want, you're gonna need a lot of money before you even get to thinking about building an iso booth. we went to a studio which had an iso booth, and we used it sometimes, but it can also feel weird to have someone separated from everyone else and waving to you from behind a big piece of glass. if you have to communicate through eye contact it sucks too because the plexiglass catches a lot of glare from the lights and you end up just staring at your reflection.
Avey: i dont know if i can add much to this but ill try. Daffy is actually pretty much live on the record, vocals included. I think josh needed to overdub his guitar in the end cause he was having guitar buzzing and technical troubles during that whole period but other then that i think there is one vocal overdub. Even K's piano is live on that one. Most of the stuff as brian said we just practice so everyone can feel playing it together and we can all change at the right place, but yeah its also about just feeling (like in mouthwooed her) and just knowing when changes are gonna happen. Somtimes things dont really come together how we really want it until the studio cause we have more time and space in there to plan it out and hear it back so we can make it tighter. For the looser songs like flesh canoe its hard not to do the vocals live cause it is about feeling it and the vocals really guide the rhythm of that song, so even if i wanted to do the vocals again ive found in cases like that, that the original is the best. Its hard to line them up with the looser songs in overdubs. But somtimes we keep the original as a guide and just do an overdub on another track. Its more for acoustic songs where its hard to do the vocals at the same time like bees or anything on sung tongs cause you cant get the seperation from the instrument cause its so close to the vocal mike. In the end i think its fine cause it allows you to get the vocal sound and the guitar or piano sound you want but there are times where its nice to feel like you can do it live. Whaddit i done was done very late at night by recording me live first singing and playing and then adding noah and everything else after that.

d

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Panda on Search For Delicious inspiration
Spoiler: show
Q: I was showing my english teacher the person pitch cd today (making a music video for good girl for that class), and she was surprised when she saw the track search for delicious. she said it search for delicious was a book she used to teach to her sixth grade a while ago. I told her that noah was from baltimore, and used to live in roland park, and she was pretty convinced that the title was inspired by the book. is it? any rhyme or reason to it? thanks!

A: hey dudes
the title really does come from that book to be truthful. i read it a long time ago when i was in school and i was 8 or 9 or so i suppose. the character in the story goes out to define the word delicious and i thought that ripped. i dont want to ruin the ending for any of you who might read it but i liked the story a lot and i still think about it these days for sure.
take good care
PEACE
noah

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Geo (short) announces break from the message board
Spoiler: show
Q: hey we're mixing right now and will be for the next couple weeks. might now be answering too many questions. we'll decide what we're gonna reveal when we're all done. take care. enjoy the fade to spring.

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Deakin on his favorite color
Spoiler: show
Q: how are you? do you have a favorite color? i tell everyone my favorite color is black, but i don't if i really have a favorite color. i don't think i've ever really really had a favorite something.

A: These days its the combination of dirty salmon pink and deep tropical ocean blue. changes a lot though.

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Geo on Tour Logistics
Spoiler: show
Q: don't mean to pester or bother but in the Má Fama interview Noah did he mentioned something about having through July of this year planned out. he also said something about you guys doing a spring tour. does that mean you have dates set already?

A: yeah i talked about the us tour we're trying to set up now in the albuquerque thread. to clarify though, when we say we have planned out a long chunk of time, like january to july, that does not mean we'll be busy touring or recording that whole time...it's common knowledge now that noah's married with a kid, dave is married, i'm in a serious relationship, etc...time off for homelife is a big part of our planning, because basically when we're working on AC stuff, even if it's just practice, we have to leave our loved ones for a significant period of time because we don't live near each other. also, we're trying to make this new record in the first half of this year (start next week), and that will take up a bunch of time with tracking, mixing ,mastering, artwork, etc...the two tours in may and july that noah mentioned in his interview are both gonna be on the shorter side and definitely won't hit everywhere. a handful of dates for the us one have been set, but we've definitely picked the cities and routed it.

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Avey makes corrections to 2007 tour setlist
Spoiler: show
Q: so my friend Jeremy went to the Boston show

Here's what they played:

unsolved mysteries
am i real
peacebone
dancer
daily routine
material things
walk around with you
song for ariel
who could win a rabbit
the dreamer
will to joy
fireworks-essplode-fireworks
leaf house

not bad, eh?

A: hey that setlst isnt right. I believe we played "material things" (As you call it) earlier and there was no dreamer. The new song people are talking about is called "nomorerunnin" (for now) and its on the london bootleg people have but because of the speakers we were using for that tour we couldnt really play it well and now, i think its better...which is maybe why it sounds new. Im thinking it would be a good idea to post the setlists if you guys want. The rest is right but thats not the order. Ill try and come back with the right one and the others.

last nights in ottowa was

dancer
daily
unsolved
chores
bearhug (walk around with you)
material things
peacebone
rabbit
brothersport
loch raven
fireworks/essplode
leaf house

D

ill post montreal later it was somthin like

derek
bearhug
fireworks
we tigers...

i cant remember the rest...

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Avey and Geo on Magik Markers
Spoiler: show
Q: do any of you guys like them? i think, when theyre on, theyre the second best band in the world.

Geo: i only heard them once when i saw them at the noise against fascism event in dc. at that point my ears were pretty shattered and i couldn't get that into it. i've heard good things though from word of mouth, but i haven't really listened to that style of music in a few years now so i haven't had the urge to explore that much.

Avey: yeah from the footage ive seen they look and sound sweet and eveyone i know that has seen them loves them (besides bress [E: Geologist]...snob hehehe just kidding) but says theyre records arent that good though i was told that their new ecstatic peace record is pretty good. Id really like to see them myself though....

this question was asked before and i said somthing completely different based purely on just having heard about the band and not heard anything by them. Oh and somthing i read about them in Wire....which just goes to show you dont judge a book by its cover...oh and defintely dont read magazines...hehehehe

Geo: yeah to clarify my feelings on seeing them live...the noise against fascism thing was a 20 band event that lasted 4-5 hours. each band could only play 10-15 minutes for their sets and were up on a big stage. i can't remember exactly where magic markers was in the bill but by that point, my attention can only focus so much. it was at the black cat with 600 people, many of whom thought they were coming to a sonic youth show because the headliners were thurston and kim gordon. i also blame buzzard stain's whiskey flask for my attention wondering that night. the best thing i saw that night was paul flaherty and chris corsano. when i hear improv drum and alto sax i don't have high expectations because i saw a million of those show in new york in the 90's and heard a million of those records when i had my radio show. but those guys ripped.

Link
Last edited by Fovrodi on Fri Aug 31, 2018 5:29 am, edited 1 time in total.
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terrestrialjane


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all hail the mighty fov

good stuff mate

:drugz:
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NotBradPitt


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Geo announces Strawberry Jam
Spoiler: show
hey we're releasing strawberry jam
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Fovrodi
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Post Posted:

Avey on getting Pantha Du Prince to do a Remix for Peacebone
Spoiler: show
Q: Hey i was just wondering what the process was that led to [the pantha du prince remix of peacebone]. I mean, did you guys choose him; if so, how? or if he contacted you and ask to do this, etc.

thanks
penquin

ps looking forward to hearing this jam :)

A: he myspaced noah while we were mixing strawberry jam to say he liked his record and that he was into ac as well and to also let noah about his own tracks i think. We then got really into his record...im still feeling it... and so we decided to ask him to do a remix. We ask techno or house kind of people to do remixes all the time actually this is just the first one who has had time or expressed definite interest.


averrrrrrreaeraraere

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Avey on Kria Brekkan's (then) current projects
Spoiler: show
Q:hey wheeter

hence Kristín Anna has no own website with information... I reckoned I could perhaps ask you because you are closest to her.

(a)
I read somwhere on the web some time ago that Kristín was working together with Eiríkur Orr for a modern dance piece or something..
Do you know anything about this project?

(b)
How are the Kría Brekkan solo-recordings progressing? You mentioned here a couple of months ago that she was working on some songs. Have you heard anything from those recordings? and will they be released?


and thanx for the Pullhair Rubeye record!

A: yeah i havent really been sure what to say about this.

1. The dance performance was great (atleast the music was). I was there and i have a copy of the music and its gooooood.

2. Shes still working. Alot of the songs are recorded but all of the work has been done in iceland so its hard for her to get there to record all the time since we live in nyc. I cant even say she will ever want to release somthing honestly but maybe...

hope thats enough

dave

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Avey explains unchanging setlist for first MPP tour and leaving Safer/SF off of Strawberry Jam
Spoiler: show
Q: Have they always done this? Seems like the monotony would really get to them. It's a pretty strange set too... one song off of Feels and 3 from Sung Tongs in an electronic set??

And in case the band gets a short touring break and decides to look at the board (hahah), can you shed any light on the specific reasonings for the song selection?

Thanks!

NOTE: This post isn't a complaint in any way, I'm just curious. My ass will be forever kicked due to the awesomeness of the Columbus show.

A: hey...

thanks all who have been coming out to the shows. Weve been having a really good time playing these jams and our psyched that so many people can get into a new set of songs.

We basically just decided that we wanted to keep the same order of songs everynight for this one. Its kind of how we started talking about writing the material. I guess we wanted to make the transitions really count and have the songs that make the most sense together stay together. I guess this is sort of similar to how we approached the hcti tour. It doesnt get boring for us cause its actually been a pretty challenging set for us to play. Im sure we will switch it up come july/ add a song or two but right now we are pretty psyched on it this way. Hope you all keep having fun..

and also let me say again that none of these new songs are on strawberry jam. Most people seem to know that but just in case anyone else is confused. We will play more of those on our tour in september when the record is out.

maybe so i dont have to post again i should say, safer and street flash are not on the record. We are psyched on both recorded versions but just felt they didnt fit strawberry jam partially due to their length. Safer is going to be the b side to peace bone which will be the first ep we release. There are other recorded songs that we arent putting on the record and these will hopefully all appear on an ep or somthing soon....but not before the record.

D

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Geo explains being unable to play a certain venue
Spoiler: show
Q: if you come to the Lemp Arts Center, in St.Louis, i'll treat you all to lunch.

A: we know the lemp arts center. we've played there twice. it's a great place and the guy who runs it (mark?) is awesome. i actually can't overstate how beautiful i think that place and its mission is. but it only holds maybe 100 people at most and all they have is a mono vocal PA. so its not really doable.

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Geo on Guitar tunings (see note in spoilered text)
Spoiler: show
Note: Post earlier in thread only includes Geo's anecdote about tuning the piano for feels. Here is the q&a closer to its entirety

Q: by the end of this thread, with your help, i hope to have unraveled the mysteries of that elusive tuning. to be specific, i'll be trying to figure out avey's feels tuning. the main sources to help out with this will be the planet claire sessions videos and the old market hove footage. ok, enough blabbing, let's get started [...]

A: if i may...i usually stay out of these discussions and try and avoid the posts since i feel this is a private space for you guys, but i saw it as the lead topic so i checked it out because i would be amazed if anyone truly cracked it. you all seem to know more about music theory than us since we don't know notes or anything, so maybe you've come as close as you can, we wouldn't know because we don't know what an open D or open E is. but if you do find you have little differences, don't stress because you'll never be exactly right. even we couldn't without a recording. all the songs on feels are tuned to our friends piano which was out of tune to begin with. dave and i made loops from recordings of him playing her piano and we used those loops in the early songwriting process for feels. so since those loops are premade and can't be tuned, the guitars have to be tuned to the loops. it's not out of tune in any tradional whole step/half step kind of way...we're talking microtonally out of tune after years of not being professionally tuned and subtle natural detuning. kind of like if you played guitar in standard tuning for years but never once re-tuned it to make sure it was right. it would have it's own unique out-of-tune tuning based on what strings you played most often, how hard you played it, the temperature in the room, the humidity, etc...when we went into the studio it ruled over everything we did. even doctess's live piano playing required us bringing in a professional piano tuner, playing him a minidisc recording of our friend's out of tune piano, and having him try to de-tune the studio's piano in exactly the same way our friend's was. without those recordings or the loops dave and i made, you wouldn't be able to get it exact unless you tune to the album while it's playing, and even then, you'd have to know which loop in the album we use to tune, which one chord it is, and because of the way we mixed the loop in, it is almost impossible to separate from dave's guitar. i'll never forget when the tuner finished (we had to wait to start recording until he finished) and he stood up from the bench and went "there you go, the piano's perfectly out of tune." before every show we play dave and josh have to go find a quiet place and listen to the loops in headphones to make sure their guitars are in the right slightly out of tune tuning.

so anyway, i always find the tuning discussions kind of amusing. not because i think you guys are wasting your time, but because i'm impressed you find a way to get so close. we've talked about this piano business in lots of magazine interviews so i don't feel bad about giving away a secret. i'm surprised no one has posted any of our quotes about the issue. and besides, without the minidiscs, which are in a case next to me underneath my sleeping cat, no one will ever know the loops we tune too. but it sounds like some of you are natural golden tunas with gifted ears and you've figured out some method to the weirdness.

in addition to my last post...i have no idea how the tuning for planet claire happened because that was while dave was in france and i was back here in DC with the minidiscs of the loops in my house. maybe he did it from the album and the station's piano was out of tune, maybe he just tuned to that piano, i don't know. i never thought about it before just now. but if you're tuning from those sessions, it won't be exact to the record.

Q: I know this is probably never going to happen but I wish you could upload some of those piano loops. I am not the best at tuning by ear but I would just like to hear them. I don't know of any other band that uses piano loops to tune their guitars. I thought you guys knew more about music theory, but I guess I am just used to thinking notes and chords when I'm playing music. But have you guys ever used standard tuning (eadgbe) with guitars in your songs? But I am not suggesting there's anything wrong with using microtonal tunings.

A: yeah, uploading them probably won't happen. i wouldn't know how to upload something even if i wanted to. not very computer literate.

i don't remember dave or noah writing a song in standard tuning since high schoolm which was almost 10 years ago. certainly no AC songs are in standard tuning. [e: Unsolved Mysteries would later be declared the first AC song to be played in standard guitar tuning]

just to be clear... we didn't do the microtonal out of tune thing on purpose to be intentionally difficult or challenging or avant garde or anything. we made the loops and sometime later we were like, "when was the last time she had her piano tuned? because these may slightly out of tune" and the answer turned out to be quite a long time at which point we were like "ummmmmm, ok, i guess we we're in it for the long haul. we'll tune to these loops for live shows and figure out the studio shit when we're there." turned out to be a happy accident if you ask me because i bet no other record in hostory is in the exact same tuning as feels.

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Avey on how he visualizes Banshee Beat and working title "Ghost Chaser"
Spoiler: show
Like banshee beat i always pictured taking place in a terrarium with a woods built inside it. It used to be called ghost chaser cause its like someone is chasing a ghost through the woods and very clouded and ghostly. Most of the production and the way we want a song to sound is done before we go to the studio though. Some songs however like bees are made in the studio cause the overall effect is harder to achieve live.

davey

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Geo on Animal Crack Box, Fusetron Sound, and Catsup Plate
Spoiler: show
Q: Any chance of a non-vinyl version? Hopefully? Maybe? Positively? No?

A: if you don't have a record player and this is the impetus for you getting one, then i am stoked.

i'll be a little more helpful...www.fusetronsound.com they will have exclusive distro rights for the box set.

the label that is releasing it is http://www.catsupplate.com

both catsup plate and fusetron are killer operations, so visit them regularly just to see what they're up to. they're both close friends of ours and pretty much work with us on every AC release and tour. we have no idea what they are planning as far as how many will be available for direct mailorder vs how many they will sell to stores. we will discuss it with them as the time comes closer and try our best to give fans a first crack.

Q: should i stop expecting this until after april? i check the fusetron website about four times a week even with a mailing list subscription.

A: we can't say for sure. i don't think we ever gave a release date in this thread, though i haven't gone back and read everything very closely. we may have been misleading when we said all that was left was the mastering process...that was just all that was left for the music. but it's a catsup plate release, and cplate's mo is to handmake the packaging for their releases, or have them handscreened. but for the majority of their releases, some part of it has to be touched directly by human hands. for danse manatee and campfire songs, rob actually assembled the cardboard boxes individually. we're done with the mastering and sequencing for the live box, but now it's time to move on to the manufacturing and the packaging. how long it will take for release depends on a lot of things that will happen during that process. so we can't say before, during, or after april. if you want to stop checking websites every day, you'll be safe for a little while. if you check this site every day you'll find out early anyway.

Q: Yo. Any updates on the box set. I know you said you would let us know, but I'm just really psyched for this release, and any new news you guys have would be hella appreciated. Thanks again dudes.
-bob-

A: it's all up to catsup plate right now, and he's quite a busy dude these days. i almost just said "he's got a lot more on his plate right now than catsup." that would have been unforgiveable. no progress on it from the manufacturing side, but the music is still done and it's not going anywhere. we'll post here as soon as we know something more.

Q: I have a question, about how long is each side? like 15 mins or 20?

A: each side is different based on what is on there, but they're pretty much normal lengths. the sides are split up based on era and content, not length.

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Geo on Halloween
Spoiler: show
Q: [HALLOWEEN - do you guys celebrate?] if so, what do you guys do? and/or what are you doing this year?

A: yeah, just carved my pumpkin and put it on the stoop tonight. we've been on tour overseas during halloween for the last 3 years, and this will be #4, which is a bummer. europeans and australians don't seem to celebrate halloween like americans do.

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Geo and Avey on balancing "fame" and friendships
Spoiler: show
Q: i guess with all of the anticipation of strawberry jam i really noticed how many fans you guys have. its not so much the amount of fans as it is the quickness of it all that kind of baffles me. i was curious if it has affected you, especially in the sense of your personal life. for instance, for the guys who still live in nyc, has your growing fanbase affected your decisions in, say, going out to bars or events? do you find that you have fans approach you a lot, and does it affect your ability to just hang out and have a good time? it's one thing to be on stage because thats part of being in a band... but i think id feel weird if i knew just a few people were, say, watching me drink a beer... haha but i'm also not in a band, so it's really hard to relate. [...]

anyway, the other thing i was wondering a lot was, i think i remember that you guys all moved to nyc together or around the same time, but you knew eachother from maryland in the first place. that kind of transition sounds nice because at least you have some friends in a big, new city. i'm sure over time you met new friends as well, of course. but, with the continuous growth of the band, have you found it hard to make new friends? is something like that even noticable or do you just usually hang out with people you've been friends with for a while? and the current preparation for the release of your new album along with some extensive touring and promotion, i know that often entails a lot of business kind of meet-and-greet stuff and interviews... does all of that just kind of make you crave solo time when you get the chance?

Geo: we get recognized sometimes, at bars or restaurants or the street, but i bet we're not as recognizable as people think we are. not everyone who knows about animal collective looks at pictures of us or has seen us close up when we play live. there are a lot of bands i like who i wouldn't recognize if i came across them on the street. it's not a big deal to me. there can be that uncomfortable element to interactions where we don't know someone and don't have much to say other than thanks but they know you, or think they know you pretty well. but i don't mind people coming up to say hello. pretty much everyone who does it is really nice and down to earth. it's not like the beatles or the new kids or anything. it can make you feel bad though when someone really wants to talk but you don't have much to say, or you're in a bad mood and then you feel guilty that you disappointed them or something, but what are you gonna do?

sorry nyc is bumming you out a bit. i felt the same way when i first moved there. we didn't all go there at once. dave and i were there first for 3 years before the other dudes. we didn't really have many friends for a while except each other and it kept us going. but eventually we made a lot of friends. i don't think being in ac intereferes with me making new friends in any other way than we're out of town a lot so i don't get to hang out very often with people, even the ones i want to. but to be honest, at this point in my life i have plenty of close friends and i'm not trying too hard to make anymore. if it happens naturally that's cool, but usually i find its people that don't really know or care who ac is. if you're implying that some people might only be interested in being our friend because we're in animal collective...that situation has happened to me a few times, but it's pretty easy to recognize when that's what is going on. usually its a hint that the person is not worth time and energy, but sometimes it turns out you have a lot in common and get along really well and you're stoked you met, regardless of the reason.

Avey [e: Posting under Panda's acct]: wow thats alot my response might not pull it all together but ill try.

I think you have to give cities more than a year or even two or three years maybe to get adjusted or into them. If i would have given up on new york that early it wouldnt have worked out and now i think about all i would have missed out on had i not waited the three or four years it took to meet alot of people. I personally dont think college is a good way to be integrated into a city environment but perhaps thats just me and thats the way i was introduced to the city...oh well. Luckily i had Brian and i had a really intense love relationship going on at the time but other then that i was pretty isolated.

Like brian said and i think it might be the same for all of us we arent really the most outward people. Id say josh is probably the most "people" person but i know even he would disagree. We might act all crazy on stage or whatever but thats not how we are when we are just hanging out...well sometimes....at least around each other. But thats purely a reaction to the music. Its somthing we love and somthing we have alot of fun sharing and and experiencing for ourselves and with you so we get crazy or whatever. But in terms of conversations with strangers....hehehe im terrible. Ive met some sweet friends along the way but i think its just something thats kind of been given to me like a gift. Its not something im searching for all the time and its also something i dont think im very good at.

I dont know if theres anything different about nyc shows actually. I mean when you are at your own show, ofcourse there are going to be people excited to see you or meet you. I think its the same everywhere. Is it weird? yeah kind of but at the same time i personally cant let somthing like that prevent me from acting like a normal person hanging out at a bar or show so its somthing im still going to try and do despite who i might be to people. It makes me happy scared and interested all at the same time i guess and i do like to try and talk to people. I made an effort on this last tour to do so cause i felt like sometimes playing in bigger venues its been hard. .

As brian said, i dont really get recognized too often out at cafes or the video store or anything..somtimes but not too often to have it be annoying. I do stay home a lot but thats more of a personal choice and not a reaction to whats happening around me. I used to go out to see djs and shows all the time, but now i prefer videos at home. I guess when you play at clubs alot you appreciate home more. Ofcourse if something is going on that i really want to see im going for it but i dont really get too worried about being recognized or anything like that. That would be sad i think.

what does weird me out the most about fans are those that assume certain things about how we do things or who i or we might be and its not accurate. I read things on here or other places and im just all....what are you talking about. I dont get made about it but i just wonder where it comes from. Its even weirder when i see people bickering about something thats not correct. Anyway i guess what youre saying about connecting to things is true. When you get attached to something its hard not to feel like you know a lot about it. Im sure ive been there and yet ive never ever had the courage to speak to any of my idols. I actually respect you all who have just come up to us and wanted to talk. Ive never been bothered by it and i dont think theres anything weird about it.

guess thats all from me...

d [...]

hehehe it is dave. Im in lisbon using noahs computer.

d

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Avey on "Bad" shows
Spoiler: show
Q: Hi!
Me and my friend just had a gig, and we were dissatisfied with our own performance. Lack of good monitoring made it hard to get the right feelings and we kind of met the wall after the show. On the other hand the audience listened to another soundpicture then what we had upon the stage, and may have felt otherwise. Nontheless we felt bad about it, and we wonder if you sometimes feel like the same, and if you got a few advice how to get along and pic up our music again without feeling those feelings this concert brought along for us.

Thanks!

A: well it may never end my friend. Bad shows come and go and keep coming. The trick is letting them go i guess. We still have shows where the monitors suck and so the show ends up being a bummer for us. There are a million reasons as to why a show can end up bad and you can never really prepare for them all. The worst is when one person has a great show and someone else thinks it was really bad. Or how about where the whole band thinks it was amazing and then the sound guys says "man that sounded really terrible". Talk about a buzz kill. I say forget about it as soon as you can and move on. Its never worth feeling bad about it.

dave

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Dave plugging Kria and Eric Copeland show
Spoiler: show
Q: Hey New Yorkers!

Kristín posted this announcement (see below) over at the múm-forum...
however she forgot to mention where that $10 door that opens at 8pm is situated.
anyone from N.Y.C who knows where the show is?
or is there a place called spinning records?
wrote:
A show announcement!

1.May

Door opens 8pm. spinning records: Michael Klausman of Other Music

first act:
Kría Brekkan - píanó and voice

second on:
Serena Tideman-cello

last to go:
Eric Copland (Black Dice) - personalsoundcompositions

Entrance fee is 10$ with one drink complimentary

hope to see you !

K

A: 107 suffolk street....right btw delancey and rivington..its some sort of theater/arts space...its a big building on the west side of the street...cant miss it

Kristins songs are loose and beautiful.... and not backwards...

Serena plays freeform cello music...

Eric has a record called hermaphrodite that we are putting out on paw tracks sometime this year...brutal weird playful and awesome...

check it out...

d

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Geo and Deakin on listening to their own music
Spoiler: show
Geo: I don't really listen to our records except every once in a while when i revisit them. i went through a period with danse manatee where i revisited it and it became my favorite thing, but in general, none are my favorite. i'm very proud of danse manatee and it is definitely very special because it represents a huge watershed moment for us in terms of finding a new and uniques style of playing with each other. but i also recently revisited indian , and just last week, listened to feels and was really into it. it's just hard when you hear something a million times and labor over it so intensely. actually, my favorite is always the newest thing. so right now, i never even think about our past records. the stuff i'm most excited about and what i think will be my favorite record is the new stuff that we have yet to record.

Deakin: I love every record we are responsible for whether I was part of it or not. THey are all so different to me so they are all good for different seasons or times or lights. How can you compare Campfire Songs to Here COmes the Indian? FOr me listening to Danse Manatee the first time was amazing. ANd I had the honor of seeing so many of those songs so many times. That whole era holds a very special place in my being. Essplode. Lablakely Dress. Pride and Fight. Forest Gospel. oohhh. those songs ripped me up. still do. BUt then Heylight... I mean everytime we would play that and it would take offf the way it could take off. I hear that everytime I listen to it again (which is rare).
I don't know what I am saying here, but.... It's all good to me. becuase it all serves different purposes.

Link
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Post Posted:

Geo on Spinning on Air Performance
Spoiler: show
Q: i love this track, in the spinning on air interview you said that you guys made this around the time of danse manatee, how come it didn't come out on the album? also you said that it came from stuff that panda had on his computer, so was this song mostly his and then all of you got together to work on it?

A: don't even remember it. i'm not even sure i was there that night. it might be dave josh and noah jamming. its a just a jam. its not a studio or multi-track recording. i think you're literally hearing noah's computer and people live in the room and its recorded to minidisc, but like i said, we did so many of those kinds of things back then, i don't remember half of them. and for the spinning on air thing we just went through old discs of jams and improvs and found that.

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Band weighs in on what would become the "Person Pitch"/"Person Party" live DVD
Spoiler: show
Schlacking wrote:
Hey man,

This is sort of an involved question so please forgive me and lets see where this goes.

Firstly, my names Mike. I'd like to congratulate you on your most recent album - its righteous. My question involves your east coast tour a little ways off into the future. I wanted to ask about it now because I know the Collective has a tour coming up and I'm sure things will be busy between now and then with the album release and all. This year is the year of my girlfriend and I's graduation and we're planning on celebrating it by taking a road trip to follow your stops along the east coast. Here is the question! It didn't take too long to get to, right? For a hobby I like to film the concerts I go to (eattapes.com for my website). To date I have 240 videos of live performances and I've been doing this since late 2005. I shot a video of Animal Collective's most recent performance in Philadelphia and, not to sound at all egotistical, it seems to have been highly appreciated by the fans here and there on the internet. I was wondering if I would be able to officially get approval to film the performances along the way. I take pride in the quality of my videos and hopefully some of the fans around here can vouch for them. After the tour I will give you lossless copies of the tapes (or video files) and you would be able to do whatever you want with them. I am absolutly not looking for any type of payment in exchange for this. I just want to do this for the fans and, quite frankly, because I think it'd be such a good time for my girlfriend and I.

Mull it over, take your time on this. Theres no way I'd be disappointed if you said no for whatever reason. We're still going to all the shows and we're still going to have a good time.

And if anyone wants to, um, vouch for the quality of my videos that would be quite helpful.

Thanks so much for the consideration, Noah.

Take care and good luck on both tours.
--mike

Veyesor wrote:
while you should wait for noah to respond to this, i should point out that one of the shows is at bowery ballroom and they have a fee that they make you pay to video there. i think it's around $200-$300. the artist performing has no say in waiving that fee. we once had a friend come with us to take footage at a bowery show (the dude who shot the footage used in the grass video) and they refused to waive the fee. i guess their argument is that you are using their space to make a video, which is basically the same as renting a location to shoot a video. they don't care if you say it's not gonna be a commercial video or used for anything other than bootleg footage. our friend wasn't even actually shooting video - he had a super 8 camera that he used to take stills because he shot it one frame at a time, but they said because he was using a video camera they couldn't trust him and still would make him or us pay. we thought it was ridiculous and didn't pay on principle. i really enjoy playing bowery and for everything else they're really nice and cool and treat bands with a lot of respect and flexibility, but this is the one thing that always makes me scratch my head and think "come on, why are you being lame?" especially because we have an open taping policy at our shows for both video and audio, so it sucks to be powerless in this instance. i know people have filmed us at bowery because i've seen my birthday on youtube, and i know that happened at bowery, but i imagine they've had to sneak in small cameras and be careful not to get caught. so whatever noah says, i just thought i'd prepare you for this. it would suck to show up with a camera and say you have noah's permission, but then get turned away because you don't have the cash to pay the video fee.

Wheeter wrote:
i could be wrong but i think there is only one bowery show now....

hope this doesnt disapoint...

d

Panda wrote:
hey mike and everyone
id be totally down if you wanted to film the three shows. brian brings up a good point about bowery though. i also should say that im planning to do more or less the same set every night so that might make you less psyched to film each one i dont know. and also i think my friend and acs friend danny perez will be doing visuals for the jams so id say thats something to keep in mind as well or at least it might be good to know beforehand. but youre more than welcome to film the jams if youd like.
hope you all are good
PEACE
noah

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Josh on his guitar style
Spoiler: show
Q: Hey, i was just curious as to what/who inspired you when learning to play the guitar. How did you start off and sparked your interest?
Also, do you feel you have a certain style of guitar that you play, what would you call that? Thanks.

A: well,
when i first started it was just wanting to emulate the music i was into at the time. basically i was listening to a lot of led zeppelin and nirvana and things like that ( i was fully that 13 year old kid in the music store trying out guitars playing stairway and smells like teen spirit) a lot of the "alternative" rock of the early 90's and classic 70's stuff. i pretty much just listened to what i heard on the radio and what my dad had in his collection. but i guess to me i really got psyched about playing when i stopped taking lessons and stopped trying to play zeppelin riffs and detuned my guitar and started playing more with friends (like noah) and just trying to make up stuff that sounded cool or pretty to me. meeting people like dave and brian opened me up to a lot of ways of approaching music that i hadn't really considered before. and the truth is that i don't really consider myself a very good guitar player. dave always says otherwise, but i don't really have any idea "how" to play guitar and wouldn't last 5 minutes in another band becuase the second anyone was like, "ok... start off in D and then the change come 4 bars in...." i would just be lost. i remember being pretty young when i read an interview with jad fair. i had never even heard his jams but he was basically describing his approach to guitar playing and it was all about how there are no rules except the one you give yourself. it is your guitar and you can do whatever you want with it. there is no right way... no correct tuning... nothing.... its yours.... that sort of had a big impact on me. hmmmm.... does that answer your question?

j

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Josh on band/board absence, glasslands, and solo project
Spoiler: show
Q:[...] you haven't been on the past tour and appear (although this is a pure assumption based on the fact that you haven't been playing) to not be a part of the coming album. i respect your reasons for this and right to keep them private, so i'm not going to get into that, but what i'd really like to know is how it's been being away from it. more importantly, because you haven't been up there on the stage or playing the new songs, does it feel like a different experience listening to the rest of the guys making music? [...]

A: I actually don't have too much to say on this question. ummm... it's cool to hear new jams. always has been. yeah... sorry... i know i usually get into answers. i wanted to write back because i appreciate the curiosity, but it just sort of is what it is. maybe it is all too much my own experience and for that reason maybe too personal to really get into here.

sorry for the lackness.

j

Q: Josh, on the old forum, when Dave was asked about the grasslands show, said that the first part was an ambient composition you wrote and performed. Are we to be expecting a Deakin solo album in the future? I'm more than certain that we would love it if you did.

thank you if you read and respond to this.

A: that first part was absolutely all three of us. i'm not sure where you heard or saw that it was my composition. i think people were confused becuase dave was on the ground during that part so no one could see him.

i have been working on some of my own stuff recently though. really honestly not sure if it will ever see the light of day, but it may... kind of still just exploring possibilities more than thinking about shows or records.

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Josh (short) won't discuss other band members' lyrics
Spoiler: show
Q: Water Curses? I have one question I have been dying to know. [...] I know sometimes you guys like to leave a little mystery to your lyrics, which is cool, but could you either just tell me or if you don't know ask Dave for me since you are close to him? [...]

A: sorry man. i'm sure that is frustrating. i'm not really into to talking about lyrics i didn't write.

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Josh on playing music for fun vs. playing for work
Spoiler: show
Q: [...] Since you guys dedicate a massive amount of time into AC: playing shows, recording, and whatnot, do you ever find yourselves so spent that you don't feeling like playing music for fun? I understand you'll obviously need to jam together at some point in time to write your new material and arrange stuff, but I'm talking about sitting down on the sofa and goofin around with guitars and stuff because I know that I could probably spend half of my day just strumming a guitar or playing drums, but if my job was all about doing that sort of stuff I think I would lose the drive to do it recreationally.

Also, if applicable, how often do you play music when you have free time?

Anyways, I hope you get this man, hit me back,
just to chat, truly yours, your biggest fan,
this is Stan.

A: hey dillon,

easy on the suicidal letter references. cute on the one hand. totally freaky on the other.

do what thou wilt. love is all. go for it. whatever gets you through the night. if you feel it, do it. life is what happens when you are making other plans. no guarantees.

yeah, i don't know man. i think that point at which music becomes "work" is challenging. it has the ability to take away some of the joy. but at the same time... it can become a joy that that is your work. and in a lot of ways i think it is less a choice as it is a thing that happens to you. the relationship you have with it should change somewhat naturally and in response to the things happening around you. if you love making jams and can't stop. don't. if you start playing out and making records and it becomes a thing that you do and you love it. do it. if at some point you feel a little burnt by it and need to take a break or try something else. go for it. for a while recently i wasn't playing at all. no picking up a guitar. nothing. then i slowly just started doing things again because it was what i wanted to do. it felt good. i don't think that much about whether it is for "work" or my own pleasure. most of the time it is both. i wouldn't worry about what might happen if you get to that point. if you do get to that point you will deal with that issue then. i play a little bit almost every day though. and i don't worry whether that will be the case in a month or a year. for now i like it, so i keep going.

not sure how much that really answers your question. hope it does some.

keep jamming.

josh

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Josh on album leeaaks
Spoiler: show
Q: Drip drip drip....

How do you guys feel about them?
I mean... its obviously not what you intended to happen but about how much does it really affect your sales and or feeling of a proper release?

A: i'm not sure what was already said, but i'll give you my thoughts.

basically....
1. it totally takes away from the artist and the industry as a whole. most records are selling way less than is expected. in some cases to an alarming degree. when i say it takes away from the industry... i bring that up not because i'm plugging for the man, but because as record labels see decreasing record sales (and they do... the impact is already huge.) they are going to have less money. and when they have less money they are less willing and able to support new bands. so don't kid yourself... when you share music on the scale that it is being shared for free... you are directly hurting the musicians, the labels that support the musicians and the record stores that sell music. basically everything is being turned on its head and that is why... tower records closed for good. that is why virgin megastores are most likely gonna close in the next year and that is why a lot of really great independent shops all over the world are getting really worried. that is why bands like radio head tried what they tried. pretty much everyone is trying to figure out how to stay afloat at a time when it is increasingly difficult to make legitimate sales.

2. there is one good side to the music sharing that at least i and the dudes in my band agree on. that is that it reaches a more far spread audience. i wonder whether we would have fans in as many places around the world if it wasn't for music sharing. so there are benefits to internet sharing. i would still prefer that they happen after a release and not as a freebird before hand.

3. i don't really believe there is any way to stop it. we have said things about how much of a drag freebirds are and how much of a drag illegal downloading is and inevitably people write in about how they "buy" the records even after they get the freebird becuase they want to support the band. and i don't doubt that that is true in some cases and we like anyband with similarly minded fans appreciate that but basically the only reasonable line of defense any one has to get people to actually buy records is to ask really nicely and say please. and i don't for a second think that is going to really change anything on a grand scale. the reality is that i think the music industry is going to change a lot pretty soon. i'm not sure how. i imagine that bands will have to rely a lot more on playing live then they do on selling records. that may sound like a really easy answer, but it isn't for a lot of bands. and i think it will make it very very tough for a lot of people. but it's hard to say that there won't be really amazing things that come out of that too. i really don't know.

but if you want my thoughts on how i feel about freebirds. i really don't like them. i make a record that i am really proud of and i try and get it to the world in a way that i feel good about, and then 8 weeks before a certain date some shitty sounding mp3 of 3 out of 9 songs get posted somewhere and people are listening to a poor quality partial version of something i worked really hard to make a certain way. that and that yes, in the end, for now, under the current system, it takes away money that i know, for better or for worse, count on to earn a living.

more or less those are my thoughts. they change sometimes in small ways here and there. and there are many angles to it. hope that gives you a better sense of what the deal is. thanks for asking.

link
Haley Fohr (Circuit De Yeux) on music she and AC shared with each other, preferred beer in the green room
Spoiler: show
Q: Do you remember what any of the guys recommended to you? And also what you may have recommended them? I'm a music fiend :D

A: Yeah totally ! Dave & I basically nerded out about all BeeGees albums-- they are all great , and WAR's "This World Is a Ghetto"! Brian hipped me to a Roy Harper album called "Storm Cock" as well & Noah and I talked about how we both enjoy an ice cold Sapporo in the green room from time to time.
Haley Fohr on touring with Animal Collective, playing chess with Avey
Spoiler: show
Q:Animal Collective are my favorite band ever and I saw you open for them in Ohio not too long ago. Can you tell me any anecdotes or anything fun you guys did?

A: That tour was SO much fun ! Being on a bus was a new experience for me and it really made traveling much easier. We mostly traded musical recommendations, told jokes, and stayed up late! My favorite memory was on our day off we all went out for delicious Thai food, went to see Alien Covenant (a pretty B grade silly movie), and then Dave & I played chess in the hotel lobby, and as we were fixated on the game, all of these young couples in shiny huge dresses started pouring in, like hundreds of people in sequined outfits and we found out that they were having a prom in the hotel center ! So funny, and also just a beautiful sight.
Sonic Boom on Evie Sands and other influences of his
Spoiler: show
Q: Hey Sonniiiiiiiiiic!!!!!! I really, really, really like that track "how you satisfy me" Noah played on NPR...... it has a familiar melody, was evie sands i cant let go an influence?

heres the track -
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RyPjtme6y98

A: influence ?
yes , ofcourse . I had it away from the middle 8 & turned it inside out .
evie sands / chip taylor (who wrote , Wild thing , I cant let go & Any way that u want me )& Evie Sands )(who sung all the originals ) .
Hail Evie .
thers an lp of various stuff that 'made me' called Space lines . its a 2 lp comp of my soul keys & influences . its due re-issue soon w/ a volume 2 . It goes from '30's thru to the 90's . i think the sleevenotes are on my webpage pk x

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Avey on writing "hit" songs, expectations for their own music
Spoiler: show
I wouldnt say i ever view a song as a hit when we are writing or recording. Its more about feeling as tho we accomplished a certain goal and that it sounds good. Maybe the other dudes feel differently. I guess there are songs we will play or write etc and we will say "oh thats going to be the one people really like.." After we recorded sung tongs Rusty predicted that people would respond really well to it but i also thought that people wouldnt like it cause for us we had gotten a decent response about hcti and it was so different. Im into our fans..you guys..cause it seems like you come from perspectives that are all across the board...you know some people like some stuff, some other etc. and i think we are encouraged by that openess or outlook to try out different things. I think even within our group we have such different perspectives on certain songs that one of us might think its a hitter and one of us might think its really weird. We may all reach a point where we agree once its recorded but sometimes it takes awhile. Generally (now a days) im not that surprised by peoples reactions to songs but in all honesty i try not to pay attention or read about it.
Ive heard there are actually rules and studied methods to writing "hits" or pop songs. Like you cant go out of the bounds of certain intervals and route notes etc. I think its all based on what people respond to. I dont really like to think about that kind of stuff tho. I usually just feel psyched about all the songs that go on a record. For instance with spirit. To me, they were all just songs i cared about and felt were cool to listen to. It never dawned on me that people would be annoyed by the high frequencies or find anything about it difficult and i certainly never thought it would end up on the radio or anything. I think we felt similarly about danse manatee and i guess most people think its our worst record...im not sure exactly. But i guess in some ways you have to have confidence in all of your own stuff, i mean if you are putting it out there you know?

I think since the days of noah and i performing sung tongs ive been able to feel out what people are really into from the live shows. Even if it was just mostly our friends i got a response from. It was clear people would be into winters love and not into visiting friends. The funny thing about that is that visiting friends was/is one of our favorite songs to play and recorded on that record. I guess we just get into the sonics of it where as most people tend to find it boring. I think its a similar thing with daffy duck. Cause on the other hand as soon as we started playing that feels stuff live people would always respond well to banshee beat and purple bottle.

we all just like doing different types of songs. I cant imagine creating a set where every song was this three minute up beat tune but who knows maybe it will happen. Id actually really like to do a darker record too. Not feeling wise persay but one that wasnt based on alot of prescise rhythms or forms. I guess i mean our "chill out" record hehe.

As far as disapointments or not being proud of certain things. Most of that stuff you havent heard. im personally not into talking about what weve put out there that im not that satisfied with cause i guess i never really want to hear that kind of thing from musicians or bands i like.

D

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Avey on what makes a jam jell, songwriting approaches
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i think the best work happens when everyone gets to add to the melodies. With the stuff we are working on now thats sort of how its happening where even brian is adding melodic elements. I didnt want to add that much on strawberry jam as far as overdubs go so basically my melodies and what i add are what i sing and play on the guitar or with some sort of sound. Somtimes i just write it in my head (peacebone), somtimes i write the vocal melody while playing a guitar (fireworks), or in the case of reverend or cukoo while listening to a sound or a loop.
There are some overdubs that happen cause somtimes while we are playing the song live there will be a melody or somthing noone is playing and i hear in my head and i think...that should be there....for example the steal drum thing on peacebone or the high pitch singing in cuckoo which i asked noah to sing cause i thought it would sound cool with his voice or the pianos in fireworks. Alot of times its a group effort to figure out what sound works best though. There are lots of cases where the other dudes do this too.
We did alot more melodic overdubds on feels (josh and me with guitars and noah and me with the vocals) and alot of that was written in the studio (espeically the vocal stuff) as was alot of the harmony stuff on sung tongs. Sung tongs was different i think cause we just got together with either really simple melodies or just lyrics and went from there and filled in the space with melody and not much else.
I usually write melodies before the lyrics but alot of times the lyrics come really fast cause i find that certain words and phrases work really well with a melody. Other times ill just sing what seems really natural to me but then come up with an overall theme of somthing i want to write about so ill change the lyrics later.

d

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Avey on favorite seasons
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you might say that a season is only as good as the place on earth where it happens. For example i loved winter growing up in maryland, but i really dont like winter in nyc at all. Its too long, its depressing. I actually think winter is best where there are forests.

For that its too hard to say what my favorite season is. I have alot of great memories of past autumns but again, autumn in nyc is so short that cant really call it a season. New York does a pretty good job at killing all the seasons in fact. I like the smell of autumn tho.

adve

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Josh on scuba diving, nature experiences
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whew... yeah, brian and i just got let out... i mean... we're back. we got to spend a week with sharks and dolphins and mantas and whole bunch of ocean creatures. it was a really amazing experience. aside from the diving, it was an incredible experience to be hundreds of miles out in the middle of the pacific ocean. more stars than i have ever seen in my life (even more than in new zealand the previous holder of the coveted "most stars ever seen by joshmin award"). the air was clean in an incredibly special way (isn't that sad). and (a little treat for you imagination) brian and i were 2 of the 3 people (out of 23) who were willing enough (and arguably stupid enough) to go snorkeling at night with silky sharks. they aren't Jaws, but they are big enough to be able to rip off a hand.

josh

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Josh on getting sick of acting
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what an unexpected post.
i am trying to think how i can answer this without too much detail....
and without being negative.
i had been involved with theater since i was a child. I think inititally it was fun because it was easy for me. I liked pretending to be other people and other things. but there was always a side of it that always felt very restrictve to me. Restrictive and too well... dramatic. but i kept at it while inschool because i could and and in most cases it was fun. i liked the adrenaline. when i left school in 2000 to move to nyc with noah and start playing more music, i had a family friend convce me to get involved with this theater company. They are all good people and we had good times, but the truth is that my first experience with theater in the real world was the one that killed it for me. I was tired of working within restrictions. Restrictions of the script and the director and the costume desiigner and the set designer. For me it felt like a very limited experience. The acting felt like a bit of a put on too. for me it just stopped being real. or maybe started being too real. Whereas what i had with the bros was very real and it was mine and i could do whatever the hell i wanted with it. so i left the theater and i haven't looked back. and, in fact, i would say that most of the things that i learned and experienced in that world are things that i stay away from now and thusly with the A.C. the a.c. is personal to me. It isn't really about putting on a show for me. it's my story not someone else's.
and i didn't get that much into the sounddesign for it to be very notable. in fact... i don't really remember what i did.
none of this is meant to be discouraging towards that world or people that love it. It just started feeeling very sick to me.

geez it still looks negative. oh well... did i even really answer your question?

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Avey on moving away from synths
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i hear what youre saying. Generally i dont like synths that much anymore in our music, i really tired of the sound somehow after dance manatee. They are used here and there actually and if you do it right i think they can be ok but i just feel as though its hard to work dynamically with a synth and for me they are often very cold and flat sounding. i have been revisiting them in some spare time though so you never know.

davery
Avey (joking) on Geologists' Jesus Conspiracy Theory
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on the side.... A sirian i just met told me Jesus actually was never crucified and lived on and traveled to india and other places or perhaps actually he was in a few places at once cause he could do that sort of thing. I had no idea. I guess thats why he now plays electronics in AC and calls himself geologist. Hes a good guy.

daevery

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Avey on tunings and how to play Unsolved Mysteries
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Wheeter wrote:
i make up the tunnings that i use to write songs by ear. When i get bored of one then i find a new one. Usually each record that we make uses a couple different ones. I record them on mini disc or on tape so i know what they are. I dont know what keys any of them are in so i cant help you as far as that goes. Most of them are open tunnings cause i like the way strings resonate in that way and you sort of start to hear more than is there...if that makes sense. I dont really know anything about notes on the guitar and where any of them are so i guess i really just think about the songs as textures that happen and how the tunnings i use can be used in that way...if i wanted to know the notes i could figure it out i jut never do. Now you may ask, well dont you use tuners??? no we dont, Since writing the songs for feels weve often tuned to minidiscs sounds which may or may not be in perfect pitch which is why we cant use tuners. If any of you have been to one of our shows where we sound drastically out of tune and all wrong thats why..somtimes things just fall apart and theres no way to get back to being in tune...but that can be cool too..

daveee

Wheeter wrote:
Im sort of uncertain as to what hidden melody you are talking about in unsolved mysteries. Do you mean my guitar part..the really pitched up chord progression?
Start on G for the first chord (oh look) then move your hands up in the same G position to the fifth fret for the second chord (that sweet boy) then move your hand in that position up to the seventh fret for the third chord but instead of baring the A string as you would for a G chord bar it on the seventh fret as well (his mother cried) then back down to the g position on the 5th fret (my child) and back to G for (his laces). This is the same progression for the "whats pain" part Does that make sense? Im definitely never going to be a guitar teacher. The "Where are the still unborn" chords are played in that 7th fret position but instead on the 12th fret ("where are the") and then moving to the 10th ("still unborn") but in half that time as the other parts (back and forth).

Thats basically what the song was like when i wrote it. Its the first song i ever wrote for AC in standard tuning. That basically how i hear the song everytime we play it so i cant really say if its hidden or not. Because the guitar part and the vocal melody go hand in hand for me once ive written it that way it usually doesnt change too drastically unless josh does somthing very dramatic to the chord change with his guitar part. There is also an organ part in the song which is more or less based on this guitar part but a little different...maybe thats what your talking about? In the live version its sort of offset so it changes before the guitar does at a certain point but i dont think it makes the melody that much different. I guess perspective is key here cause i dont hear the live version of UM as being very different from the recorded version at all.

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Sonic Boom's (in-depth) recording tips
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Sonic Boom wrote:
1) try to record parts that fit sonically together . let the bass be a good bass sound and keep to its own territory as succinctly as possible . Ditto the 3 or 4 other key elements that should constitute a strong song basis .

2) Once you have a mix you are happy with , try messing around with pre-mastering tools like multi band compression on the final mix . check out the existing pre-sets to see what you like about it (or not !)

3) try to mix the song without effects , then see where you have space for them . Reverb on one well chosen instrument can make the whole track sound effected .

4) try to use eq to scoop out any sub or bass frequencies that exist apparently harmlessly , but add up across multiple tracks to give a muddy & muffled effect .

5) Dont be afraid to put whole mixes thru reverbs , echo etc. but use an e.q. on the effect send to only send the upper part of the frequencies to the effect . reverb applied this way can sound great .

6)Its easy to make things that are well recorded into distorted & gooey piles of craziness -if u like - but its impossible to get a clean guitar (say) from a fuzzed one. If you gotta record your parts with effects , record the part in parallel before it gets effected so options / fixes are open later .

13) there are no rules that cannot be broken succesfully . Dont get hung up on rules . these are just pointers aimed at pop / rock styles . If you think you can re-write the book though , go for it . Rules are like Science . Not facts , but thoughts . that constantly change & volve .

best
pk

sonic boom wrote:
First Dog wrote:
These are all fantastic tips, although I would never put reverb on a whole mix at once.

any statement featuring 'i would never' is a mistake i've made before . to my error .
you'd be surprised...........as 'you'd never' do it , I must guess you you dont know how it sounds in reality.....
I spent years moving from studio to studio to find the guys who WOULD let me 'break the rules' , and usually the same guys who'd revel in it working out when it shouldnt .
The reggae guys were the best , usually .
' Spears ' - wherever u r - it's still apreciated man .....
pk x

sonic boom wrote:
jay wrote:
SoNiC bOoM just told you jack!!! hahaha that's so great.
that's crazy that you went so many places to find somewhere that would let you do what you want...you'd think a studio would just let you produce stuff how you want since it is your music and all.
all of spacemen 3's music is produced very well so i will take these tips into consideration, thanks a lot boom = ]

hey , i'm not downing on anyone . And to be fair our friend fell inan illegally set trap with 'i would never '.
I did'nt condemn anything I had'nt already fessed to having wiped off my own shows b4 .......and I was definately old enough to know better (i'm told)......so please excuse me .

Panda's vocal sound solo uses a scooped e.q. -on record - on TB - & live since the PBSBTB rehearsals / shows . It gives an organically usefull reverb 'instrument' . Noah's voice just sends it into swelling ripple .
It's remeniscent of the acoustic shapings , filterings & dampenings built into mediaeval european cathedrals & churches. centres of masonic geometry , logic , knowledge , understanding & finessing such as Chartres cathedral in france , incorporates multiple dimensions of spaces alligned sympathetically/mathematically to the keys of plain song , so as to harmonically enrich & extenuate the simple human voice - never heard with reverb to the common ear of the 14th century outside such rare acoustic creations and no doubt awe inspiring on that level alone ..
the architechts also included calculations at Chartres in the acoustic space dimensions inducing the 13th harmonic - sometimes reffered to as the 'devils harmonic' as it finds no place in conventional tonality in the west .
sometimes a little sonic disharmony in the right balance can 'rise above' (or sink below...) the conventionality of accepted harmonic logic . But thats another story.......
pk xx

sonic boom wrote:
I recently got another Q about production / synth tips for beginners .
hope some of this is useful. pk

spend time in your mind analysing & exploring mentally any in-depth synths or effects units you own . learn its limitations & excellences . push it & see what lies within . Use it in ways you would'nt expect to see the out-come .

Reverb isnt the only effect to be worthwhile/useful across wholew mixes / sections of whole mixes .

another tip for the budget concious :
there are myriad inexpensive synthesis & effect units available second hand that enable varying depths of exploration with inter-related parameters often not mentioned in their manuals . Cheap additive , FM & virtual Analogue synths give an almost limitless palate . always check what extra inputs a unit has , and think how they might be useful . (eg. lfo sync & arpegiator sync can often be done using signals other than the ones suggested . anything requiring a 'clock' input can usually be made to sit up & beg by a loud ride or snare .)
similarly , many units are pervertable to create sounds & effects not mentioned by the manufacturers .
things like external inputs on synths can be very useful for feedback loops & secondary processing by one unit .
An example : the korg ea1 2 module virtual synthesiser / sequencer module .
Due to its external input , It is possible to use this as a very versatile & interesting guitar or keyboard (or anythging amplified) effect unit- with program sequencable filter effect modulation , delays , chorus , Ring modulation & flanging all available . It is also , for example , possible to programme a synth like this with its internal effects etc , and then pass it out & back thru the second synthesiser / fx chain within the same unit for more complex and indepth programming .
A good way of learning any piece of equipment is to read & understand its full capability & then try to create sounds & pieces based on the very extents of what you hope to get out of it . tricks in synthesis , like abandoning the accepted synth voice architechture & ,say on an analogue synth , inserting resonant delays after the oscillators but before the filters .
try to try effects chains in varying orders . a fuzz into a wah-wah is massively differant to a wah-wah into a fuzz .
hope some of this helps
pk x

Sonic Boom on Benfica's spelling, deciding on whether to use a King Tubby sample, Sun Araw
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Q: whats up with people spelling it benifica or benefica by the way? seems to be a common error..

A: its Benfica , like the Portugese football heros .
I did'nt know it was a Tubby Sample until i saw it here . It cewrtainly was'nt obviously sampled , and i didnt know that lp . I been hanging with KT & LSP at the grass roots of dub for many a year . that would'nt change my mind .
Actually , I did keep some bits of the tubby sample in , but Noah nixed 'em . I thought it was a typically good call .
Also . it could be crippling $$ to clear .

but.....who knows what 2moro brings . ?? I did'nt hear no fat lady sing yet ??

oh yeah . If u guys r still tweaking for something to listen to . the Sun Araw record 'Beach Head ' is pretty amazingly beautiful . It hits some simi9lar moods to PB i think .
pk x

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Sonic Boom on various sounds throughout Tomboy
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so......skipping thru , I noticed these bits . If i missed summit , sorry . hit me up .
puking- yep , thats definately a sample . Of King Panda . haha . talking to god on the big b+white panda phone.
the 'gun shots' in Slow Motion are spring reverb splashes from 'the moisturizer' unit .I think i mentioned it b4 . its a really cool double spring unit , exposed , thru a multi-band filter with lfo modulation of multiple parameters . its an Uber spring synth deal.
I thought sumone might've lightbulbed at my 'breathing' comments re: Drone the sounds are actually from a moog multi resonant filter array - the MURF pedal chewing on some pink noise .......
have a good presidents day , whatever that entails
pk xx

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Sonic Boom encourages more considerate posting, kindness
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A: someone was hurt here previously way beyond my comprehension & all 'human' reason . they told me . BEWARE . never a word was highlighted with more knowledge ......
and never was a lesson learned so easily as one paid for by another...
I feel the general mood of u guys merits the harshes ( i guess thats Panda Speak) from the over-vocal minority.
dont ever mistake a no-responxe for a no -hurt felt .
or a no response from a didnt see.
look deeper , see further , sleep tighter .
u guy are here for one reason . PANDA = LOVE = HUMAN COMMUNICATION
right ?

Q: who was hurt? I feel so lost in the web right now. Should have been asleep hours ago... CA does that to me

A: u know what . . I was being cranky .
maybe its just me , but i think its kinda rude to call someone mgmtdude or mgmt matey or whatever , but then I'm only just getting used to the whole 'Boom' thing.....

i think yr probly right though. I'm sorry ......plus then it got all screwed up in glorious forum stylee.......
I'm just impressed i screw up the thread spread less.......haha .

p.s. Moop , what u guys got for CGWM /friendship bracelet so far ??

link
Sonic Boom on Friendship Bracelet's origin and belonging on the album
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well , here goes . next installment to clear up the ums & buts & maybe chill u 4 a few ......
....... there was a time not so long ago that PB was loosely thinking of nixing this song on TB .But , when he gave me the lyrics , he also said it was his favourite lyric on the lp....

I found a discarded friendship bracelet on the floor at the studio the first day we started working on this record .
crude & brightly coloured & appealling .
I tied it to the handle of the PB hard drive as an omen & good luck talisman .
It's still there ..... I can't imagine to remove it now .
I notice it every now & then.
I think it works........pk x
Sonic (& NYC Taper) on Governor Island boot, mastering
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wrote:
NYC Taper wrote:
Sorry to disappoint. There were no soundboard recordings made of the Governor's Island show. I had a VIP pass and authorization, but the soundboard engineer would not plug me in. So I ran four microphones from inside the cage. No one else was recording the show. In the long run, I'm kind of glad he didn't, since the sound quality inside the venue was so amazing and I had the perfect spot. Most of you have heard the results. A board feed would have sounded flat and lifeless, as they often do. So I guess you have your answer about the bonus download card.

Bummer.

nah......not really . nyctaper actually has captured it BETTER than a desk mix would .
he's right.
with nice kraut microphones too (thats important) .
I'm gonna do my panda best to master it up 4 u all with my buddy who attended , nick , and make it uber super duper .
fat & full .
very xmas pk x

It's probably not been properly mastered (it's expensive) .
just well recorded ..... I'm gonna master it up . It will not sound exactly like the 'version' u know .
Mastering kind of just takes the original and makes the frequencies make out with each other .
it can induce focus to individial sounds , but also overall cohesion......it's not easy to describe without being boringly technical (see wkipedia or sumwhere) .
But you'll like it .......or you can degrade it all u like if not .haha
hav a good one xx
NYC Taper wrote:
jonisaok wrote:
It seems silly to include a download card for a freely available live recording... I still have my fingers crossed that they made a legit recording of the show.

Love that. A "legit" recording. Some of you people are just complete idiots.

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Post Posted:

Avey on writing "hit" songs, expectations for their own music:

"I cant imagine creating a set where every song was this three minute up beat tune but who knows maybe it will happen."
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Panda Bear Bouys AMA

Most fun album to make
Spoiler: show
Q: You have been a part of more phenomenal projects than most artists could ever dream of. Which one do you think was the most fun to make, and which one are you most proud of?

A: thanks! had a really great time with this last one but each one has its own ups and downs/stories
Performing Doin' it Right live and prospect of performing at a wedding
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Q: Your song with Daft Punk, Doin It Right, was the introduction for a lot of fans to your solo work. Have you considered performing it live?

Would you (either solo or with the boys) perform at a wedding? Last Night At The Jetty & Winters Love come to mind as great songs to play for the occasion.

Thanks!

A: would love to do it love some day but kind of up to the robots.

would be honoured to perform at a wedding!
Band shenanigans
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Q: i’ve always wondered what shenanigans you, brian, josh, and dave get up to on tour. have any good anecdotes/stories that stick out to you?

A: too many to remember...part of what makes us good friends is being able to make each other laugh. kind of feel like we've developed our own shared brand of humour...misheard things...funny voices...its all pretty ridiculous
Tracklist regrets, NBA points/rules change
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Q: Hi Noah. First off I just wanna say I greatly appreciate all the music you've made over the years and I can't thank you enough for the positive impact it has had on my life.

It seems like you, and animal collective in general, often leave a lot of really strong songs off of albums (Jabberwocky, Faces in the Crowd, Laughter for a world filled with fantasy come to mind for me). Is it often difficult for you to decide what to exclude/include on an album? And are there any songs over the years you regret not including on a main album?

Also the NBA fan in me has to ask, do you like the direction the league has gone in recently with increased 3 point shooting and freedom of movement on offense? (Also, if you ever need to borrow a league pass login you can use mine)

A: I might sub out faces in the crowd for Principe real...on the other hand lyrically Principe real plays an important role on that one...

the 3 pt league is not totally my bag but there's so many interesting stories and characters in the league I can't complain.
Brosport lyric and meaning, PP vinyl vs CD/digital
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Q: 2 short questions,

Online on most lyric websites, they say that at the end of Brother Sport you and Dave sing, “You’re Halfway to fully grown” but that has never been something I’ve heard.

I’ve always heard, “Until Fully Grown”. Does the first version have any bearing in reality?

2. Why is the track order on the vinyl version of Person Pitch different from the CD? And which one is the proper version?

A: I think we say halfway to fully grown....think I was defining my brother as a middle aged dude...but also trying to highlight a human being in flux

cd is proper version...had to switch around orders to get sides to fit on vinyl kind of a bummer
Performing Young Prayer
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Q: do you see yourself ever performing any/all of Young Prayer ever again, in a similar vein to the recent Sung Tongs tour? The sounds speak to me so much and I could only imagine how incredible it would be live. Anyway thanks again!

A: thanks bud

I have trouble seeing myself doing young prayer again but I never thought id do sung tongs again so never say never I suppose! glad you dig it
Fave games (ever and recent)
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Q: Hey Noah! What’s your favorite video game?

A: ever? maybe pro evo....first red dead is up there...nba jam...breath of the wild more recently.
New Town Burnout, releasing stems, /r/AnimalCollective, Live album
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Q: Centipede Hz is my favourite album ever and New Town Burnout is one of the best tracks on it. What was the inspiration behind that track? Are there any interesting stories about how you made it?

I made a remix album of Person Pitch a while ago and I found that it was impossible to find any multitracks/stems of Animal Collective tracks. Would it be feasible to release stems of literally anything you've ever made?

A bit of a self-indulgent one - have you ever been to /r/AnimalCollective ?

The bootlegs from the most recent tour are incredible. Any chance of a live album?

A: new town is about domestic fatigue and the ups and downs of parenthood.

would be tough to sort out pp stems but tomboy and forwards would be pretty easy to track down...ill think about it...

I have

Danny and I have been talking about doing an audio visual thing based off a live recording...hoping to get that together some time
Carrots lyric and explanation
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Q: In your song Carrots you have a lyric "There's a reason that I work so hard at this stuff, When all I want to do is take it easy". Assuming you're talking about making music, I was wondering what that reason is?

A: I want to share the good feelings I get from making the stuff with other people...I want to take care of my family and friends and people I care about...I want to work hard and feel good about myself...I dont want to lose
His masterpiece, self-doubt, and Swae Lee
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Q:can youname one piece of your own work (be it an album, a song, anco/solo, whatever) that you personally consider 'THE masterpiece’ or that you are most content with? (but in an „objective” way)

lately i've been reading up stuff on deakin and his 'sleep cycle' ordeal (which turned out super awesome btw); the whole problem really boils down (at least from an outside perspective) to not recognizing the value of one's work and having problems coming to terms with own creativity; have you, at any point, struggled with your creative process and had doubts as to whether its effects were 'valuable'? if so, what would you name as your method to battle that sort of stuff?

this is probably banal, but I asked avey the same question in 2017: what have you been listening to?

A: I like all of them in different ways / for different reasons. im usually most pumped about the recent thing so buoys is my favourite right now.

I wonder if im good enough all the time! I like to think about how small and inconsequential I am and how big and vast the universe is...usually snaps me out of it. at the end of the day making the stuff has to be its own reward regardless of where it lands.

swae lee
Reinventing old songs live
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Q: hey Panda. i was wondering what your thought process was for revisiting songs and updating/reworking them, like The Preakness and Crosswords? do you have any other songs on your mind that you'd like to give a similar treatment to?

A: hey bud

usually its about finding something that seems to fit into the new stuff in some way. hmmm maybe a different version of friendship bracelet? always like that one
Tour gear
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Q: Hey Noah, Great set in Boston the other night. I was wondering if you could share your gear for this tour. It was hard to see from down below. Thanks!

A: two octatracks...studiomaster mixer...boss space echo pedal (the new thing not og)....sm 58

thanks for checking out the show
Panda's dog
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Q: Shout out from atl, hope you can make it back here soon. I’m curious what you’re frenchie’s name is, she seems pretty cute from the new album art. I ask cause I have two myself, Dewey and Hal, and I’ve sorta unintentionally become a French bulldog freak. Not the smartest creatures all the time, but amazing companions with hearts of gold. Hope you have a fun show today, Pioneer Works is an amazing space.

A: margot! she's the best...makes me smile every day
Todd Rundgren
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Q: Hey Noah! Favorite Todd Rundgren album?

A: u know never was a huge fan but I think just haven't listened enough...havnt heard enough yet
Revisting Sung Tongs
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Q: You and Avey recently did the Sung Tungs tour, and I wondered how your view of the songs changed after coming back to them since such a long time has passed since you made the album. Any songs that you were surprised by, any lyrics that stuck out to you or you found some new meaning in?

A: was easier getting into those songs again than I thought it would be...the latter couple songs became my favourites which wasn't so much the case before
Next AC album
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Q: Going off of that comment, between Buoys, the Sung Tongs tour, Meeting of the Waters, and Avey’s newest single, it seems like there’s a renewed interest in an acoustic sound. 

Could you maybe speak about what sounds or influences you (or the other Anco guys) have been interested in lately, and how that might take form for the recording of the next Animal Collective album?

A: im not sure what the new thing will sound like although I have my own picture of it. but im sure that will change. excited to see where it goes
Favorite Classical music
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Q: One of my favorite samples of yours is Debussy’s Arabesque No. 1 on Lonely Wanderer. What are some other classical genres or composers you appreciate, and how would you describe the extent that they might influence or inspire your work?

A: hey

I sang faures requiem in high school and its still one of my favourites. id wager its as influential for me as anything else.
Songtitles and "Whale" noises in IKIDK
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Q: I have noticed that a lot of your song titles are never mentioned in the actual songs. I love this. Is there a reason for it or do you just like doing it that way? Also, are the high pitched noises on “I Know I Don’t” modified whale noises? Such a nice dynamic in the song.

A: hey

think the high pitched stuff is me whistling? I like how titles (like artwork) can kind of give a different perspective on the song or give it another flavour.
ADWTH digital release
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Q: Any plans for a digital release of A Day With the Homies?

A: yes but it won't be exactly the same.
Favorite piece of equipment
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Q: What’s your favorite recording equipment you can’t live without?

A: I really like my ua apollo
Smash bros, favorite pizza place in lisbon
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Q: hey Noah, who do you main on Smash? how about your son? also what’s your favorite pizza place in Lisbon? i really love Pizza a Pezzi. Buoys is really appreciated, really hit the spot on all points at a sad time in my life. many thanks for being there <3 hope you’re having a good day dude, peace

A: samus or kirby but I switch all the time...my son destroys me its really frustrating. maybe a hot take but I think pizza di Nanna is better the pezzi....mabiche is good too
Drumming/drummers, Psychedelics
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Q: I always thought your drumming was insane, especially on Spirit, and I was wondering who some of your favorite drummers/influences on your drumming are?

Besides MPP, which AnCo record was the most fun for you to record/work on?

How much of an influence were psychedelics on your/AnCo's early works?

A: Stewart copeland when I was real young but reggae / dub drummers probably biggest deal for me.

im really looking foward to the new one.

hard to say or hard to quantify but part of the deal no doubt--musically and otherwise.
Dean Blunt
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Q: Hi Noah, glad I could help bring you here for this AMA! How’d you get into Dean Blunt and what was it like working with him on the “Token” video?

A: hey bud

hype Williams and dean are some of my favourite things...he lived in Lisbon for a while and wed write but one of us was always gone. have wanted to do something together for a while though. I didn't want to give him much direction. admire his work so much just wanted him to bring his own thing to it...
Books
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Q: Read any good books lately?

A: kind of a literary moron sorry to say.
Dub music recs
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Q: In a lot of recent interviews you've mentioned that dub music has really influenced you. Could you recommend us some of your favorite dub albums or artists?

A: any lee Perry...king tubby roots of dub...augustus Pablo...scientist...rhythm and sound is really great
Real life Panda Bear
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Q: Dear Noah- has any zoo or animal sanctuary offered you the opportunity to meet a real life panda bear? WHY NOT!?!

A: not yet
Dub
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Q: You've mentioned in interviews that you're influenced by dub, specifically dub production. Having grown up listening to a lot of dub, as my dad is a big fan of the genre, I have always loved how you use those production techniques in a completely different context.

I wanted to ask you if you have ever met some of the great dub producers? If so, what was that meeting like? If not, is there one, still alive or not, you would you really like to have met? Some of them are some really interesting characters.

And how do you think that influence of dub is present on Buoys?

A: on buoys the bass hi hat reverb delay skeleton reminds me of dub. since there's the loud vocal in there it seems more like a trap setup tho

hung out with Gavin from equiknoxx the other day he was real cool
Doritos
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Q: I’m curious, do you have a favorite Doritos flavour ? ?

A: not too picky it all kind of tastes like Doritos right?
Fave 2018 movie, streaming on twitch
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Q: Favorite movies from 2018?

Would you ever consider doing a Twitch stream?

A: won't you be my neighbor

I've wanted for a bit to do a twitch stream where I dress up like a freaky monster character and alter my voice so it sounds funny but I guess I kind of just ruined that.
Live venues in Lisbon
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Q: My wife and I are traveling to Lisbon in April. What are some cool spots to listen to live music that you would recommend? Do you feel like the music/vibe of the city has changed the way you approach the things you record?

A: check out damas in graca....I like music box but a lot of people hate on it...if something that seems cool to you is playing at lux definitely check it out
Philosophers, Part of the Math
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Q: Who are your favorite philosophers and/or spiritual thinkers?

Also, is Part of the Math inspired by Max Tegmark's "Our Mathematical Universe"?

Thanks! Have a good one!

A: I like Terence McKenna a bunch but there are many.

no direct link between math and Tegmark but im fascinated by deep learning and ai research in general.

thanks bud
Drumming live
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Q: do you ever miss drumming while playing live?

A: yes but might get into it again on the next one
Derek lyric and explanation
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Q: In the song “Derek” who is Mike?

A: mike is a friend of mine from highschool. we played on the basketball team together. one time driving to a game our coach said "guys little life advice...wrap your peckers." hard to forget.
Fashion
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Q: What are you wearing (in a non-phone sex tone)?

A: I dress like a baby these days. track pants and hoodies
Album "game" plans
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Q: Each one of your projects, whether solo or with Animal Collective, seems to have a really unique style that isn't often returned to. When beginning projects do you have a specific plan of a type of sound you want to make going in or does the sound of a record come to you over time while in the process of making it? Or is it different for every record you make?

A: its a little bit of both. there's usually some kind of game plan but I also like to follow my nose
Funny memories
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Q: Whats the funniest memory you have of each Animal Collective member?

A: too many to count. making each other laugh is something I look forward to when we get together.
Tips for making music
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Q: got any tips for someone who's trying to get better at making music?

A: have fun. enjoy it
Chores parody
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Q: Have you been made aware of this pizza themed parody of "Chores?" If not, what do you think? https://youtu.be/aeyNabZbu_Y

A: better than the original
Meeting fans
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Q: What's your best encounter with a fan? I've met you a few times and talked to some pretty weird and nice people. Just wondering what they're like from your perspective and what experience has impacted you the most.

A: thanks for coming to the shows. I dont know that I have a story with fans that really sticks out. people are generally very nice
New hip-hop
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Q: I love how you incorporated the influence of hip hop and trap in the production on Buoys. I saw you mention Swae Lee in this interview, other than Rae Sremmurd what other new hip hop do you enjoy listening to?

A: I like some migos...been checking out playboi carti on a recommendation from a friend. I like sicko mode. I like constantly hating by young thug
Fave 2018 song, smash bros main
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Q: What was your favorite song in 2018?

Also, who do you main in smash bros?

A: powerglide

samus or kirby but I skip around havnt really settled just yet
Current fave live song
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Q: Do you have a favorite song to perform live and if so which is it?

A: probably math right now
Portugal
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Q: what's so special about Portugal to you that you think someone should visit for?

A: its a unique place as far as I know...lisbon is becoming less so tho hurry
Playing softest voice, the beatles
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Q: How difficult is playing the softest voice live? I’ve always thought that maybe the guitars were multi-tracked on the record, but after seeing you and dave play it, I can’t help but marvel at how much concentration that must take.

Also, what do you think is bigger - spinach or the beatles?

A: hey

softest voice kind of a fragile one and empty so difficult because of that but the guitar parts themselves aren't super complicated. kids on holiday was toughest for me cuz I had to bar it the whole song.

probably beatles
Reason Samples in PP
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Q: A while back, I was playing with Reason and found that some of the sound effects in the Reason sampler were used on Person Pitch. I am curious about what part Reason played in the development of that album, and moreover what your workflow was as regards the SP-303 and the recording process. Did you do your arrangements by recording multiple SP-303 performances into the computer?



(Asking for a friend)

A: I didn't use reason but its possible I used samples or sounds from it unawares. yea multiple passes of 303 stuff and then peppered in other sounds here and there
Listening to his own Music and favorite movies
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Q: First off I’ve been loving the new record, I’ve played it too many times to count. You and anco never disappoint.

Do you find it weird to listen to your own music? I’ve heard different musicians with different takes on it and I’m curious as to how you feel about it.

What are some of your favorite movies? All time favorites or just stuff you’re really into right now

Thank you!

A: shawshank redemption...dazed and confused...boogie nights...singles...big lebowski....happy Gilmore...bridesmaids...many more but that's off the dome
The book "Awareness" and working with Scott Mou
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Q: Has the book “Awareness” inspired you in any way? I’m reading it right now and it’s awesome.

Would you consider working with Scott Mou again since you worked with Rusty recently? Thank you for all you’ve made.

A: hey

awareness was recommended to me by my mother. I think a lot about behaviour and habit so I really enjoyed it. for sure id like to work with Scott again...
Redoing The Preakness
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Q: Although I like the vsGR era version better, What made you decide to redo the Preakness?

Thank you for writing the soundtrack to the best 5 years of my life.

A: Preakness was a favourite of petes and I felt like the song might work in a different setup

thanks for listening
Getting his kids to like his music
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Q: Mr Noah,

I read an interview where you said your kids think your music is 'weird'. Is there any of your work that they do like?

A: no dice so far
Old favorites of own work
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Q: Looking back at your discography, is there one song that sticks out as being particularly special or satisfying to you whether in performance, production or songwriting?

Thanks for the music and inspiring me!

A: I like the new thing but that's pretty typical for me. last night at the jetty still one of my favourites and speaks to things that still resonate with me
Percussion sensibilities
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Q: Hey Panda, I know you're a big percussion guy, what makes you choose your percussive elements (like sample selection/instrumentation and rhythmic qualities) when making a song?

A: just want to do something that compliments the song...helps to be something that doesn't feel done to death as well.
Red Dead Redemption 2, Last good movie he saw
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Q: Hey Noah, hope all is well. I think the new album is super cool. I really like the ending chords of “I Dont Know.”

What the hell did you think of Red Dead Redemption 2? I think Arthur Morgan would be a fan of you and your band’s discography.

Also, whats the last movie that made you do a backflip cause you thought it was so good?

Peace and love

-Pat

A: hey

the world of red dead 2 is amazing. I enjoyed going through the game but dont find myself drawn back to it for whatever reason. still few games have gotten me to stop and stare as much as that one.
Hotdog
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Q: Hi! Love your work, quick question that has no bearing on anything: in your opinion, is a hot dog a sandwich?

A: no
Fate of new song 'Playing the Long Game'
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Q: You’ve been playing a new unreleased song called “Playing the Long Game” on your tour this year. It’s an instant feel-good banger that had the entire club dancing instantly. Do you know when you make songs like that they are are going to be instant hits? Will you release a studio copy of it? Love your body of work. Shout out from Baltimore & hi from my friend Steve Travieso. I’ll never forget seeing you play Person Pitch at Ottobar over a decade ago.

A: what up Steve. hope he and rob and the Travieso family are doing well. dont know if ptlg will be panda or ac but will do something with it for sure
Water drop sample source in Dolphin
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Q: Hi Noah.

What was the inspiration to use the water drip samples in Dolphin? They're the same sounds in Garry's Mod, and I was wondering if you like that game.

A: water drop was lizzs idea...havnt played garrys mod but I dig sandbox type stuff
Favorite tour to be a part of
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Q: Hey! Congrats on the new record.

What was your personal favorite tour you've ever been apart of? Thanks in advance!

A: sung tongs eu was real fun....had Eric around so was extra good times.
Video games and their inspiration (if any)
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Q: My questions are:

1.) What games have you found yourself playing lately?

2.) Have you ever found that video games inspire your music in any way?

A: pro evo...anthem...cities skylines..red dead 2...apex legends

im sure they do but like environment hard to quantify or specify
Touring near future
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Q: Love Buoys and all of your other work!

I'm desperately wondering if you will be adding any US shows later in 2019? I've never seen you perform as Panda Bear and am dying to. Thanks for doing this AMA!

A: might try to do some shows here and there but going to be switching over to ac duty pretty soon so might be tough.

thanks for listening
Beach Boys
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Q: hey noah ily what's your favorite beach boys record

A: hard to say...favorite song is in my room tho
Music, Nashville
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Q: Hey, Noah! Thanks for reaching out.

Are there any genres or artists people might be surprised to hear that you really like?

How about EDM? Do you ever get your dancing pants on?

P.S. please come back to Nashville!

A: hey

feel like I can find something I like about almost any kind of music. not really a genre specific kind of dude.

I dig Nashville hope to go back
Current state of music
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Q: what's good noah! what are your thoughts on the current state of music, both underground and mainstream?

A: hey

I feel like there's always great stuff out there sometimes its just harder to find. or sometimes you just need to look beneath rocks if you know what I mean. seems like tastes in general are a bit more conservative these days then in years past but id wager that will change sooner or later. and I dont mean to place a value judgement on that...
Crying in Inner Monologue, fave site in DC
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Q: Hey man saw you at 9:30 club Monday and loved the performance. Two questions for you:

Where did you get the samples of the women giggling, whimpering in Inner Monologue?

Do you have a favorite restaurant or pub in DC when you visit here?

Thanks!

A: that's lizz and she did that in studio. her idea as well but felt like an echo of the bros cryers which I liked a lot.

toki underground
My Girls lyric/explanation, playing acoustic again, hiphop, Buoys' aesthetic
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Q: Hi Panda Bear! First off, it means the world to me that you are doing this AMA. Animal Collective and your solo albums have been insanely important to me since I started college, so I just wanna say thanks for making such incredibly impactful music.

Ok, so one question that I've always had is, perhaps kind of a stupid one, but when you were writing that famous lyric, did it ever occur to you that social status isn't a material thing, and adobe slats are?

Also, when you were touring Sung Tongs (my favorite AnCo album), did it feel weird to pick up an acoustic guitar again? How did you get back into it?

I think I read that you acquired one of your samplers after hearing that Madlib used one. Are you a fan of hip-hop? What's your favorite Madlib project? Have you heard Madvillainy?

Lastly, where did the whole sort of "aesthetic" for Buoys come from? As in, the water samples and the relatively sparse production?

Anyway, thanks for doing this AMA. Also, Buoys is fantastic and I physically can't stop listening to it haha

A: hey

I meant it more like the fancy things are exhibits of status...so useless fluff juxtaposed against what im arguing is essential

yea took a bit to work it out but was fun. hardest was getting the hand/finger strength to do some of it. had been a while I should say.

quasimoto unseen remains my favourite but he's done so much great stuff.

part of it was following our noses but I knew the kinds of things rusty had been working on and figured the thing would land somewhere close to that.

thanks for listening!

[...]

think Im gonna go now everyone. thanks very much for the questions and as ever thanks for listening...my best to you and yours.
Last edited by Fovrodi on Sat Feb 16, 2019 11:26 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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You're a goddamn hero Fov
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Fovrodi
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Thanks! It's all there now, reddits format just plain sucks so it feels like somebody has to do it
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Hey everyone out there,

Welcome. i'm here to answer your questions about my new record and beyond!! I'm here to have fun and be informative so i hope you are as well. Also RIP Scott Walker. The Man taught all of AC many things about music but most importantly he showed us that you can be yourself and create amazing and intriguing music. Tipping one over for Scott today.


Avey's favorite memory from the Amazon
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Q: Hey there Dave, I’m just wondering: what is your favorite memory from your trip with Brian to the Amazon Rainforest?

Thanks for doing this. P.S. The new album is fuckin great! Can’t wait to see the live show in Dallas!

A: I caught five or six black piraña with a simple line on a bottle. We threw them back cause they were too small to eat but i was proud.
Avey on the fate of Mothlight-exclusive material
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Q: Hey Avey. Really loving Cows right now. Was wondering if you’re planning on ever recording/releasing some of the other songs you’ve played live recently like Midnight Special, Uncle Doughnut, Enjoy the Change, etc.? Thanks for everything!

A: Definitely going to try
Avey on red velvet cupcake video
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Q: The earliest interview of you with AnCo on YouTube is from a 2005 interview you did with NY Noise at a Cupcake shop in New York ( https://youtu.be/goi4FsDAS4Q )

Towards the end of the interview, you mention how red velvet cupcakes are your favorite flavor (there's one in the box of dozen sitting in front of you, Josh, and Brian) and opine about what flavor constitutes red velvet. As you're talking about the flavor, Josh deliberately reaches over you and snags the last red velvet cupcake in the box, then stares you down, unblinking, as he bites into the coveted cupcake.

You seem not to notice and blow it off, continuing the interview like normal, but I just need to know: Was it really no big deal? Or do you still think about that cupcake, 14 years later, and plot your revenge in the shadows against Josh?

PS: Love you Avey

A: Ive heard mention of this before and may have even watched the interview. Truth be told i have no memory of this and probably didn't notice. We have a very biting and pokey humor in AC and its likely he was just trying to be funny. But i have no idea.
Avey on KC Yours' meaning
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Q: Hi Avey! You are one of my favorite artists. The new album is phenomenal. Can’t stop listening! What was the inspiration behind K.C. Yours? I have been listening to it on repeat for three days.

Your music has gotten me through so many tough days. It gives me hope and is a constant source of inspiration for me. I have been fortunate enough to meet you twice and both times you were very kind and welcoming. Thank you so much.

A: Robots and Saviors. Thankyou! That means a lot.
Possibility of an official Sung Tongs boot, favorite solo work, favorite AC work
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Q: Hey Dave,

Thanks for doing this and for all the incredible music and inspiration over the years. I’m really digging Cows so far and can’t wait for the LA show! I have a few quick questions:

1. I saw both Sung Tongs shows in LA and they were among the greatest experiences of my life. Do you and Noah plan to release any official recordings from this tour?

2. All 3 of your solo records are so fully formed but so different. Do you have one that stands out as your favorite or one that you’re most proud of?

3. What is your favorite (or favorites) album/era of Animal Collective and why?

A: 1. Unfortunately we only recorded one of the shows. The last LA show. I haven't listened to it yet but if it sounds good i could see doing something with it.

2. I'm always the most proud of the most recent. But i'd say i dig them all for different reasons.

3. Hmm i don't really have a favorite. I guess i am nostalgic for the very early days like our first tour because we were so young and there was very little expectation of us and we didn't have any expectations. We just wanted to have fun and play good music. I remember reading a quote from Kurt Cobain that was something a long the lines of "A band should really enjoy the moment when they are first rising towards popularity (if that happens) cause it can't happen twice" and i think theres something to be said about that. I think the water curses EP doesn't get enough love. ha
Avey on writing/recording
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Q: Do you find the process of writing and recording music to be more fun/enjoyable or more frustrating? Do you derive the most satisfaction from completing the song or project or the process of creation itself?

A: I think the moments of creation and writing are the most satisfying and probably enjoyable. i think it has a lot to do with things feeling so fresh. Recording and even writing can be very frustrating especially if you're not exactly sure where things are going. Theres always a moment of putting things together or mixing things where you sort of have to break through the wall so you are able to reach the moment where things make sense or sound good. Sometimes i think that it won't happen but it usually does. There are a lot of mind games that happen.
Avey on past press disappointments and how he chose to release Eucalyptus and Cows
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Q: Hi Dave, I'm really enjoying the new album. I thought it was really cool how you released a short story to accompany the album, I love the evocative imagery and emotions it brings to mind. What was your motivation behind sharing that story alongside the album? Thanks for the great music and I’m excited to see you in Chicago in a couple weeks!

A: When you release an album and it goes to press a "one sheet" or biography goes out with it. Usually journalists seem to be looking for some kind of backstory they can write about. For Eucalyptus i sent out a few lines. I didn't want anything written about it cause i was a little bummed out that most of the facts written about painting with were taken from the bio we put out about it. Like "they projected dinosaurs on the wall in the studio" and at the end of the day that stuff had very little to do with that record for me. So for this one i wanted to write something that would just put someone in a mood or put images in someones mind that i thought were fitting for the record. I didn't plan on recording it and thats something i just kind of did very fast just for a teaser or something.
Avey on sad quality of his music, evolution of songs
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Q: This album is a tenderhearted masterpiece and you should be so proud. I’m so grateful. I love all the symbolism and portrayals of time and our complicated relationship with it.

I saw you perform an early version of “what’s the good side?” back in 2017. At that time there was a lyric that went something like “if I’m getting old now, will it be popping? If I’m getting old now, will I keep floating?” That older version seem to express a little bit of worry/anxiety around aging but the newer version seems a lot more at peace about it. I’m wondering how your personal relationship with time/aging changed at all over the process of writing and recording this album?

A: Both Down There and Eucalyptus were written during harder times emotionally for me and with this record I was feeling really good. I wanted it to feel a lot more positive then those records are for me. I realize that there is a sort of sadness in there too but i also think that must just be in my DNA or something and i like songs that balance between both sadness and happiness. My early lyrics are often written out of just needing something to sing. Ill often be writing them right up to the performance. And so the recorded lyrics reflect more of how I'm really feeling i think
Avey on screaming, Abyss Song, touring Europe
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Q: Hey Dave! First off thanks for doing this IAMA - I'm a great admirer of the music you've made both with Animal Collective and as a solo artist, and it's been an inspiring and affirming force throughout the vicissitudes of my life across recent years (not to mention an important influence on my own music). Much thanks!

A few questions, feel free to answer as many as you wish:

On the new album your famous screamed vocals make a welcome reappearance in K.C. Yours. I was wondering if you had any methodology for what types of singing you employ in your music – whether during the songwriting phase you plan out what parts will have what vocal type, or whether it just comes naturally as you're recording and performing?

One of your past solo songs that's always intrigued me is Abyss Song – both the music and the lyrics have a certain profound something that never fails to move me with nostalgia and longing whenever I listen. Do you have any insights into the making of that remarkable song, or of the meaning behind it?

Would you or the AC ever consider touring in the UK/Europe again? The 2018 Sung Tongs show in London was amazing, but I would love to one day see you perform in the smaller, more intimate kinds of regional venues you've played on the solo US tours

Thanks again for your time and best of luck in your future musical endeavours

A: Often with the screaming its sort of just developed as a live thing because we play so loud and also i just get really amped. Usually when I'm writing songs i decided what kind of vocal delivery I'm going to have but again often if i raise my voice when i or AC is playing its usually cause i just wouldn't be able to sing it right if it were quite cause i wouldn't be able to hear it.

I made that song in conjunction with a college art show my sis was having. So the lyrics really are all about that.

We will definitely be back.
Avey on Mandy, fate of Music Box material
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Q: Hey Dave... To start, the new record is wonderful and has been a great accompaniment for the transition into Spring. I especially love the studio treatment for 'Eyes on Eyes' (*that bass line*). In regards to the new Animal Collective, can you confirm whether or not the songs performed at the Music Box in NOLA will be part of the new material, and if not, will those songs be released in some form or the other? Specifically, the final song of the set, which everyone has been calling "Defeat (Not a suite)'' is remarkable, and even just based off a low quality recording, is on another level. Also speaking of the Music Box shows, I'm sorry about that scum who stole your notebook. That guy proved himself to be a real worm even beyond that theft...One more obvious question. Any recent particular movies, music, books etc. that you would recommend? I don't do favorites, but I thought Mandy w/ Nicolas Cage was a special movie and def worth checking out if you haven't yet... I'll see you in Philly!

All the best,

Dyev

A: I saw mandy. And while i wasn't floored by it like a lot of my friends I did think it was cool and particularly liked the use of colors here and there. Really looking forward to US.

I have no concrete info on any of that unreleased stuff. I'm happy people seem to be excited about some of those songs. I can tell you i wrote our little chapter while i was also writing Defeat and the other songs we played at the music box which i play juno on. We will be working on some of that stuff with noah now but i have no info beyond that.
Avey on his most important songwriting lesson
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Q: Hey Avey, what's the most important thing you learned when you first started out as a songwriter?

A: Things aren't as clear or obvious to other people as they might be to me.
Avey's fave Grateful Dead track, songwriting
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Q: Hey, Dave! Couple of questions for ya:

Do you have a favourite Grateful Dead record/track? If so, which one?

2. I've been writing music for a few years now and I wondered if you have any songwriting routines or ways to find inspiration that you find help you get into the creative headspace which allows you to make stuff?

And a little sidenote: What's Become Of The Baby off Aoxomoxoa is a track that's always reminded me of some of your solo stuff, and Jerry Garcia's voice even sounds quite similar to yours because of the processing.

Thanks for all the amazing tunes, lots of love :))

A: Aoxoamoxoa. Mostly because its from a special time in my youth. I tend to listen mostly to 68/69 era dead.

No its a very unpredictable thing. The songs i like best of mine usually just come to me out of nowhere. Like a few people have said (John Lennon and Eye from the Boredoms) Music to me is just in the atmosphere. It's really just this astral thing. Its not mine i really think I'm just some sort of portal for it. I really can't predict when or how I'm gonna write a song that i think works.

and there ya go! Funny you should mention that cause recently i put that track on around Josh and at first he thought i was just playing him one of my songs haha.
Avey on collaborating with Abby
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Q: hey Dave, first of all just wanted to say thank you for sharing your work with the world. I was wondering how/when you first started collaborating with Abby and what your working relationship is like. The two of you seem to have a profoundly cohesive vision despite your work being so deeply personal and I'm curious what the process is like to blend your individual styles and mediums. Thanks!

A: i think growing up together helped. Even as kids we made stuff together or were involved in learning about art and making art together. So i think it's just developed over time. Now a days for AC or my own stuff ill usually have an idea then just present it to her and she'll kind of go from there and turn it into something real.
Avey's on college
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Q: Hi Avey! I feel like I kind of have to tell you how immensely important AnCo is to me. I started college this year, and have had to deal with some really intense emotional lows. I feel such a personal connection towards your lyrics, and sometimes when I was feeling especially miserable about everything going on around me, listening to Spirit, Sung Tongs, Feels, and Strawberry Jam was like someone was taking everything that I was feeling emotionally and put it into music. Anyway, it's really difficult to express how significant of an impact your work has had on me, and I guess my question is related to all of this: what advice would you give to someone who's dealing with a lot of homesickness and feelings of isolation in college?

Oh also, Cows is easily my favorite album of the year so far. Chilly Blue especially just kind of took me to another place. Thanks for doing this AMA!

A: Thanks!! I'm happy we have been able to fill those spaces in your life.

Thats a tough question. I guess a good place to start is by really trying to figure out what you like doing and what makes you happy. I was unhappy in college cause i didn't really know but once i just sort of allowed myself to just focus on music i realized i was a lot happier. In terms of your isolation. I felt the same way and my answer came in finding a community outside of college. I can't say that will work for you but i suppose its something to think about or look for.
Avey on mixing/recording decisions for Cows
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Q: Hey Avey. Thank you for everything you do. Loving the new album, and hoping for some new Animal Collective soon. :)

On Cows on Hourglass Pond, the studio posted that you didn't do any computer edits. Could you talk a little more about that, like did it have a big impact on your process, etc.? I guess maybe more generally, what was the biggest challenge for you when writing this beautiful album?

A: I wanted to mix it straight from the tape to the computer so we didn't use any computer plug ins or editing programs. We did separate a couple tracks here and there by multi tracking them but most things were left un touched after they were mixed down to the computer. Most of the effects on things i did while tracking.

In some ways its very liberating because you have to settle for certain things that you might spend hours on other wise. And in someways this makes listening and hearing what you want a lot easier. in terms of the recording process i didn't want to go too far beyond what i was capable of playing live because i wanted it to be about the songs and simpler then some of my past music. So i limited myself to eight tracks. Its really crucial that the album process is a learning process for me and i wanted to be able to learn a lot about recording from this experience. I feel like its also the challenges that make me make better sounds and music.
Avey's favorite song off Buoys
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Q: Hey Dave! What's your favorite song from Noah's latest record?

A: Tough always to pick favorites but maybe sabbath e: Inner Monologue
Avey on songwriting and the color of his bedroom walls
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Q: hi there dave!! i only have two questions:

do you feel like your music/song writing has "matured" as you've gotten older? and what color are your bedroom walls?

A: indeed. It's hard to really feel if structure wise things are maturing because I'm so open to trying so many different things. i don't view music as something linear. I do think lyrically my music has matured.

Pink (truth)
Avey on robots
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Q: First of all, thank you for doing yet another AMA! I really enjoy these. Also, I listened to COHP all weekend, and I love it. What’s the Goodside? is such an amazing opener, Eyes on Eyes is so groovy, and on and on. Down There and Eucalyptus are two of my favorite albums, and I think COHP will be up there too!

So my question: Before the album was released, the farm animal/country vibe was pretty clear, which I love. I live in the country. I have chickens that roam into my yard, and my grandparents had horses when I was growing up. So I was kind of surprised (in a good way) to hear all the robot references. K.C. Yours is all about a robot, and I saw in your COS track breakdown for HORS_, you were pondering if perhaps a horse will be robotic somebody. It’s an interesting juxtaposition with the initial natural and rural feel of the album.

I wanted to ask: who are your favorite movie/TV robots? Mine are Robby the Robot from Forbidden Planet and C-3PO. I studied linguistics in college, so I’m endlessly fascinated by 3PO since he is fluent in 6 million+ forms of communication. And Robby is just the classic sci-fi looking robot, and he is intelligent and helpful although at first glance it appears he could be menacing. As you can tell from my username, I like robots. I’m curious to know how that came to be an inspiration for those parts of the album. Thank you for everything!

A: My inspiration mostly comes from whats around me. Robots seem to be becoming a topic more and more these days in terms of them actually being useful in our modern world and so it sort of finds its way into my music. I think the two worlds you speak of in terms of your growing up vs robots are very much at battle these days. Maybe they just are in me. I seem to know a lot of folk who wish to embrace modern technology as if its the answer to the worlds problems or just the one path in life and other folk who are embracing the more simple farm way of life you speak of as if thats the answer. It's always been my habit of mixing everything together in a stew of sorts so there you have it. The name K.C Yours is definitely inspired by a robot name such as C-3PO. It just seems more human to me to create a Robot named K.C. Yours.
Avey on getting out of creative ruts
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Q: Hey Dave, thanks for making wonderful music I appreciate every minute of it. I was wondering...

what do you do when you get stuck in a rut creatively? What is the songwriting process like for you these days?

A: I write and play music every day for the most part. If anyone is blown away by the amount of music we put out it really boils down to the fact that I just can't stop doing it. And the same goes for the other AC guys too. But there are ruts for sure. Best thing to do is just step away. My friend eric copeland once said that as long as he goes into his studio and turns on his gear then he feels like he's at least accomplished something. The tunes and sounds aren't always going to flow and being ok with that is how I've learned to over come the ruts. you can't force it. So you just step out and do something else. For myself i find that having a few different things on my plate helps. So if i get in rut with one thing i can shift gears and work on something else but still feel like I'm being productive. I think that's why i like making visual art because if i'm stuck on music i can take a break and do that instead.
Avey on Hollinndagain
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Q: What’s up Avey! Short question but what was the process of creating the music on Hollinndagain, my personal fave AC album? Thanks!!!

A: Back then it was definitely more of a clear cut mix between free form music and something written. I guess in the same way tangerine reef is. A lot of those songs we would have an idea that we could express verbally like "lets repeat in time in time in time in time here and then do this here" if that makes sense. Then we would just try these different things out and make them work in a composition. It wasn't so much about noah or i writing a song. It was also really composed with the intent of being played live and creating an experience.
Avey on influences for Spirit, Danse, and Hollindagainn
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Q: Hey Avey, really diggin' the new album! Definitely my favorite release of 2019 so far. I have some questions regarding your earliest AnCo albums, specifically STGSTV. I've always been really fascinated by the characters / world that you created on that album, and was wondering how your experiences in life around this time influenced / specifically lead to you developing this kind of fantasy presented in the album's music and lyrics. I know you've said that the album is a reflection of the kind of emotions and experiences you had in your life around the time you went away to school, but I want to know how those ideas translated into the kind of story presented on Spirit.

Also, I've always viewed Spirit, Danse Manatee, and Hollinndagain almost like a singular piece of work, like one concrete trilogy with consistent sonic and lyrical themes throughout. Do you view these three at all like this?

A: at the time i was discovering a lot of dark fiction and poetry like Guy De Maupassant and Lautreamont and also still very focused on short story writing. So i think i was just trying to write songs that created my own world like those writers did.

Danse and Hollinndagain are definitely related as they both represent us being influenced by The NYC and brooklyn music scene around us. Black Dice, No neck blues Band, Tower Recordings, Chirstian mar clay, stuff on John Zorn's labels. But also really just becoming a live band. Up to then we had mostly only been recording our music. Spirit to me was really the first time i wanted to take recording a record very seriously.
Avey on playing guitar and piano
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Q: Hey Dave, love the new album. I've listened to it twice already.

Do you play more guitar or piano nowadays?

A: both equally.
Avey on the AC/Deerhunter jam
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Q: hey Dave! really enjoy the new album, and just wanted to say thank you for the music, it's helped me through some hard times

when I saw Deerhunter back last May at Le Poisson Rouge, one of my favorite parts of the show was when you, Brian, and Josh came onstage out of nowhere and started jamming with Deerhunter, so my question is, how did that come about? i was so shocked when it happened lol

A: I think bradford just wanted to put us on the spot ha. No i think he was just looking for something different to happen at the show. It's nice when musicians are open to that cause it means cool things like that can happen. We're old friends with those guys and i've played some music with bradford before so it was a pretty easy going thing. We didn't plan it.
Avey on psychedelics
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Q: Hey Avey! I'm loving the new stuff. So I wanted to ask you about psychedelics (I've heard you speak on them a couple times) but if it's too much of a personal question it's all good. How much do you think they've effected you or your music? And have you experienced any bad side effects from them? These days people make it seem like there's NO reason not to do them and I think it's just untrue.

A: Ive never been a pusher of sorts for psychedelics because i feel that everyone is different and while i have had no bad experiences with them at least none that have deeply effected me i have witnessed them being very bad for some people and that has left it's unfortunate feelings with me. I can't really say how much they have effected our music because its the only path i know and i can't turn back the clock and see what would have happened had we never done them. I think its something people need to explore for themselves if drawn to.
Keeping live particulars a surprise, Radiohead
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Q: Hi Dave, thanks for doing this. The new album has been on repeat all weekend and I can’t wait to catch your performance in Austin next month.

I was wondering what instrumentation you’d be using during the tour. I assume Jeremy will be on drums, what about you and Josh? If you have time to answer more.... I believe Abby often contributes to stage design for Animal Collective shows. Will there be a visual element to the shows?

And just for fun... is it true you don’t like Radiohead?

Thanks in advance!

A: Think i will let it be a surprise for you.

Saying i don't like radiohead feels kind of harsh. I've had moments in my life where i have listened to them and totally respect what they do and think they are a very positive presence in the music world. However i don't listen to their music now.
Avey on dealing with self-doubt, personally and as a band
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Q: I have some pretty heavy general anxiety and depression that keeps me from doing things I love. Sometimes when I listen to your music it makes me imagine what it would be like to let go of that anxiety and just live freely and just kind of explode and shine. Do you have any advice for someone who's always stuck in their head, and would like to create music but is so extremely judgmental of themselves that they can't seem to start to write songs? When songs like Street Flash already exist, why even try" is kind of my sentiment. , I thank you.

A: The reality is I'm just like you and So is Noah and so is Brian and So is Josh. I can't tell you the number of times I've gone to sleep after a show thinking "I'm shit, I'm no good why should i even do this anymore". From your perspective You may say "yeah right dude whatever". But the truth is that those kind of struggles are real. Sometimes even collectively we don't realize how much anxiety and stress we are holding onto. For me it helps to breath and just to be aware of that stuff and realize you actually can let it go. You have something worth sharing you jut have to figure out how to get it out there. There really is nothing at stake. It can't hurt you to try. I've done what I've done cause i just worked at it for years and didn't stop but i still have doubts. I still hear records and think damn ill never make anything that good. But it shouldn't stop you from expressing yourself. I hope this helps. I think it is crucial of finding ways to get out of your head. The stuff i write about i really believe in. I do want to be like water and reflect everything around me. To me that means getting out of my head and just existing and experiencing life as it really is.
Avey's fave Beatles record
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Q: hey avey, what's your favourite Beatles record?

A: These days I've been enjoying Help a lot. Its just a great pop record.
Avey on Cows material origins, vocals
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Q: Hello Avey! Did any of the songs on Cows start out as AnCo demos? There are certain vocal parts in "Eyes on Eyes" and "Our Little Chapter" that sound (to me) like they were written with two vocalists in mind. Love the new album–easily my favorite solo work of yours!

A: No they were all written with the intention of being solo songs. I think i write a long of songs with multiple vocal parts in mind. I actually tried to keep that to a minimum with this record.
Avey on staying inspired
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Q: Hey Avey. I've been a musician nearly my whole life, but hearing Sung Tongs in college is what inspired me to start creating my own sounds & songs. As a mid 20-something I love the idea of continuing the craft my entire life, but in music it seems a lot of artists have a brief window for creating their most original and quality work, eventually to be stumped by running out of ideas / inspiration or having more responsibilities to attend to in life outside of music. How have you found making music to be different now than it was for you at 20? Any advice on keeping things creatively fresh for the long-term?

A: More so now then ever i'm learning that keeping other parts of your life open to new things nd change is crucial to keeping something like artistic creativity fresh. I think it is a struggle to stay fresh and not get stale but i think that as long as I've been inspired by new things i feel like my drive to keep creating moves on.
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roopn
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Post Posted:

Thanks again :)
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Post Posted:

thanks fvrd
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Post Posted:

Happy to do it, a little bummed I missed it, slept in bad. I wanted to ask how recording SJ all analog prepared him for recording cows.
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Post Posted:

Spin Magazine Animal Collective Centipedia
https://www.spin.com/2012/08/the-animal ... entipedia/

Feel like this feature has always been barely navigable and it's not formatted like an interview. So here it is

Avey and Geologist on Alice Deejay's "Better Off Alone"
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Geologist: I worked in a parrot store on Greenwich Avenue. And a couple of the dudes who were in charge of feeding the captive grey parrots, they were a couple gay dudes, and I remember they used to blast that Alice Deejay track in the morning when we’d be getting the store ready, everybody sweeping with the brooms and the mops. That was the first time I got into cheesy electronic dance music.

Avey Tare: I think there’s kind of a romanticizing [among the band] about catching the tail end of the classic club days in New York, like Twilo, which we missed out of. People were maybe trying to hold on to it while we were going out. They started doing the ban on dancing in bars, so you couldn’t even dance! It would just be a bunch of dudes standing around.
Avey on Apples in Stereo
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Avey Tare: I was really into their first record. I think Brian was, too. I don’t really think about it for the harmonies, though. I just think about it as being a really sweet psychedelic record. It has a really nice sound for the time, compared to what a lot of other people were going for.
Avey on Khaira Arby
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Avey Tare: Josh definitely brought her to everyone’s attention. Having just seen Khaira Arby play in L.A., it’s just the kind of music that interests me the most — it’s kind of like a mystery to me. I think it’s how people talk about us: I can’t figure out if [her band is] jamming or if they wrote the song, or what parts are even worked out. I can’t even figure out how they write the song. It makes me want to listen to it more and more. To the point of where something like a really elaborate guitar solo — something that wouldn’t normally interest me at all in the context of rock music — just astounds me
Avey and Geo on Ariel Pink
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Avey Tare: To us, he represents somebody who’s just their own individual personality, doing their own thing…

Geologist: And there are a lot of people now in his periphery! But there’s no one quite like the original.
Avey, Deak, and Geo on the High School Project
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Avey Tare: The whole thing was based on this winter taking over this town, all these different scenarios where people were falling into ice.

Deakin: The way I came into thinking about [musique concrète] was by hearing the stuff they were doing. They did this 40-minute long piece that was just this symphony of sound. Like a sonically visual thing and it was kind of the first time I thought about the fact that I was listening to something with headphones with my eyes closed. I became aware of what sound was doing. I thank them for opening that for me.

Geologist: Very Winesburg, Ohio,” Sherwood Anderson, but a nightmare version. We would use samples and that would become part of the narrative. My wife, who was my girlfriend at the time, still has a cassette in her huge thing of dubbed cassettes from high school. You can see in marker: BRIAN + DAVE.
Geo on Musique Concrete, Henk Badings
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Geologist: Musique concrète and 20th century classical and synthesizer music were all lumped in together for us because of horror movies. We were like 17, before we could drive. We would go to this record fair and there was this biker dude who had a lot of psych records but he was also the guy that had a crate that was avant-garde classical, early synth electronic. And we would go to him and ask, “What sounds like this.” I think he was the first to give us Henk Badings or Dick Raaymakers, these Dutch tape musique concrète people. That was sort of the start of thinking of it as music, and not connected to film.
Panda and Avey on Erykah Badu
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Panda Bear: I heard her radio hits and I was like, eh, pretty cool. But then we saw the “Honey” video. I was really into that. This was when we were recording Merriweather Post Pavillion. Then there was some VH1 live performance where she basically played the whole record. We met her since then too. It was really big. We were all really nervous.

Avey Tare: From our early period of [Danse Manatee], the rhythmic nature of R&B influenced us a lot. There’s a free-formness to Erykah Badu’s style. It’s not verse/chorus/verse/chorus necessarily. It has a patchwork vibe. There’s definite a very specific Erykah Badu style — you hear her voice and you know it so well.
Geo on Syd Barrett, AMM
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Geologist: He’s probably the most important musical inspiration, at least for me. Everything from the playful songwriting to the fantasy side. There’s a famous Syd Barrett story playing his guitar with a Zippo as a slide, he actually hadn’t thought of doing that until he saw the band AMM perform. He would see them just beating their guitars with rulers and all these industrial objects and he thought, “Oh, whenever Pink Floyd goes into our excursionary passages, we should borrow these techniques.” And that was the first place I’d ever heard of AMM. That sort of sent me down the world of the improv music scene.
Geo on Revolver
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Geologist: I think the Beatles album I’ve always liked the most is Revolver. I think in the context of Centipede Hz, you’d kind of have to go with “Tomorrow Never Knows.” We all grew up as huge Beatles fans. My parents were huge Beatles fans. I think it was through becoming a big Syd Barrett fan that corrected a lot of the misconceptions that John Lennon was actually the more experimental Beatle. No, it was actually Paul McCartney. He was the one that was into the more British psychedelic avant-garde stuff. And he was the one that did all the tape loops on “Tomorrow Never Knows.” It’s interesting that Paul McCartney wasn’t doing it because it was psychedelic or anything. It was because someone actually played him a Stockhausen record before psychedelia went huge. When I was 17 or 18, I started unscrewing cassette tapes and cutting them and making my own loops. For what I do in the band, the idea of fusing more experimental sounds and techniques into a rock song, that was huge for me.
Avey and Geo on Black Dice
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Avey Tare: Aphex Twin and Black Sabbath and Merzbow blended into this blissful, heavy experience. The first time I saw ‘em, I did this thing at NYU, I was on the program board and this fellow member brought them to play. I heard a little bit about them, but in those days you just heard about them being a really aggressive in-your-face hardcore band, fucking with people in the audience. I just remember the show, Bjorn [Copeland] had a sty on his eye so he looked really fucked up, Hisham [Bharoocha] had an afro.

Geologist: I though Eric [Copeland] was like 40.

Avey Tare: Eric would take the microphone and just spin it out and out and out. All their equipment sounded broken. They would do freakouts that sounded like hardcore. Hisham’s playing through effects so his drums sounded fucked up. Geologist: I thought it would be the last show. They were hitting each other. I was just like, “I guess I just saw that band break up.” I saw Eric at a couple parties and I always steered clear of him. I’m not going anywhere near that guy.

Avey Tare: They started coming into more rhythmic rock stuff and things just started coming together.
Deakin on CAN
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Deakin: [In recording Centipede Hz] we often talked about how Can recorded a lot of their records, oftentimes with a single mic or double mic. It feels like it’s real-deal because there’s a lot going on, but it’s actually this really simple recording technique.
Geo on Cassini sample in My Girls
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Geologist: [The “My Girls” intro], that’s a combination of, um….Well the main synthesizer does the arpeggios, but then it’s mixed with recordings from the Cassini satellite, when it was in the rings. It had a microphone going. I don’t know if it was pitched up or pitched down, but NASA definitely did something to make whatever frequencies it was receiving audible. And then it was on the New York Times website or something, you know, so a handful of people sent it to me. Like two or three separate people sent it to me and were like “I think you should use this on an Animal Collective track.”
Geo on Tony Conrad
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Geologist: Dave and I used to see him play a lot at The Cooler. In ’97 he would play behind the white sheet with a fan and you would just see the shadow. I think when it came to New York we didn’t really understand drone and minimalism so much. I think to us we were a little too young and it felt a little boring. Those were kind of the first shows where we would come out of those and be like, “You know what? A dude just really played like one or two notes on a violin for an hour but something about it was really powerful.” I think that was beginning of us sort of appreciating drone music.
Avey on Christian Marclay
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Avey Tare: Brian and I went to the Cooler and saw Christian Marclay play. I think just in terms of seeing something that like done live? This is crazy. This was like musique concrète done right here before me by some guy just fucking around with scratchy records. I thought that was really, really awesome to see. And on a similar line, because it blurred the lines between live music and electronic music, was Black Dice. Seeing them at the Cooler post-college? I was like, “This is the best band that is playing right now.”
Avey on The Cramps
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Avey: I remember driving in the car with my cousins, 7th or 8th grade. Their older sister has this Cramps tape that she was listening to in college. It was just the weirdest stuff I’d heard until that time. I heard punk music but I hadn’t gotten into it much. It just seemed so dark and druggy. Who are these people making this music? That was a switch for me. All right, there’s other stuff happening, it’s not just classic rock and Bob Marley or the Grateful Dead. Now I wanna try and find out what this punk rock stuff is.
Avey on George Crumb's ‘MUSIC FOR A SUMMER EVENING (MAKROKOSMOS III)’
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Avey Tare: I always liked the way that that music occupied a space. And I especially liked it when it became emotional. Makrokosmos III is all this kind of alt-piano kind of percussive stuff but then it gets really, really melodic. That got me into the idea of music that did that kind of thing [like the untitled track on Spirit They’re Gone].
Avey on Bo Diddley
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Avey Tare: In terms of thinking about recording and presenting music, Bo Diddley has influenced me more in a recording standpoint. I feel like over the years we’ll be in studios and there will be books about classic studios and classic styles of recordings. And it was definitely a thought that came into my mind when we started recording Merriweather, but even more so with [Centipede Hz]. Back then, dudes just recorded music like together with one microphone. Just set it up, It was all about finding the perfect room, leveling the instruments and just ripping. Just capturing the energy. I love Bo Diddley’s records. The way all the instruments blend together, some of the songs have this weird trance element. Trying to capture some live, raw energy is something we definitely talked a lot about.
Avey on The Everly Brothers
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Avey Tare: Songs like “It Only Costs a Dime.” I always like the way their voices blend and mash together so well. It’s always been something we’re shooting for during the recording process, just trying to get the voices to blend that way. It’s just the way that their voices match. It’s that one unified sound, to me, and you don’t think of it so much. Same thing with the Louvin Brothers, you know? Satan Is Real or something like that. You don’t think of it as two people singing, it just becomes one sound.
Avey on Excepter
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Avey Tare: We all kind of experienced some sort of musical progression together. Excepter was always music that was around for a while. Like the soundtrack to going out.
Avey and Geo on Fifty Foot Hose
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Avey Tare: That goes back to Brian and I hanging out in our dorm room; wanting to relate musique concrète to rock; hearing that somebody like Syd Barrett got into that stuff through AMM. We just started trying to search out records, read Forced Exposure, look for any inkling of “use of electronics in psychedelic music.”

Geologist: We’d go into Kim Recprds’s and just ask, “What records are like psych-rock music but use musique concrète?” Sometimes they would tell us a really shitty one. Not this one.
Geo on Gang Gang Dance
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Geologist: We sort of try to fight nostalgia a lot, at least aesthetically. We’re not interested in nostalgia because it’s in opposition to the spirit of what psychedelic music is to try and sound exactly like it. At their time their music was really forward thinking and trying to push boundaries. So we’ve always said we should be more interested in the spirit of that stuff than the sonics of it. Especially Dave, he used to rail against that stuff. He thought nostalgia was counterproductive. The bands that we’re friendly with — Black Dice, Gang Gang Dance — sort of approach music in the same way.
Geo on The Grateful Dead
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Geologist: When you’re a middle schooler, if you were into music, you sort of looked at what older people were doing. I think that’s why I started wearing Grateful Dead T-shirts. Like, I have to be honest, you did it because you saw older kids doing it and the imagery was just…you know, with the bears or whatever. It was just fun. You know, like a skeleton on your T-shirt. I had an older cousin who went to college in Athens and he would just leave and follow the Dead for whole summers. I was more into it initially by watching older people that I looked up to. And then I think it was in eighth grade that a friend’s brother came home for the summer from college and he was just playing them in his car all the time. And we were being driven around by him a lot.

“St. Stephen,” I think, in eight grade, was the first Dead song that I got really, really into. There are moments when they scream and it gets a little wild and there’s a more dreamy psychedelic part of it. It kind of had everything about those early Dead records shoved into one song, you know? The Dead are a really good thing that felt really dangerous and free, warm, and welcoming at the same time. Dave was actually going to the shows as early as seventh or eighth grade with his older cousins.

I sort of left the Dead for a while, especially living in New York and being in my early 20s. The Dead just didn’t make much sense to listen to. And then when I moved out to Arizona for a while and just driving around the desert a lot…I haven’t really listened to American Beauty in like ten years, but I kind of feel like it’s the only record that I really want to hear right now. Now, regardless of where I am, that music helps me go to that place to relax. They do seem to have a big fanbase and following again. We were invited to perform at Jerry Garcia’s birthday event and I looked at the lineup and there were dudes from Vampire Weekend and the National or one of those bands and I was like “I didn’t know all these people are Dead fans!”
Avey and Geo on Hausu
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Avey Tare: Big horror nerd here! I reached a point where I watched so many classic horror films I just wanted to dig deeper. I had this really dense history of horror films book, The Encyclopedia of Horror Movies. I would write lists down to go to Kim’s Video. We had a friend there that would just let us take movies. I lived with Eric Copeland from Black Dice, we would just spend all out time watching these movies. They had a bootleg of it. This didn’t have any subtitles on it! They were like, “It’s not subtitled, but you should watch it anyway ’cause its pretty much one of the most mind-blowing, dumbfounding movies you’ll ever see.”

Geologist: When we were making Oddsac, something Danny would be like, “Do we need a narrative here? This shit doesn’t really make sense together.” And we were like You don’t need a narrative, man. You remember how much we liked House? No subtitles on that bootleg copy at Kim’s

Avey Tare: I think the early digital effects really lend themselves to the aesthetic of this new record too. That ’80s style of drawing in weird illustrative, digital effects.

Deakin: Backmasking and stuff.
Avey on band Heatwave
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Avey Tare: The band Heatwave I’ve been getting really into. I feel like they do harmonies and vocal stuff in a way that seems very sweet and refreshing that seems sometimes really playful. You know, it’s like soul-disco, funk kind of music. The songwriting and the arrangements are all really complicated and sweet but then there’s this really playful side to the vocals I’ve been really getting into. Heatwave we definitely would listen to while writing the new stuff.
Geo on Pierre Henry, DJing at WKCR
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Geologist: One of those dudes I discovered from records thorough WKCR. Since I was a DJ there, they encourage you to take anything out. I didn’t have many friends early in college. I’d sign out like three at a time.
Panda on J Dilla's Donuts
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Panda Bear: I didn’t like it at first. It sounded really dense. I couldn’t find away into because it was so dense and it moved so fast. But then after listening to it a couple times, the speed of it? Once I got into that, anything slower than that seemed less stimulating.
Avey on The Kinks
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Avey Tare: It’s weird, we don’t tend to bring Ray Davies’ songwriting up very much in interviews, but yeah, there was a time where we got super into it. I still go back to them.
Panda on early gear
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Panda Bear: My brother, right when I was starting to record songs, got a Lexicon Effects Processor. I was just playing around with it on headphones. Putting it on the reverb setting. And it was just like, Ohhhh yeah. I was so into singing through it.
Geo on Lightning Bolt
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Geologist: When we were getting into independent music and we moved to New York we’d be like, “Yeah, I like that Tortoise record. Let’s go see those dudes.” And then you show up and they’re wearing blazers or something. And we were still 18 or 19 like “This isn’t us, man.” Bands seemed to be taking themselves too serious. It almost felt like they were acting like adult contemporary artists or something and we were like that’s not what we want. And then we would see bands like Lightning Bolt, you know, people coming down from Providence. It wasn’t punk music but they just acted like these wild punks, you know? These guys have an energy that we can all relate to because this is how we’ve thought about music since we were four years old jumping around. That’s what drew us to music, was that energy. So then that sort of inescapably is linked to childhood and that sort of way you approach the world as a child when everything was a bit more wonderful and exciting.
Avey on John Maus
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Avey Tare: He’s a really interesting dude. I met him on tour with Ariel when we toured with them in 2006, I think. It’s hard to put a finger on it. I guess it’s the dark…it has a fantasy quality to it. It’s hard to put into words. That lighthearted side that should seem dark as well.
Avey on Star Wars, Max Rebo band
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Avey Tare: There was definitely one VHS tape that just got played over and over and over again — all three Star Wars. Like, for me when I was growing up, my cousins and I watched it endlessly. The band on the Jabba the Hutt scene…I just think we liked the groovy-ness of it. And it does seem kind of off and weird and alien. It’s done really well. So I think that that kind of atmosphere and that kind of mindset is something that we talked about when we were writing new stuff. I mean, the Star Wars soundtrack was one of the first records I had growing up so I remember going back to actually really loving that Cantina Band song too. It just being this really corny, kind of Disney record. I felt like it was Disney disco. It just had some absurd songs on it and I was kind of into it for that reason. Like, weirded out by it, too, you know?
Geo on Nirvana, Nevermind album cover
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Geologist: It was probably the same experience as a lot of kids. I remember hearing it on the Top 40 radio station, but in a joking way. The DJ was talking about having to buy a birthday present for his nephew or something. And he was like, “He asked for this new group. I can’t buy it, there’s a penis on the cover.” And he was talking about how this baby was gonna have to grow up and face the embarrassment of having his penis on this record cover. They kept talking about the band so the name was in my head. I turned on MTV in the morning and I saw the video, and I said, “This is the penis band!”
Avey on Robert Normandeau
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Avey Tare: Liquidy sounds? Definitely Robert Normandeau on the Emprientes DIGITALes label. Brian brought that CD over to my place once and played it for me and it was the kind of thing where it was weird, liquidy swampy sounds that formed together to make rhythms. It was like something I never heard.
Panda Bear on the Orb
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Panda Bear: The Orb I listened to in high school. I stayed with a family in Pennsylvania. It wasn’t a boarding school, but a high school version of this type of education. So I stayed with another family there during the week. Their son had just graduated and gone to college, so I moved into his room. And there was an Orb CD in the room, U.F.Orb. It was like nothing I ever heard before. it’s not just radio music or classical music: There’s other ways of doing it.


Avey, Geo, and Panda on Pavement's Stray Slack
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Avey Tare: Pavement were definitely a unifying factor in Brian and I’s friendship. “Cut Your Hair” came out in 9th grade and we got that. And then summer happened and we kind of parted ways. While Brian was away he got this bootleg of early live Pavement. And right at the end of the summer was also when we started to get into doing acid. We took some acid and, at some point, put on this bootleg. And I remember it not even sounding like music. Is it English? What’s going on? It just sounds like nonsense. And at the end of the bootleg there’s outtakes and songs that were hard to find. And there was this song called “Greenlander” and that song came on, and I could not get it out of my head the next day. I just wanted to keep hearing it. I kept playing it over and over and over again. Just into their darker, weirder, stony, not so much alternative rock stylings….At our school, there was an open mic, and you could come at night and play a song. So Brian and I decided to cover “Greenlander” and it was pretty much the first time that we decided to play music together.

Geologist: We didn’t know anything about alternate tunings. I’m sure we just picked chords that were close to what he was playing.

Panda Bear: I remember hearing “Cut Your Hair” on the radio…after a Presidents of the United States of America song.


Avey on Persian classical music
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Avey Tare: I’ve been getting into a lot of Persian classical music lately. Like santur music or some more Sufi singing stuff. I think a lot of that’s got me a little bit more interested in more of the documented side of music, or notated — certain notes are used for a specific reason. I guess for that type of music it seems very religious or spiritual. And I’m not specifically getting into it for spiritual purposes but I think it’s just interesting to think about music that has all this deeper meaning to it, in a numbers way, or letters, symbols.


Geo on Pink Floyd's Piper at the Gates of Dawn
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Geologist: When we were freshman in high school there was a guy who taught music to kindergartners and he was a big Deadhead and he started being like, “If you bring me in blank tapes, I’ll dub my favorite bootlegs.” And something came up about Pink Floyd once, and he was the first one to tell us “You should not just listen to Dark Side.” Something like “Interstellar Overdrive” we still use as reference. This idea of you start at one place and then you build to something and then you don’t know where it’s gonna go and then it breaks apart and then you need to find your way back. Just that basic structure of that song blew our minds.”


Geo on Possession (1981)
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Geologist: When I watch that movie I just feels like someone is squeezing my guts or something the entire time. I just felt emotionally so ripped apart after that movie and I didn’t fully understand it, which I think is where I draw inspiration from. It’s something where you don’t necessarily have to understand a linear plot or understand all the symbolism for something to have a really intense emotional effect on you. I might be worried about how relatable something we’re doing is, but I can sort of be like, ‘Well, you know what? Whether I think people will get it or not, I feel like it can at least produce this emotional response.’ Because I fully don’t get Possession. I know there’s a lot of shit in there about doppelgangers and fidelity and I don’t even try to process it. It doesn’t matter.


Avey on Prince Rama
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Avey Tare: They just kind of floored me the first time I saw them live at SXSW. I think it was like 2010, maybe. I went down there to DJ and just went down early to check out some stuff. I didn’t know any of the bands and they just started playing. A lot of the best musical experiences I’ve had just happened suddenly and out of the blue like that.


Deakin on Princess Nicotine: Folk and Pop Music of Myanmar
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Deakin: I remember the first time I heard the Princess Nicotine compilation. The rhythmic movement seems random, but you know that everybody doing it knows exactly where it’s supposed to be. What do I need to do to my brain to make that actually make sense? To me, [it’s the same with] that whole world of Balinese stuff…Searching for YouTubes of current groups of Balinese musicians, which is crazy. Young kids between 10 and 18 years old that are part of these orchestras that just look like they’re part of these after-school things; but they’re completely locked into these unfathomable rhythmic patterns that you cant wrap your head around.


Geo on Dick Raaymakers
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{Dutch electronic and tape composer who, under the moniker of Kid Baltan, worked with Tom Dissevelt in The Hague to make electropop and acid house madness — only they did it in 1958 without any help from synthesizers.]

Geologist: I used a lot of sample sources from Dutch tape studio stuff [on Centipede].


Geo, Avey, and Panda on Steve Reich's "Music for 18 Musicians"
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Geologist: We had told Josh and Noah that since it was gonna be their first time [trying acid], it would be music they wanted to listen to. One of them brought Music for 18 Musicians by Steve Reich. I was sober that night. I think they said Stereolab or Tortoise were inspired by this guy, so we wanted to try it out.

Avey Tare: Hearing how rhythmically, melodically, something so simple could change in such a subtle way over a long period of time…

Panda Bear: Just the mesh of it creates this world that’s not necessarily specific, those blurry edges.


Deakin on The Residents
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Deakin: I was so young. My dad would listen to Dylan and Hendrix and Beatles but there was this one Residents record — it wasn’t the full Duck Stab record, it only has four songs on it. I remember as kid, I was 7 years old, “Put that record on, dad.”


Geo on ACs jazz influences
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Geologist: A couple years ago, Noah was like, “I’m really getting into putting jazz on while I clean the kitchen.” We were aware of a lot of free jazz in the early days and if you listen to a lot of the earlier Animal Collective records there was a lot of jazz drumming influences.


Avey on The Shining
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Avey Tare: This is like 11th or 12th grade. There was a time when Brian and I were on mushrooms and watched The Shining. And we just had this new epiphany about this deep connection between music and film, and just the way that soundtracks or pieces of music — like Krystof Penderecki’s Threnody for the Victims of Hiroshima or something like that, it’s this brutal, weird, emotional, textural landscape. But put with film, with something like The Shining, it takes on this new meaning. There’s a part where they pass by this cow farm and it’s all gnarly, the cows getting slaughtered — like the humans getting slaughtered — and he plays all this cow screeching. I don’t feel like you notice some of the sounds the first time you watch it. The more you watch it, the more you see all this stuff happening. Sounds were used in a very cool way& #8212; these weird screeching industrial machines, but they could be acoustic instruments.


Geo on Silver Apples
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Geologist: I feel like a lot of the reference points for this record are almost going back to formative ones, like White Noise or Silver Apples.


Avey and Geo on Silver Jews' "Starlite Walker"
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Avey Tare: Just coming from the time we made mixes for each other. There was times I’d make mixes for Brian of seven-inches I had, and I’d have the record on the wrong speed. The song starts and I’d switch it, so he’s used to it being like rrrrrrRRRRR.

Geologist: The first Silver Jews album, I can’t listen to it without being like, ‘That’s wrong.’ I asked Dave to make a copy for me. He had it on 33 and you can hear him hit the 45 button.

Avey Tare: And now we try to do that with our music! Now we’re like, “Get the tape to bend more!” There was this weird thing going on with the tape machines when we were recording. They took a little while to catch up to each other because we were syncing them when we were recording the record. We’d be waiting for the tapes to catch up and they’d go WwrwrwrwrwrUhhhh [speeding up sound]. Why don’t we just go back and record all that stuff?


Avey on artist Harry Smith
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Avey Tare: I appreciate him because of his Renaissance Man quality. Just being into things like collecting the eggs, the film stuff, the musical compilations. It’s definitely awesome. He makes up stories and blends in things like Aleister Crowley and Jung and that kind of thing. He just seems like a really interesting individual to me.


Geo on local Baltimore punk band
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Geologist: When I was 13, my babysitter’s boyfriend played in a punk band. He was a senior in high school. They made a cassette. They had sent it off to a manufacturing plant and got a cover made. I was like, “You can’t just make a cassette!” I remember buying it and showing it to friends being like: “There’s a band in our town.” It was such a big deal. They wanted to sound like a British punk band, so they wanted you to pronounce it ‘smoll.’ That’s the only thing I remember.


Avey on Skip Spence's "Oar"
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Avey Tare: Just that dark, moody atmosphere that I feel like me, and Brian especially, have really liked in music since high school — kind of darker, mellower stuff. Our sound guy, Chris, [Oar is] like his favorite record of all time, which is kind of interesting to say that that’d be somebody’s favorite record of all time because it is kind of super-dark and super-weird.


Avey on "Spirit of the Beehive"
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Avey Tare: It’s a great Spanish movie. It has this dreamlike quality to it. It’s super dark but really hits home in a way.


Deakin, Geo, and Avey on music label Sublime Frequencies
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Deakin: There’s just a duality to Sublime Frequencies titles. They’re lo-fi recordings but the duality of the instruments they were using was clearly their version of pop music, theatrical music, but at the same time recorded in a lo-fi way.

Geologist: I remember Scott Colburn recording 20 or 30 reels of Sun City Girls for like a month, really hi-fi, sounded good. And almost none of it came out. When I asked him about it, he was like, “Alan just likes shit that sounds like it was record on a boombox.”

Avey Tare: That style of that music is kind of alien to us — Southeast Asia. It always comes up when we’re making certain things. Lets do these bursts here like they do…


Avey and Geo on Sun City Girls' "Jack's Creek"
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Avey Tare: It was actually the first Sun City Girls record I bought. Pavement had mentioned the Sun City Girls as this great band. I was on a trip to New York…

Geologist: Actually, we were going to see Pavement!

Avey Tare: …And I was like all right, I wanna check this out. There was this one piece on it, “Gurnam.” It’s this long narrative of them improvising a story, talking to each other like these backwoods guys. It gets really scary. They bring in all these weird sounds in the background really subtly. So you’re like, “Is there a sound there or am I just making this into this weird haunted environment.” A lot of it doesn’t even make any sense, but you kind of make it into your own — whatever my mood was. I just assumed they were tapped into this thing I was tapped into. I guess cause Josh and I were into theater too in high school and it kind of fit that realm for me. It was part of our humor any way to talk to each other in weird voices and charcters.


Avey and Geo on Texas Chainsaw Massacre
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Avey Tare: I had read somewhere in high school that the soundtrack to Texas Chainsaw Massacre being described as musique concrète in Rolling Stone or something. I was like ‘music concrete?”

Geologist: I thought that was the name of the soundtrack.

Avey Tare: I never heard that term before when I was in high school. It had always been a goal from that point on: I’m gonna find the soundtrack to Texas Chainsaw Massacre on vinyl someday. And it, in fact, doesn’t exist. I think that was the first type of sound-oriented music I really got into and connected to. Some of those sounds on there sound like weird violin-industrial errrnwhiirrrrnnn. How does he get those sounds? I wanna know how to make sounds like that.

Geologist: It made us experiment with things in our own house. I remember this one time we had this comb, and you put it up to you ear and use your thumbnail. It sounded like a moment in Texas Chainsaw Massacre; and maybe that’s how they did that sound. If you take this thing from the kitchen and do this with it. It’s fun!

Avey Tare: It pushed me and Brian to start making music like that. Lets just bang on a lot of shit for a couple of hours, put it through delay, and make it into something that actually makes sense


Geo on Thinking Fellers Union Local 282
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Geologist: I think Stephen Malkmus or Mark Ibold from Pavement, one of those guys, was a big fan: brought them on tour, mentioned them in an interview. They were sort of, in high school, aside from Pavement, one of the bigger indie rock influences. They had a really dark sense of humor. Like their songs can be really weird and twisted, which we were into because it felt psychedelic but it didn’t sound like psychedelic rock. Every time somebody came to us in interviews and were like, “Oh, you seem like you’re fans of the Beach Boys or Pink Floyd or whoever,” Dave and I would always be like, “When is the first time someone’s actually going to pick up on Thinking Fellers being a huge influence?” We started joking, we were just going to bring them up constantly until we force someone to pay them enough money to reunite. And then luck would have it, it got to be us at ATP.


Avey and Panda on Traxman
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Avey Tare Yeah, it feels really alien. Our friend kind of pointed that record out to me, he played me that record in his car. He just put this new sub-system in his car. This is crazy. It might end up being my favorite record of the year. I like that it has a Steve Reich kind of [feel] — the repetitive vocal samples looped, they rhythms suddenly change.

Panda Bear: It’s really relentless.


Geo on Valerie and Her Week of Wonders
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Geologist: Just the idea that I don’t have to know what’s happening in a film. Like, I can remember being on a New York City bus and talking about ODDSAC. Originally that was supposed to start out as a concert film and we were going to put experimental vignettes or whatever you call them in between just for fun. I remember there was something like, “Well, don’t we need something to tie it all together?” Dave and I were on one of those intensely crowded busses on the way to the practice space and just being like, “You know, there are so many movies that we don’t know what is going on in them that are amazing to watch. Instead of calling this thing a film, let’s just call it a visual album.”

And as pretentious as that may sound, we can look at these things as inspiration. Like Hausu or Possession or Color of Pomegranates or Spirit of the Beehive: We don’t know what the hell they’re really trying to say fully, or what the plot is, but we like them the same way that we can just put on a record and listen to a record whether or not there’s lyrics that we understand. That was a very liberating moment with ODDSAC where we were just like, “We can do whatever the fuck we want. As long as it’s enjoyable to watch.”


Panda, Geo, and Avey on Vladislav Delay's "Mutila"
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Panda Bear: We’d gotten into electronic music but this sounded…vague. Everything was so vague and muted.

Geologist: It wasn’t sharp and in-your-face, it wasn’t tape music that sounded old.

Avey Tare: It would almost start like it wouldn’t be anything at all. Just rumbling coming from the speaker and then over time you realize, “Wait…all these rhythms are coming together.” Things would just come out of the murkiness and come together. It was just building weird pops and clicks into rhythms.

Geologist: The three of us went to see him. It was the summer that the three of us were playing a lot and starting the seeds of Danse Manatee. Just a lot of cool sounds.


Deakin and Avey on White Noise (band)
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Deakin: We used to spend time outside on this porch [of the house] Dave’s family lived in. I remember that record coming on. I might have been having a [psychedelic] experience of some sort. It was just incredible. It was something I think I already understood. These guys were really formative for me, to be making stuff that I saw using “sounds” as opposed to using specific instruments to create incredibly strong images. It led to me asking Brian for help.

Avey Tare: Josh was on acid and maybe Noah was on acid. We were just trying to do what we usually do. Just sit around and play each other music. And we definitely noticed that Josh was getting a little carried away in the sounds and acting out different scenarios!


Geo on (1964 film) Woman in the Dunes
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Geologist: The black and white lighting and how there’s almost an ambient feel to that movie, that’s what I liked about that movie. It’s almost like putting on an ambient record. You have to remember, too, we’re referencing the VHS copy that Kim’s Video used to have or something. When I think of Woman in the Dunes I think of this grainy VHS copy where you can really barely make out what was happening in the movie, it was just black and white contrast the entire time.


Avey on (Roger Corman film) Xtro
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Avey Tare: I think one of the reasons I really like horror is kind of once you go there all boundaries are broken. It’s kind of like anything can happen, it doesn’t really matter. A little magician midget can appear suddenly and no questions asked.


Avey and Geo on Neil Young's "Chrome Dreams"
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Avey Tare: Chrome Dreams had a lot of tracks and outtakes from albums. It was a lot of darker, mellower stuff like “Look Out For My Love” or “Pocahontas” or some of these weird, more spaced-out, mellow ones. The darker, stonier stuff made the biggest impression on me in terms of his stuff.

Geologist: [Young] is a good reminder sometimes that less is more and imperfection is better than perfection. It’s obvious that a lot of people that listen to Animal Collective don’t always get the emotional quality in the melodies, but that part of it is always there. And Neil Young pretty consistently throughout his career always writes a really good, simple melody.
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Post Posted:

thanks Fovrodi

I'm glad that Geo likes Better Off Alone
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Sonic Boom on working on Tomboy, Panda's sound
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Q: hey boom what was noah's direction for the sound of this the first time you guys met on it? I'm curious if you knew what you wanted to do before vs after you heard it. in other words, how did your preconceived notion of what panda should sound like line up to what you felt it should sound like in the end.

A: i definately didnt know what i wanted to do b4 i heard it .... I understood he was leaving behind the PersonPitch deal to the copyists . actually 2/3 yrs ago he told me there were no plans for a new PB lp .I voiced my extreme distress at that , ofcourse ......

I first heard Tomboy -song - from the single via my buddy , Dodge , and I was immediately impressed with the tourne volte PB had undertaken .
I like the singles , a lot , but he wanted me to sort of just maximise the thing & to exagerate the already extant qualitities . I think he always planned to do fuller mixes though .
As I think i said b4 , he gave me a lot of rope .
As a boss , he's kindof amazing . u wont b surprised i'm sure .
He let me add & remove parts . very hands off , but with great calls sparingly given to overt effect . some people make these apparently strange decisions that are invisibly perceptive ...... I'm sure i come over all gay about this shit , but its such sweet fulfillment of what I enjoy . This music just totally makes my soul glow like little else .
Ofcourse , I think he has a 'sound' and whilst we tried to ignore that at first, it was impossible .........
pk x
Sonic on YCCOM, sequencing Tomboy
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Q: God, You Can Count On Me will probably be one of the best opening tracks EVER.

When the guitar comes in under the acapella it is just soooo beautiful...

PANDA AND SONIC THANKKKKKK YOUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU

A:de rien mes copains . glad its hitting the same spot 4 u 2.
i know u guys are all hung up on single-itis / 1st version u heard thing , and oh-so scared of 'change' but YCCOM was always a heart stopper for me .
It never occurred to me to suggest 2 open with anything else . It's an invitation & a lead-in to the l.p. - quite a rollercoaster of emotions & moods in itself .
I think i'm good with sequencing songs , but i was very touched that NL went with my suggestions .
As I say , terms like 'mixer' or 'producer' are vague -It's really just all about the music & getting over the vision from PB to u'all .
whatever the price , the product justifies it . I worked real hard , but it felt like a holiday in my head .
I've been TOTALLY ruined lately . working for/with PB ,mgmt , Sun Araw , Moon Duo , the red crayola , D&B , Cheval Sombre is just like a long beautiful soul kiss .

Its a longer version of yccom too if u chek . actually , most trax are .
I pasted in the near acapella start so it has an extra 'round' in it .
oh yeah - i plan an xmas mix of that . I figure i got time.....haha
hopefully , i'll be able to let y'all hear that come yule !!
so many missions , so little tide .......

oh yeah - look out for the inscriptions on the lp vinyl run-out ........
Sonic Boom on Msgboard culture,
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It is kool tho' that u guys have all been so kind to me . the initial ' who the fuck is this wanker ' greeting seems to've levelled out . it's so easy to post hate & so hard to retract it .
I was warned u guys'd eat me alive ..........so thank you for tolerating my posts & my bad jokes .
i think i embarrassed Noah by telling him that I felt i had evolved thru Tomboy into a (slightly) better person . I felt i learnt a lot from him & his ways & reactions & those bloody melting sentiments . (person pitch too , but not THIS much)
I think we all surf the seas of life , and some peoples style is just unassumingly inspiring . but u guys know this anyway , i know .....pk x
wrote:
we don't eat anyone alive surely. maybe overly appreciative, but good music affects people in different ways. as passionate as i am about music it just seems natural to desire to know more about how it was made and enjoy the company of people who feel similarly about it. that's pretty much what this board is to me.

no big deel but ,if u check the initial posts re: me ,they were hardly kind.
no grudges tho . I might've had a little chuckle to myself at the naive dissing & 'harshing' from some of the hoobs heres .(cheers nl 4 that 'harshing' phrase...and for 'Janky' )....haha...and he thinks I spk a differant language !!
the passion is all good though , and I'm getting real good at biting my lip ( i told u i learnt something !!) - which is 99% of the time a good move . no knee jerk connected to the tongue jerk connected to the hurt jerk .
Sonic on his fave AC albums
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Q: sonic, have you ever given a good listen to the animal collective records ?

A: sort of , not really . Its pretty new to me . I guess I have about 10 of the full lengths . I have'nt listened to any of them more that 5 or 6 times except mpp- i listen to 'summertime clothes' alot - i'd 've dug to've mixed that . I got them all in a short span , so i'm still feeling thru .
i like campfire songs & mpp & fbk i guess the most . I like down there/aveytare a bunch too .
i dunno quite how AC passed me by till now . a friend turned me on to PB PP on release and its all been curioser & curioser ever since .

Q: Thanks for the info Sonic. By the way I saw you said you haven't really listened to all of AC's albums but the one you definitely should give a listen to is Sung Tongs. It's just Noah and Dave with acoustic guitars, drums, and some effects. It's just crazy to listen to that and then MPP and hear how versatile they are as musicians .

A: i hav sung tongs . i like it too . its a lot to catch up on . they need a comp ........re-mixed ?
Sonic on Last Night at the Jetty bass part
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Noah played the bass part u hear on the single- its on keys though i think , I re-tracked it in parallel with a 2nd bass synth sound at Blanker Unsinn .plus it has processing on Noah's original . nite pk x
Sonic on accapella/instrumental mixes, various Tomboy tweaks/edits
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Q: .... Sonic, your mix of You Can Count on Me gave me fucking chills man. I fucking love the intro so much. Noah did a great job with his mix it's easily one of my favorite tracks on Tomboy that I've heard so far. But the acapella intro. My god dude. Fucking chills. By the way, what's that sound you added to Slow Motion? It's like a really loud snare sound. Totally digging that.

A: thank you . yeah...that songs so cool. instant classic.....
I think he kind of employs that early plain song going polyphonic kind of format . using parallels . it's not as 'blues' as the beach boys .
theres instrumental & accappella mixes of EVERY song . theres still debate over it , but IF aany should surface you'll see that the instrumentals on some of these are mindblowing - alsatian darn for example is stunning . with the accapellas , songs like YCCOM ......its just sublime .
I really had fun doing that sort of 'messing' .hence previous posts . I think its all in keeping . I dont do anything 'for the sake of it' . That song was too short , right !! when we tried it , with that exagerated kick in after it - we inserted extra miliseconds of 'false time ' for impact too...... haha . that rings my bell ......

'that sound ' in Slow Motion is my jaw hitting the floor . haha
no , really - its a MOISTURIZER . a dual spring reverb - accessible outside the case , with multiband vc filter & modulation source ....as PB would say , its totally 'sick' PK PT 2
Sonic on Tomboy lyrics
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Q: There's going to be a lyric sheet included with the album, right? I'm pretty interested in reading the lyrics for Scheherezade, I could never understand a single word in the live versions.

A: sadly , think not . But i think it'll exist after that . I know PB's thinking on it , but he , ofcourse ius the last person to realise how important these lyrics are . I was so pleased he didnt nix my 'clarified' vocals . I already been all mushy about how it effects me , so....i think it'll come .
Sheherezade is mantric as drone , lyric wise .succinct.....
Sonic on emailing Panda
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Q: Hey, Sonic. I got a question for you. In the Panda Bear DJ set on NPR, Noah said that you guys met once, on the final day of mixing. Was communicating through email a difficult thing to do? How did that work?

A: no . it was kind of easy.......we emailed a lot....it felt incredibly natural somehow . I felt i'd known him thru his music a little & ...........there was a kind of deja voodoo .
sometimes u meet people and it just seems to click .
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------
BenPuphey :

sonic, hows the mastering of the governors island boot coming along? is it done yet?

yes. already for D-day . maxed out . ny taper guy did a nice job , so it's sounding pretty ace now .
Sonic on his part in Slow Motion, mastering Governor's Island boot
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t hese posts a re getting screwed , b ut I w as s aying It w as me playing the 'Ekdahl' o n Slow Motion . its a killer unit t hat i only 'touch upon' in t hat track .haha

the Governors Island bonus w as recorded b y NYC taper , b ut I mastered it (it 's a subtle cleaning u p & optimising o f t he balance so the frequencies get all nice & smoochy- p retty subtle) . It 's all dependant on t he recording , an d u can 3 cheer NYC_taper for t hat .
hip hip !! replacement
hip hip !! replacement
hip hip !! april filter !!
hop e t hats clear n ow
pk x
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all my bitches cook grits

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NollieNorth



Joined: Sun Apr 21, 2019 7:46 am

Post Posted:

Q: Avey,
You’ve heard a million times that the sounds extruding from your mouth and fingers and that of your band mates’ have helped so many fans with the attenuation to life’s adversities. I am one of the masses in that way and I too express my gratitude for your spirit.

Will you considering playing my wedding (currently still single)? If so, will you accept a pallet of PBR as payment?

Also, advice on finding a cute little anco bunny to settle down with?

Finally,
Is mouth wooed her about the more sensitive side to keeping a lady happy?

Thank you Avey, panda, geo, Deakin and Jeremy for filling the void of spirituality Jesus could not. AC is my spirit animal.
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cheyrou
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Joined: Sun Sep 29, 2013 5:58 pm
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Post Posted:

yo fovrodi i know you and i have had ur differences what with all the times youve harassed me and threatened me with hyper violence but u aint gotta atone for your sins by livng the life of an AC monk dont nobody give af abt panda bears signature dorito flavor or that he still mains whackass original 8 characters in smash. i FORGIVE u my dude
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Pitchfork gave Time Skiffs an 7.4 BMM but that’s not good enough. Why not 9 or higher? Protest the review and demand they raise its score! “I take the AnCo pledge”
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Fovrodi
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Joined: Tue Mar 18, 2014 5:48 pm
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Post Posted:

Ok thank u
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Dallou


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Post Posted:

Beautiful exchange, the buoys would be proud
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Joined: Sun May 03, 2015 12:48 am
Location: Auckland, NZ

Post Posted:

NollieNorth wrote:
Finally,
Is mouth wooed her about the more sensitive side to keeping a lady happy?

Oh that's good. Pairs well with Good Lovin Outside
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Post Posted:

Panda on NBA finals prediction
Spoiler: show
Q: Noah who do you have in the nba finals this year?
A: nugs
Panda on soccer
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Q: Panda do you think Benfica will do well this year?
A: europe looking pretty bad...but maybe thatll help focus on the league...neves rocks
Panda on Bjork
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Q: Hey guys! I recently saw Björk had mentioned loving you guys around her Volta era and I was so excited to see that connection, I'd love to know if it's reciprocated at all and what you think of her music!
A: were all big fans for sure
Panda on Mitch Hedberg reference in carrots
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Q: Does the lyric " that old good boy Mitch just wanted to tell some jokes" off of the song Good Girl / Carrots refer to Mitch Hedberg?
A: yes indeed
Panda on cannibalism
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Q: If you had to eat your band members in an “alive” situation in what order would you eat them?

A: id eat myself first
Panda's favorite high school subject
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Q: What were your favourite subjects in highschool? I’m in math and I’m questioning my sanity

A: loved math...objectivity like a warm blanket
Panda on voice care
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Q: Noah, for the singers out there, how do you take care of your voice?
A: sun fucks me up so i stay shaded...i like to sing with opening bands or other bands before if im really gonna let loose but mostly thats about being able to go for a couple days or more
Panda on collaboration/remixing
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Q: This question is for Noah (Panda Bear)

Big fan of your solo work and recent collaborations… is there any chance of you possibly collaborating with someone like Julian Casablancas or a band like Turnstile someday ?

A: im a fan of both...kinda did turnstile w the angeldust rmx
Panda on Dallas Mavericks
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Q: hey panda! do you think the mavs will crash and burn this year with their decision to have rookies as defenders?

A: yea as great as luka is i just dont know u can win these days w that kind of "helio centric" (lol) player
Panda on picking a setlist
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Q: When touring as Animal Collective how do you decide each night’s setlist? Do you take turns? I remember one show in Seattle where Abby told me she picked the setlist and I thought that was really cool. Thanks

A: i almost never do them cuz we figure mine are cursed...mostly the other 3 guys but well get a wild card goin sometimes
Panda on Wolfgang Voigt
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Q: Hi Noah, Hi Deak!

For Noah, what is your favorite work of Wolfgang Voigt? I read somewhere that “Visiting Friends” was a homage to GAS, and he’s named in the liner notes for Person Pitch. I was curious what albums of his you liked the most, or if maybe if you were a Mike Ink or Love Inc. kind of guy lol. I’m not sure how much you know about him, but I love a lot of his work.

A: yea we love(d) gas...gas pop huge for us
Panda on Maria Reis
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Q: What up and coming/recently popular artists are you listening to today?
A: maria reis around here i like a lot
Panda reflects on Buoys
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Q: Panda I’ve been listening to buoys a lot this last week and I’ve been falling in love with it all over again. How do you feel about the record at this point? Are you excited for the next project? And how do you think they may relate? Also y’all have a way of putting the listener in a state of meditation how do you go about that while creating the music do you plan it out to be that way or do you just let it happen? Love you guys y’all rock thanks

A: heard it again a while back and enjoyed it or felt good about it...very excited for the new thing but still trying to wrap my head around it...im sure there will be corollarys but at least on the surface and as i imagine it it will sound pretty different...buoys maybe the beginning of a change for me but not the end point
Panda on favorite footballer
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Q: To both, who is your favorite footballer of all time?

A: Painting With

zidane maybe
Panda on working with Daft Punk
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Q: Noah, how was it working and making a song with with daft punk?

A: the best...a dream come true theyre the coolest
Panda on being in GTA and fave Daft Punk song
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Q: Panda Bear, how does it feel for your music to be featured in a Grand Theft Auto game? and what is your personal favourite Daft Punk track?

A: gta was a dream for me (thanks frank)...fresh or digital love maybe
Noah & Josh on music listening/sharing habits
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Q: How often do you all listen to music casually? Do you all send each other music you are interested in or how do you share music you love with the people you love?

A: yeah. sharing music is pretty common. most of the time it's via Apple Music or Spotify links for better or worse. sometimes YouTube links. but my favorite is still just being in person and having someone put something on in a car or at home that grabs me. I love asking "dude... what is this?!"



-josh

A: lucky to have friends send me stuff as i dont listen that often at home...mostly to cook...hope alls good
Josh on honesty in interviews and new solo album
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Q: josh i just read your interview on rym and have to say it was one of the best q&a sessions i've read in years. i learned a ton from that and appreciated your vulnerability and candor. sleep cycle is one of my favorite albums of all time and to hear that you struggle(d) with a lot of the same self doubt issues I feel with my own work was comforting in a way.

i guess my question is, despite that record being arduous and a real labor to create, do you have any plans to do a follow up solo album in the future?

cheers!

A: thanks for saying so. I feel funny being so open about all of that. but I also appreciate that it is maybe helpful for other people. I have certainly gotten a lot of support by just being aware of other people dealing with similar things and pushing through.

I definitely have plans for another record. hopefully many more. I have quite a few songs in various stages of composition right now and I hope to get into recording stuff later this winter.

-josh
Josh and Noah on the gestation of a song
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Q: How do you keep yourselves from getting too attached to a version of a song before you record it? Since you play them live for a few years before laying em down in the studio where it’s bound to change a little bit, do you have to consciously keep an emotional distance? Has this ever been an issue?

A: it's important to allow a song to be a living entity I think. if you get too attached to one version of it, you run the risk of it becoming brittle and dead. of course one hopes that they find the balance between allowing evolution and not losing the plot. but I think it's important to allow the energy to flow. generally if there is a shift in a song version it is because one or more of us is feeling bored or uncomfortable with the current version. more often than not the drive to push something further or change something that feels stale has led to good things I feel. the studio version isn't necessarily the "ideal" version if that is even a thing. it is just where the song is at that moment and how we feel most excited by it at that time.

-josh

A: idk i guess i dont get too attached to things...sometimes it can be difficult getting into the space of an earlier song...changing it or shifting it around can alleviate those issues sometimes
Panda explains "slap on a jelly ass" lyric
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Q: panda bear what does “a slap on a jelly ass” mean ???

A: was looking for something kind of perverse and surprising
Panda on Mountain Game/Red Dead Redemption
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Q: Hi! A few years ago, you guys mentioned that “Mountain Game” was recorded for Red Dead Redemption. How did that collab with Rockstar come about and why didn’t it work out?

Particularly curious since I know it was originally an Avey Tare song, and also bc Noah is a big gamer. Thanks!

A: yea i was super pumped to get it into the game...one of my favorites...they just passed on it ultimately...no hard feelings cant wait for gta 6
Josh and Noah on meeting musicians they've been inspired by
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Q: hey guys! this is might be a long one but bear with me ?

in may of 2011, i was 15 years old. my dad had taken me from copenhagen to berlin to see your concert at astra kulturhaus.. and that same day i met you guys (avey, geo, panda) near the venue !!! you guys were hanging out with Bradford from Deerhunter at the time, and my autistic teenage self couldn’t have been more starstruck.. everyone was so nice to me. i’ve had nothing but love and respect for you guys since those days, and your band was a major reason why i started delving deeper into indie music as a whole. now, 4 anco concerts later, i have a question!

have any of you ever met a musician or artist that you looked up to ? if so, did it influence how you receive fans and generally interacting with them?

thank you , as cliché as it may sound, your music changed everything for me!

(Panda) A: thanks bud...big one for me was doing our first tour with black dice...big fan of the band but also so much respect for those guys so i feel like i was taking notes all the time

(Josh) A: I've met quite a few people that I look up to. What has generally stood out to me is people who are real with themselves which includes being grounded in common humanity. though I understand what it feels like to be awed by someone's presence. we are all human beings with fairly common struggles. I try as best as I can to disarm people who come at me with a lot of charge because I think that we probably have more in common than not.

-josh
Josh and Noah on vinyl releases of self-titled and ODDSAC
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Q: What are the odds there of there ever being vinyl releases of ODDSAC, Campfire Songs, and my personal favourite... Panda Bear (1999). I feel like these are some of your most important releases, but due to formatting might get overlooked.

(Panda): pb st never gonna happen...kinda hate it tbh...would love to do an oddsac one maybe we can get it goin

(Josh): low but not out of the question.



campfire songs is tough cause I think the side splits would be tricky.

ODDSAC is still something that we ultimately feel is meant to be seen and heard and not separated.



-josh

Q: Q: alternatively, is there a way for ODDSAC to be platformed somewhere online?

A: we've been trying. ODDly difficult.
Josh on harmony/songwriting
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Q: How do you approach harmony, ie: are you carefully plotting out chord progressions or do you flush those things out later after melodic ideas come to fruition?

A: I'm kind of a discovery guy. everything comes from the thing before it. so I don't really pre conceive much of anything. A rhythm inspires a an instrument, inspires a chord progression, inspires a melody, inspires a harmony. etc.

-josh
Josh and Noah on the state of the music industry
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Q: In light of the growing challenge for independent artists to sustain themselves solely through their craft and the need for day jobs or alternative support, your commitment to not compromise your artistic vision has always been inspirational to me.

My question is, should musicians continue pursuing the conventional route of the music industry, seeking support through labels, or should they focus on organically establishing their own presence through platforms like Bandcamp, resisting the dominance of streaming?

Also what are the best ways we can support you guys right now ?

Panda: anything helps thank u...coming to the (eventual) shows and getting merch is big for sure...as much as ive had a good experience w domino i might say go it on your own at least at first...i think just playing and writing and recording all the time u cant go wrong

Josh: I agree with noah but would add. whatever way feels like it allows for you to create the easiest. that is the most important thing. if you get rigid about how you are supposed to do it but that way prevents you from creating than you aren't doing yourself any favors. there is something legitimate in all of the ways to release and promote. you just need to find your best fit. I agree with noah though that self generating and maybe trying it yourself first is a good thing. if anything it would show a label that you are serious and working hard and hopefully already generating your own buzz. then if you want to consider a label you'll have a better sense of what is at stake.

and yeah... live shows and buying merch directly from our online store is probably the most direct way.

-josh
Josh and Noah on recent reads
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Q: What books have you been reading recently?

A: been digging back into my HP Lovecraft for the season.

short stories by Joy Williams

No Bad Parts - Richard Schwartz



-josh

PB: i dont read books mostly...but im excited to read year of magical thinking
Josh and Noah on deciding when something is done
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Q: Hi ! I m writing from France, sorry for my english. What advice would you give to a Guy (Big fan bty) who's triying to finish a music album from 8 years now ? :) How do you Say to yourselves, yeah it's great let's stop now and give it to the audience ?

PB: let it rip

A: you'll learn more from moving forward than you will by holding on to something until it is "perfect". it won't ever be perfect and all you are doing is hiding from the next creative process. just let it go and move forward.

-josh
Josh on potential gear changes
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Q: Are you guys using any new gear(or new to you gear) for the 2 albums you want to record soon? I know Noah & Dave use elektron quite a bit--what do you plan to use at the solo shows you have coming up, Josh?

A: not sure yet. Kind of still feeling it out. a big challenge for me of late is that the instrument I continue to feel most inspired by is the piano. and it's not the same to play a digital piano. so most of the time in my studio when I am playing and writing, piano is the thing. but this is not an instrument that I can tour with realistically. so I am sort of trying to figure out how to translate the feeling of openness I feel on that instrument to other mediums. I do often use the Octatrack so I could imagine that making it into the rotation. and I have begun finally to mess around with modular synth stuff and have made a few things that way. but I am not sure if I feel comfortable enough yet to base a set off of that

-josh
Panda bear on From a Beach
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Q: Hi guys. You have been my favorite band for more than 15 years and one of my favorite tunes is one called (or rumored to be called maybe) "Maya" or "From A Beach", and it's only been played live. I am going to assume it won't be recorded in studio and maybe that time has passed, but is there anything you can tell me about this song? Was it supposed to be on a record or EP? Will it ever be in your repertoire again? Thanks and big big love.

A: hey...just never figured this one out...one of the casualties of war i suppose...maybe might have made it to fall be kind...think we considered it for that
Panda Bear's least favorite question
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Q: What's your least favorite question to be asked about Animal Collective and/or your solo work?

A: always glad to be talked to about stuff but the "how does environment shape what u do" not my favorite...get it a lot i guess
Panda's favorite Josh song
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Q: Josh - What is your favorite Noah song?

Noah - What is your favorite Josh song?

A: royal and desire but stuff changes
Current music in Josh and Noah's rotation
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Q: Huge fan! What is on your playlist/listening rotation right now? What new artists are you most excited to hear more from?

PB: liked dan lopatins new one...dean blunt...theres a record called marshmellow by the sweet enoughs that ive been listening to sometimes...and the spotify dj is the best feel like hes my friend kinda

Josh: been listening to a lot of Ariel Kalma. Pharoah by Pharaoh Sanders. Sleep by Robert Wyatt. new Slauson Malone 1.



-josh
PB on visual-less version of ODDSAC
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Q: With ODDSAC material now in live rotation, have you given any potential second thoughts to releasing ODDSAC in audio form?

A: would be cool i think were all down...just a long list of to dos i guess
PB on dream collaborations
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Q: If you guys could pick anyone to collaborate with, dead or alive, who would it be?

A: scott walker...chad hugo...badu...dean blunt...moondog lots of people
Panda on Genie's Open inspiration
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Q: Are there any artists in particular that inspired the motorik section on Genies Open?

A: ccr
Panda & Josh on gas station snack of choice
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Q: For both, you’re on the road, you stop at a gas station, what is your go to snack pickup? Also in Fireworks (my favorite of y’alls), what is the sample that plays around the 3 minute mark that sounds like a monkey?

PB: funyuns all day...not sure about the sample thats probably geos

Josh: tangy asian fusion Cheetos
Josh on band's legacy
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Q: Hey guys! I just want to start off saying you guys are my favourite band of all time and I loved the new album like crazy!

This might be a "heavier" question to ask but I figured I'd give it a shot. With how singular and unique you guys have been for the last 25 years and with how much you've paved the way for indie music and its possibilities, do you guys ever think of your legacy as musicians and if you do is there a particular way you would like to be remembered?

Again, thank you for making such amazing music for so long and hopefully the new album's success exceeds your expectations! :))

A: really just to be seen as having done something unique to us. would never expect what we do to be for everyone. but I hope that it is remembered as singular to us.

-josh
PB's favorite breakfast
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Q: what’s your favorite breakfast

A: 2 clementines
Josh and Noah on motivation/creativity
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Q: Hey, guys. Thanks for doing the AMA. I’m a fairly new, but big, fan of your work and have listened to your discography nonstop since the release of Time Skiffs. It’s been awesome tracking your evolution album to album. My question is this: what are some of the most significant ways that your bandmates have affected your sensibilities in terms of your personal growth as a musician? I feel like some songs showcase one individual’s “sound” but obviously the music is a collective effort, so it would be interesting to know how you feel your band mates have influenced your personal music making over time. I love your guys’ work and I look forward to what comes next.

PB: the other guys inspire me and motivate me in so many ways...musical and other...kinda hard to target specific things...maybe an easy one is work ethic...def inspired to crank it up by dave and brian

A: echo noah.

I think work ethic is something that have been challenged and inspired by. I have learned so much being around people who push that hard all of the time. but also just the practice of love in the context of family. I think we have put so much work into ourselves over the years as individuals and as a group and continue to learn how to be better versions of ourselves to and for each other and ourselves.



-josh
Josh's halloween/horror recommendations
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Q: Josh, I was touched by your openness about your mental health this week and I felt empowered as an artist who has similar struggles. Thank you for sharing, I am sure I am not alone when I say it impacted me.

Any good Halloween movie recs for this month???

A: my list is just classics that I think anyone should see. sorry if it's boring but I can't think of any deep cuts atm and I am often surprised that people have not seen things I think everyone has.

Evil Dead 2

the Shining

Rosemary's Baby

Texas Chainsaw Massacre.

The Exorcist

The Tenant

Don't Look Now

-josh
PB on biggest non-musical influence
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Q: What mediums of art besides music do you find to have the biggest influence on your work?

A: games...movies but people maybe the most
PB on favorite venues
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Q: What are some of y’all’s favorite places to play gigs?

A: zdb...bowery ballroom...union transfer...930...primavera (how it used to be)...end of the road both times was sick...green man even tho first time was a doozie
PB on longform pieces a la Swallow at the Hollow
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Q: I love Swallow at the hallow, would you consider doing more longform pieces or mixtapes to release things quicker in the future?

A: yea i like that one too...feel like ive got a lot of stuff now....might be able to get something like that goin again
PB on initial plans for TS/IIN
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Q: Hey guys!

I wanted to ask two questions:

If COVID never happened, and you were able to record all of the songs from Time Skiffs and Isn't it Now? at the same time and ideally how you wanted them, did you have a plan or preferred tracklist for the albums/EPs if you had all of the songs available at the same time?

And looking back at recording Time Skiffs remotely, is there anything that sticks out to you that you would have changed or done a little differently had you been able to record it all in person?

Thanks for your time and much love for everything your music has done for me over many, many years <3

A: hadnt thought about sequencing or tracklist or anything like that...we were just gonna try and get to all of em and then see what felt good to do w them...tho i dont regret it recording remote was a concession...thanks hope alls good
PBs favorite AC songs
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Q: Hi guys! Loving the new album.

What are your all-time favourite Animal Collective songs, and why?

A: it changes but chores of mine...royal by josh...defeat or cherokee by dave
Josh on solo careers of the band
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Q: Is the freedom to have solo careers the key to your longevity? You all have incredible solo albums. You really seem to respect one another's freedom to create

A: absolutely. we always intended to be a loose group that had a lot of different ways of outputting our creativity. we did not even have or use the name Animal Collective until after we had already put out Spirit, Danse Manatee, Hollindagain, and Campire Songs. the reason is that we wanted to be seen as tight nit group of people that was responsible for linked but individuated releases. At a certain point for various reasons we were compelled to pick a singular name to encompass it all. but we held on to the idea that we would always have many outlets including solo work. I am certain that if had not done this that the group would have splintered a long time ago. it's really important for us to feel like we can spread out and express ourselves outside of the group efforts.

-josh
PB on the child-like nature of the band's music
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Q: I think a lot of people would agree that your sound over the course of these last two releases (the music you've made since 2018) has a much more mature sound than much of your previous work. In the 2000's I would definitely describe your music as having a childlike aspect to it which seems to have been replaced with more introspective and adult themes. Would you say that where you all are in your lives is a big influence on your sound?

(edit) Since people are talking video games, playing Skate 3 when I was 10 got me into you guys with Summertime Clothes!

A: yea always...even tho were going for maybe more adult type expressions id hope we never lose the child spirit and curiosity
PB on vocal fx for Person Pitch tour
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Q: For Noah, When you were doing touring for person pitch how did you do vocal effects. did you use one of the 303s for vocal fx or were the 303s just for samples and you had a seperate effects unit for your vocals?

A: used one of the 303s yea...either the verb or the an delay
PB on deciding an album's theme
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Q: When it comes to figuring out a sound or theme for a record, is it often a single song that sets the tone (similar to the way Defeat became the focal point of the sound for the Skiffs/Now era), or is it more often trying to chase a certain feeling or moment, or even moreso just exploring instrumentation/sounds that everyone is into in the moment (ie modular synthesizers for painting with, samplers for MPP following their use in PP and SJ)?

A: kind of all of the above...i dont remember it being a song like defeat feel like thats a first...often its a small collection of things but they might not be the same medium
Josh and Noah on choosing instruments
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Q: When starting a new project, how do you all reach an agreement on what instruments you will be playing in a way that it makes the project sound cohesive

And

2. What lead you both to keyboards and a more traditional drum kit for the time skiffs and isn’t it now albums

PB: as far as drumming...the james brown drummers...vids of karen carpenter...and the andersen paak tiny desk

Josh: When we first worked on Defeat in preparation for the Music Box show, I was playing a lot of piano. I thought it would be cool to write my parts on piano and have the venue provide a piano for the show. I enjoyed it so much and was just generally really falling back in love with the piano as an instrument. that combined with discussions about how to approach this era differently and we all kind of agreed that maybe less or no guitar would be a cool challenge. so I just stuck with keyboards. in general it's hard to describe the overall process of deciding what our overall approach will be other than to say we talk about it. we all bring some personal interest to the table and start comparing notes and find some sort of initial set of tools that we think will make an interesting pairing and then we give it a go. if something isn't sticking though we change it up.

-josh
PB on choosing remix projects
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Q: For Panda Bear: your remixes are always inspiring and unpredictable in the way that you usually transform the original into something completely different for you to sing over yourself. How do you decide whether or not to take on a remix request, and what’s your usual approach to then making something out of the original track?

Also, does remixing other artists’ songs scratch a different itch for you that writing your own music?

A: kinda boring answer but its a bunch of factors...sometimes i just dont feel like i have good time to devote to something...sometimes the song just feels really cool to me...sometimes im just looking to work on something
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Josh on favorite sounds
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Q: I know I’ve asked this before, but it’s truly one of my favorite things about y’all: both as a collective and in your solo careers, you’ve each found wonderful uses for ‘odd’ sounds and created melodies from unique instruments or samples. As a fan, I’m always fascinated by your creativity in this regard. So, with this new record, could you share some of your favorite sounds that you’ve produced and the stories behind them?

A: one of my favorite sounds on the record is Brian's Hurdy Gurdy. He got inspired to look into the instrument more after hearing a record by one of the greatest Hurdy Gurdy Players, Valentin Clastrier. Brian got the instrument in time for our first big jam session in 2019 and it has been a hallmark sound of this era. Time Skiffs and IIN?

-josh
Josh and Noah on influences, red velvet cupcake, and scores
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Q: Hey guys! Thanks for taking the time to do this. Your music is my favorite to listen to and has been a huge inspiration to me.

Question for both of ya: I was recently perusing the Centipedia Spin Magazine put out 11 years ago. I love digging into y’alls influences and was wondering for film specifically, have there been any releases in the past decade that have affected you deeply or served as influences? King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard also came up during this time, does their music interest you guys at all? If so any particular song/album?

For Josh: I was listening to you on the primitive man soundz podcast the other day, you mentioned that you did theatre in high school and that was how you originally met Dave. Does that medium still intrigue you as an artist? What are/were some of your favorite plays/musicals? I myself am a theatre artist so this was really cool to find out! Also do you ever regret eating that red velvet cupcake?

For Noah: You’ve mentioned before your love of gaming and more recently you mentioned your lack of interest in doing film scores. Would you ever do a score for a video game? Have you ever played the zero escape series?

Sorry for the barrage and appreciate anything y’all can touch on. Love to hear that some solo albums are in the works, anxious and grateful for everything you guys share with us. Hope you are well and thanks for the music <3

A: really dig a record called KMH by Lubomyr Melnyk. I find it very moving. Cate Le Bon has been killing it for some time now.

I left theatre pretty easily. It served a role in my life at the time but it's not ultimately a place where I actually felt comfortable even though I think I was pretty good at it for the time. I never really found my people tho and it just didn't hold a candle to the satisfaction and joy I found around music and out group. Theater is honestly not an art form I have spent much time with so I can't really name any faves.

I think memes like the red velvet thing are annoying. kindly, let it go. it was a non event.

-josh

PB: hey thanks...i really liked stars at noon...tindersticks soundtrack was really sick i thought...id def be down to do score for a game but lets see...
PB on Mr. Noah origins
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Q: Panda Bear, I went to your Pappy and Harriet’s show back in 2014 I believe. Do you remember a shy kid calling out “Mr Noah!” before giving you a CD? I was wondering if that was the reason why you named one of your songs/EP “Mr Noah” not long after? (I was that young fan btw)

P.S. Thank you for taking a pic with me and my brother there also, and for signing his vinyl of Person Pitch. I love all your projects

A: thanks! maybe it was from that idk actually...i get "mr noah" a lot around here in pt tho
Josh on carpentry and creativity
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Q: Loving the new album - Noah, thanks for staying behind after your Reset show in Bristol (UK) and taking the time to chat with me and another fan. I was the one with the frizzy brown hair and the Sung Tongs shirt - looking forward to hearing Sinister Grift!

Answer as many or as few as you like:

- Humour has always been an important part of AC music, and although the last few albums have had some pretty heavy songs (Defeat, Stride, Passerby), I was wondering if there were any songs from that era that have more of a humourous side for you - whether that’s in the lyrics, samples, or just funny memories from the writing/recording processes?

- In recent years it feels like both the AC fanbase and the wider music press have started to reject some of the popular narratives/misconceptions/memes about you, in favour of ones that are more accurate to your actual history and image. Is this a process you feel actively engaged in/would like to be engaged in more? (Personally it’s something I’m in favour of, especially as those old memes often had a weird cynicality to them that felt at odds with your own good vibes)

- For Noah - in past interviews you’ve talked about offering song demos to the other members of the AC and letting them choose which ones to work further on. Were there any solo songs of yours (from any era) that almost ended up on an AC album, or conversely any AC songs that almost appeared on one of your solo records?

- For Josh - I know you sometimes do work as a carpenter, and I was wondering if that particular discipline has helped influence your approach to performing and writing music, or if it’s something you mostly keep seperate. (The lovely line from Royal and Desire about how splinters will rise feels like it could be one example of those two worlds meeting)



Thanks for dropping by and keep on being the inspiring and positive force this tough old world needs

A: carpentry is really meaningful to me and has absolutely had an impact on my personal growth and therefore my music. I started to see carpentry as an opportunity to practice presence and trust in process. one of my hangups in life is be at the beginning of an endeavor (writing a song for example) and only being able to see the enormity of the task. and ugliness of its rough unpolished state. working as a carpenter I began to realize that I could sort of track the stages of a project and see the progress and after a while begin to trust that merely showing up and applying my skills with humility and confidence is all that it takes. so on day one of a job I might just see a ratty kitchen. and I might have no idea how to see that it will be beautiful. but if I just start with what I know... demolish the old cabinets. repair the walls. take out all of the trash. build the new cabinets. install them. etc. at some point the whole thing is finished and I'd reflect on how hard it was for me to see the end product at the beginning. but by just putting one foot in front of the other it takes shape and ends up in a great place. I've applied this realization to my life and to my creative process.

-josh
Josh and Noah'ss favorite horror movies
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Q: hi noah and josh! it's almost halloween so i'm curious to what are your favorite horror movies?

PB: im not the best... only just started watching some...texas chainsaw massacre pretty good...hereditary pretty good...weve been playing resident evil 7 thats mad scary we had to stop

A: I made a list above in another answer.

I'll add a few more:

the Sentinel

Dead Ringers

The Fly



-josh
Josh on encouraging bandmates
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Q: When writing together, how do you communicate when you like something your bandmate is doing? What's the deliberative process for AnCo?

A: I tell them I like it. or I dance.

-josh
Josh and Noah on setlist decisions
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Q: Hey guys! Love the new album and Time Skiffs!

I’ve seen you guys a few times live and am always shocked by how unpredictable your set lists are. Do you still worry about the reception of your live shows for fans who come in expecting you to play your more popular songs or have you mostly gotten over that? Your 2022 tour is one of the best live shows I’ve ever seen and I could not vibe more with what you guys were doing with the flow of those shows!

Thanks for all the great music over the years!

PB: i think were just doing it the way we always have and that makes it not feel weird...were aware people come to shows wanting to hear a specific song and we dont want to let people down...we try and mix and match some but were always most pumped about the new stuff

A: we are aware that we could approach our live sets with that in mind. and we certainly want to play things that get people psyched. but it has always been a priority to only do things that we can genuinely get psyched about. In my personal opinion, if we prioritized set lists based on fan faves at the expense of our own enjoyment, the band would not have lasted 23 years.

-josh
PB on staying present
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Q: I can't think of many bands who are as consistent as you guys have been since the early 00s. I remember Sung Tongs releasing when I was a senior in high school, and it really fit the bright, psychedelic mood of that time. Things just seemed more colorful then. I guess my question is, when that iridescence sort of fades from one's mind so easily, how do you all manage to stay there? Brian Wilson, for example, burned so quickly...

A: i guess i want to focus on now and whats good and bad about now...or interesting about now
PBs hangover cure
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Q: best hangover cure

A: keep drinking
PB on Sinister Grift
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Q: The best part of being an AC fan has been witnessing the trajectory of the band. Impossible to have a favorite album. Just one incredible arc from 2000 to now…. Thank you for everything. I love all your albums!

How many songs will be recorded for Sinister Grift?

A: idk maybe 13 or so...would like to do a bunch and see what we got
Favorite fried chicken chain
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Q: favorite fried chicken place?

A: I'm vegetarian.

josh

PB: cains
woops canes
PB on maintaining creativity
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Q: Noah, what do you do to keep the creative juices flowing? You seem to have a regular creative practice, how do you deal with periods of low inspiration while keeping the creative routine?

A: try to work as much as i can...want to be working when inspiration hits i guess...but i also feel like as long as im focused on getting stuff done cant go wrong
PBs favorite game of the last five years
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Q: What's been the best video game either of you have played in the last 5 years?
A: genshin impact
my son is constantly making fun of me but no shame in my game
Josh on Sinister Grift
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Q: For Panda and Deakin: what inspired you two to work together on recording Sinister Grift?
A: I'm pretty excited and honored that Noah asked me to engineer/produce the next one. we haven't worked together directly like that since Young Prayer (which I tracked but did not mix). I can't speak for noah but I think that having been responsible for helping Dave to produce Down There, Eucalyptus, Conference of Birds, and the recent EP that came with the Spirit reissue. as well as recording and mixing 123 by Tickley Feather, much of my own record, mixing Bridge to Quiet.... and then when we were tracking Time Skiffs I started doing some rough mixes that Noah really like a lot. He seems to trust that I have a good ear and know how to get to interesting places. I'm really psyched about the project.



-josh
Panda's favorite Mitch Hedberg joke
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Q: Do you have a favorite Mitch Hedberg joke?

A: saw a wino eating a grape...
Noah's relationship to creating
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Q: Noah, I’ve seen you say a couple times that “creating” is something you use as a way to get from one day to the next. Do you mean by this that creating is just a routine at this point or does it bring you some sort of fulfillment or spiritual invigoration as well?

A: its kind of both i think...routine can be comforting...def dont mean to say its mundane and lame...i feel like the work has to be its own reward
PB on non-music careers
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Q: if you weren't musicians, what would you like to be doing?

A: garbageman or janitor im qualified for...something like that...maybe uber driver
PB's favorite Norm Macdonald Joke
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Q: whats your favorite norm macdonald joke?

A: ww2 germany joke on the last letterman show
PB on initial TS/IIN plans
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Q: Was all the songs on both Time Skiffs and Isnt It Now? intended to be on one big double LP before the pandemic happened? Peak era ac

A: we knew we had too much but og idea was def to record all of them at once
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Fovrodi, da king
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Chillest uber driver oat
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thanks fovrodi!!
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Post Posted:

Don't thank me yet, hehe. Still gotta dig up that skiffs ama
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Post Posted:

Geo on playing modular synth live
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Q: question for Bryan

I've been seeing more modular synths in your set up lately. How do you go about getting a consistent result from your set up during a live show? I find that volume, LFO's, timed delays, pitches, etc. can get a little wild, so how do you tame your system so that it can fit in with the band live?

A: its not easy which is why i don't consider myself a live modular guy. i have very simple patches going and only in a couple songs where I can't recreate or sample the patch. most of my sounds these days are made with modular being involved at some stage, but the patches are so radically different from song to song that I have to relay on sampling the sounds and putting them on my nord and playing it like a keyboard. it was easier with painting with because we knew the bpms for every song and i have a cv clock that i can set the same bpm.
Derek v Safer closing Strawberry Jam
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Q: Why did you choose Derek over Safer as the closer to SJ?

A: Can't remember. It's possible we didn't finish Safer in the initial studio session. There were a handful that required revisiting a few months later. Those became the Water Curses EP. Safer mighta been in the middle time wise ? Honestly don't remember. But I know I (Brian) was really set on Cobwebs being the last song after Derek. I was really upset we never got it sounding up to par initially. Still not over it
Favorite lyrics of each others
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Q: I understand that you guys don’t often talk to each other about your lyrics, but that you’ll still sometimes compliment each other if a particular lyric strikes you. Can any of you guys share a lyric written by another member of the band that resonates with you, or one that you simply think is cool?

A: i always liked Dave's line about applesauce on clothes in applesauce. hadn't heard that in a long time until yesterday

A: there's many honestly.. but this one has been especially emotional of late.

We were the good news Well, I'm all out but how 'bout you?

-josh
Josh on plans for his songs
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Q: Question for Josh - saw you live a couple times in 2018 and caught some early versions of Royal and Desire & Stride Right. do you plan on adapting the other material from then as solo work, or for the band?

Question for Dave - this might be getting ahead of myself but on that new jam Magicians from Baltimore, are the "magnolias" you sing about in reference to any specific trees in the city?

A: those are the only two songs for now that have any plans for adapting to the band. I am hoping to find time sooner than later to work on my next solo record and I imagine those others will find their way there.

-josh
Opening sample in Grass
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Q: Does Grass actually start with one of you pissing? If so, who?

A: haha no, and I never thought of that! I can't remember what the source is but it's likely water. Dave and I went to Yellowstone and made some field recordings. I actually think Dave posted a photo of it once. One of the geysers is either the liquid sound that starts grass or goes through Daffy. I remember putting a contact mic on a vending machine that was making a weird sound once. like the coolant was circulating and it came through pretty loud. that might be on an AC track too and maybe it's that? I have minidiscs that say stuff like "sources" and then those would go through pedals and fx of various kinds to another minidisc that would get used in songs. i didn't do a good job of noting what became what
Josh on life changing music
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Q: Looking back at my upbringing as a music fan, Animal Collective felt like the weirdest band I liked that I also felt like I fully connected with. Those two factors in tandem made your music feel more “mine” than my other favorite stuff.

I was wondering if you guys have a particular artist or album that made you feel similarly when you were still developing your tastes as young people.

ps the new album is killer and I’m so hype to see your show in DC soon! Cheers

A: Can silver apples sun city girls pavement the residents

among others.... but those bands changed my ears when I heard them the first time. like music was different after hearing "tango whiskey man" by Can for the first time or "oscillations" by the silver apples

=josh
Josh on the fate of leftover Music Box Village songs
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Q: Are the rest of the music box songs going to be recorded

A: not all of them. but a number of them have already been recorded in a studio and we are very happy with how they came out. so look forward to that in the future. as for the music box show itself. the whole show was recorded and video'd and we hope to find a way to release it all at some point in the future. didn't feel like the right time yet. would like Defeat and Magicians studio versions to get out there before we officially release the Music Box show. but thanks for the love!! we enjoyed it a lot.

-josh
Josh on work with Geologist
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Q: Have Deak and Geo ever thought of doing a collaborative effort that could be the "antithesis" of Sung Tongs?

Mostly a silly question, but I have been deeply fascinated with concept since Sleep Cycle, and Geo is kind of ridiculously amazing at the Hurdy Gurdy.

Thank you guys for such a wonderful project, Skiffs has brought many happy hours already! Much love, you guys!

A: Brian and I have been doing more and projects just the two of us over the last 5 years. we really enjoy it. look up the song "Suspend the Time" that was made by the two of us. We just like week did a live online performance that was a 15 minute improvised jam on piano and hurdy gurdy. and of course we collaborated on the Crestone sound track together. I really enjoy jamming with Brian in these ways and absolutely would imagine there will more collaborations in the future.

-josh
Avey on making album art
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Q: yo avey, big question: how do you go about making album covers? each one is incredibly expressive of the music, my favorite of yours is strawberry jam. two other questions would be: who came up with the idea for the Merriweather cover, and what's the Fall be Kind cover supposed to be? i know it's been theorized that it's a cymbal, but would you be willing to confirm the secret for me?

A: The covers ive made usually work in tandem with the visual art im messing around with at the time. I really like messing with color and light and so ive used photography to achieve certain effects or looks. This is the case with strawberry jam and fall be kind. Fall be Kind is one of my favorites. It was a fun process cause rob and i layered all these different paper textures and photos to achieve that foggy look. The image is a little statue i have. I think its an elf blowing a horn in the air.

For MPP one of us had purchased a magazine that had a lot of optical illusions in it and it just struck the three of us and the perfect cover for that record.
Favorite Weezer album
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Q: Blue Album or Pinkerton?

A: I think they are both great albums but i gravitate more towards the blue and apparently i speak for all of us. -d-avey
Anniversary tours and live albums
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Q: Hey guys love your stuff I just wanna know 2 things Are you guys ever going to do a tour much like sung tungs where you go back to a album like jam or ark and play it front to back ever again? And 2 Will you guys ever release more live albums of your early days or a album of demos?

A: Id say the first answer is mostly not for awhile. We had a great time doing that sung tongs tour but theres something about looking back in that way thats unsettling to us. theres always so much new stuff we want to work on.

and yes there will definitely be more live albums and unreleased stuff like demos coming your way
Favorite lyricist
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Q: (question for anyone) do you have a favorite lyricist?

A: DC Berman
Keeping tempo
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Q: Whats your main way of keeping tempo to a song?

A: these days we just follow the natural rhythm but there have been times there will be something locked into a grid and we just follow that. The shakers on bro sport for example. We are pretty open to tempo shifts as well.
Writing Visiting Friends
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Q: What was the process of creating Visiting Friends? To me, it's really different from the other playful and catchy songs on Sung Tongs. I just wanted to know how it was captured and what inspired it.

A: We wanted it to sound like an acoustic guitar version of Gas or Kompakt ambient music. The goal for it was to start very loosely and find a way to slowly lock into a trance rhythm over a long period of time. I wanted the lyrics to feel really casual and lazy.
Performing ODDSAC songs live
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Q: Would you ever consider playing anything from ODDSAC in future live performances?

A: Yes...
Winter Wonderland
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Q: How come Winter Wonderland has never been played live?

A: no it hasn't. we wrote that initially for Ark but abandoned it pretty quickly. can't remember why it was brought back for SJ other than someone maybe found a practice recording of it and thought it sounded cool. but it was pretty much just a studio thing. haven't discussed playing it live but haven't discussed not playing it live
Josh on Strawberry Jam Press Kit, acoustic For Reverend Green
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Q: Hey guys! So nice to be with you here today.

I’d like to ask about something that sometimes floats into my head when I listen to strawberry jam. In the press video you did for the album there’s this little clip of you four playing for reverend green out in the desert on acoustic guitars. Even though it’s cut short I love this version and am very curious. What was that day like? Was it for the video, or were you guys just jammin out there? I wonder if it still exists somewhere. It looks like maybe brian was recording.

Time Skiffs was wonderful and I can’t wait to feel it live! Also noah I looove those new songs from madrid. Ends meet is pure bliss. Much love

A: it was a beautiful day. we were recording in Tucson but we were staying in a house about 45 minutes outside of town in the middle of the desert. we would spend many night sitting outside on the back porch enjoying the stars and talking. We knew that we wanted to make some promotional video content so we came up with a few ideas and that was one of them. Think we just set up the camera on a tripod? or maybe Scott Colburn was holding the camera? Think that I edited the video to give the trails feeling and so that the audio would have a "Campfire Songs" like effect. Not sure where that video is but would be great to get it back somehow. maybe I'll go look for it!

josh
Time Skiffs album art
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Q: how did you go about choosing images for the Time Skiffs art? the collage looks beautiful, especially on the vinyl cover <3

A: Its probably most about the cohesion of all the images. Ive been messing around with a few different collages approaches lately and the cover combines a few. Using more 3 dimensional images and very worn paper textures (similar to Bridge to Quiet). I try and focus a lot on color combinations and interactions. The theme of time and space was obviously influential. For me The backside is sort of the "material" side of existence and the cover is more metaphysical.
Early days reception of the band
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Q: Did you guys experience much resistance or rejection when you were first starting out, and did it ever have an impact on your outlook? Or was everyone - crowds, labels etc - always pretty open-minded and accepting?

A: that depended on where we were playing. surprisingly to us we were accepted in New York right away. And on our first tour we went over pretty well in California cities. Middle of the country and the south were crap shoots initially. The first tour in 2001 with Black Dice was the first time we played outside of New York or Philly zones and someone through ice at us. Cleared the room a few times. We had to alternate with the Dice when it came to who played first because sometimes there was no one left for the second band to play to. But they had been experiencing that for years on tour and seeing them let it roll off their backs was really inspiring. Plus when we were teenagers some people in Baltimore didn't like us for not being punk enough. But because we always liked what we were doing and we were a solid group of friends we could always rely on ourselves. Might've been harder without each other
Avey on playing old songs
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Q: Hi guys! You rule.

Avey, I loved your version of La Rapet that you played during the Folk Medicine benefit. Any plans to re-visit any other pre-2004 songs?

A: Thanks! There are so many songs wed like to revisit. Usually we add a few for every new part of a tour. We've got a fair amount of touring coming up so it is possible that some real old ones will come up again.
Belarus
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Q: Hi guys. I am your big fan and I have some special connection with your music from the first time I heard you. I am an artist from Belarus, cool if you know such a country (this is not Russia). The situation in the world is difficult, so the question is:
How to relax and not paying attention to the bad news around and continue to make art?
Looking forward to your new vinyl and your show in Berlin. Thank you for being.

A: We know Belarus. My family came over here in the late 1800s following programs in eastern Europe so it's been hard to trace back exactly where we came from. My ancestors moved a lot and it was only as an adult I learned they spent time in South Africa and Argentina. But Belarus is one of the places we think we have roots. And there are hockey prospects worth paying attention to there as well. As far as your question - I have never experienced anything like what your part of the world is experiencing right now, so I don't feel like I'm worth answering. Your experience is likely deeper than mine
Geo on solo album
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Q: Hey geo would you ever make a solo album? I love your hurdy gurdy

A: thanks. it's not something that ever really occurs to me other than for ego reasons and because i get asked this question a lot. when Josh and I did Crestone, it was the first time I felt like I got a specific sound in my head that spoke to me on a personal level that was worth exploring and felt separate from anything we'd do in the band. i have a pretty strong existential relationship with the desert after living there and I'd always wanted to dive into that musically. I'd have to look up the track titles to say which ones but I remember Zapata Falls and Wake Up Ryan were two of the ones that felt like my own expression of it. I thought about going further with it but I was really happy with how that release came out. Maybe I'll revisit. i really enjoy playing live solo and that is why i released the live tape of one of my sets a few years ago. i want to get that up digitally but my friend and i can't get one of the transitions to work without there being a pop and we kinda got tired of working it out. i've been asked to do more live solo hurdy gurdy recently and i plan on it but I haven't found a sound that differs much from my influences yet.
Analog v. Digital instruments
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Q: Was it daunting to transition from guitars to samplers and more electronic instrumentation? I wouldn’t even know where to begin but it seems like it was effortless for you wizards. Thanks for the amazing music over the years!

A: not really because the interest in that stuff was there from the beginning. i guess analog synthesizers were the main gateway that bridged things even when we were teenagers. for a while we just turned dials until things sounded good, which is kind of the best way to learn. don't think you need to be a master right away as long as you like the sounds coming out of it. and we also interacted with our samplers as if they were live instruments initially. still often do. when we started recording MPP, Ben assumed all our samplers would be synced to a master midi clock but after we played the first song he said something about how we were basically just keyboard players playing samplers instead of keys.
Josh on lyrics/Avey on Strung with Everything
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Q: First off, thank you so much for including a Bristol date on the European tour later this year. A lot of major bands only play London and Manchester when they come to the UK, so it's really nice to see a little show of love for the fans in the West Country (and we do exist). Much appreciated!

One question for each member:

Dave: I was wondering if you could talk about the musical development of Strung With Everything, one of my favourite tracks from Time Skiffs. Being the one Skiff that wasn’t played on the 2019 or 2021 mini-tours, how much of it was worked out in rehearsals before the pandemic and how much during the remote recording stage? And were there any unique musical influences for its arrangement that are unique to this particular song compared to the others on the album? (The slide guitar and keyboard textures in the first half remind me of mid-70s Yes, although I understand if that similarity is just a coincidence)

Josh: You’ve talked before about how the lyrics to your own songs (especially on Sleep Cycle) are essentially addressed to yourself, advising you constructively but honestly on how to beat anxiety and self-doubt - but these messages have also spoken to and comforted many fans, myself included. Was there any kind of internal pressure to address this wider audience when you wrote the beautiful Royal and Desire, or were the lyrics still coming exclusively from the same place of self-reflection that informed your older songs? (As someone with autism spectrum disorder who has difficulty manoevuring around the impossible game that is human behaviour, “don’t feign insane for sane’s sake” is a mantra of invaluable resonance.)

Noah: When Time Skiffs was announced, it was heartwarming to find out that the song formerly known as Appreciate/Out There was officially a tribute to the late great Scott Walker - a truly underappreciated visionary, not even so much for his baroque 60s songs as for his stark Giger-esque sound colleges of the later years. How much of an influence has Scott’s later career had on you compared to his earlier works, and do you have any favourite songs or albums of his from that era? (My shoutout goes to Cue, from The Drift - only Scott could take the potential beauty of never-ending personal growth and portray it as a grotesque, purely biological process, using the eerily prescient metaphor of a pandemic no less)

Brian: Time Skiffs has a lot of three-part vocal harmonies shared by the other members of the band, and there are plenty more in the unreleased songs from this current AC era, including the almost acapella Kings Walk. Have you ever considered adding your own voice to the fold at any point across the AC’s career - is singing something that’s ever been part of your conception of who you are as a musician or not? (Likewise for writing songs with the intention of singing them)

Thank you all for another album of enriching and inspiring music - looking forward to the next one, and hope to catch you live at that Bristol show. See you out there!

A: hey,

thanks for your kind words and it means a lot to hear that my lyrics have meaning for you. So far most of my lyrics do come from conversations with myself and are in that way "for me". but I also very much realize that some of the things that I am trying to make sense of are things that other people feel too. so I don't think I feel any pressure to adjust my lyrics much with other people in mind. but I do try and think about the essence of what I am saying how others might relate to it. It has been very meaningful for me over the years to hear from people like you who reflect back to me how the lyrics have made an impact on their own journey. so thank you.

-josh

A: I played a small unannounced show in LA in 2018 or 2019 cant remember exactly. I wrote most of strung prior to that and played an electronic version at that show. The final parts of it i wrote closer to us playing together in 2020. I also played Cherokee and passer-by at that show. I think it's more influenced by classic psych rock than any of the others. where as others are more influenced by jazz or medieval music (the ones i wrote atleast). We all love slide guitar mostly in country and music from Hawai'i but i also happened to be borrowing one at the time we were recording so i was able to get some in there.
Josh on New Zealand
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Q: How was your visit to New Zealand when you played here back in the day? Any good stories? Planning on coming back? :P

A: one of my favorite trips we've ever done. those two shows were the last of our tour and so I decided to stick around about 10 extra days. Brian and I went SCUBA diving at Poor Knights north of Aukland and it kickstarted us on our deep love of the SCUBA. After that, myself and our sound guy Chris drove around the North Island in a camper van for 10 days. saw so many amazing and beatiful things. we hiked over Mt Tongariro. we hiked all over the beaches of Cape Reinga. spent some time in the springs in Rotorua. went to some caves. it was honestly one of my favorite places I've ever been and I hope to go back someday. love it there.

josh
Mixing/Mastering Time Skiffs
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Q: Can you shed a little light on the mixing and mastering of time skiffs? It sounds wonderful. How has that process worked traditionally for you guys? And thanks for time skiffs - it is fantastic.

A: we were rough mixing time skiffs in the session as we were tracking it. each time someone added their parts or an overdub they would balance things. we wanted to just send those sessions to Marta Salogni to mix but we use different daws (we each have one or two daws we use individually but as a band we use Luna - it's the only thing we all know and can work on together). So we bounced stems, told her exactly how our rough mix was created, and then she spent time recreating those in her studio as a starting point and took off to do her own thing from there. She often has Heba master her stuff and we'd heard great things so that was a pretty easy decision. Didn't have to do too many passes to get the master right. They're both great to work with and super talented.
Josh's favorite album of 2022
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Q: Besides your own, what is your favourite album of the year so far, or what are you excited for?

A: I'm really into the new Cate LeBon record. pretty stunning.

josh
Show with Gang Wizard, We Go Back time signature
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Q: 1.) I first saw you guys play live at Hampshire College in 2005. Ariel Pink and a band called Gang Wizard opened. Wondering if you have any interesting memories from that show/experience? I remember it being pretty wild: a student held up a bowl of weed and a lighter up to one of the members of Gang Wizard who promptly took a hit.

2.) How did you track everything on Time Skiffs separately? Did you use a click track and then have Noah replace the click with the kit?

3.) What exactly is the time signature of "We Go Back"? Do you count it in 10 or 6 + 4?

A: I watched video footage i have from that show recently. Our "green room" was in a building a bit away from the stage. The small outdoor shows are some of the most memorable we've played. I remember i started walking from the green room to the stage right as gang wizard started then walked up to the stage. It was a really amazing sound and energy transition. That was a fun tour all around.

id count we go back in 10 i think but its more about just feeling it out.
Josh on keeping ODDSAC a visual album
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Q: Why aren't the ODDSAC songs on any streaming services? Is there a possibility they can be added in the future?

Much love xx

A: The idea of that project was to make a visual album in which the interplay between the visuals and the music were so intertwined that they should only be presented together. we worked on that movie with our friend Danny Perez on and off for about 3 years and throughout we worked to have an ongoing exchange between what Danny was making visually and we were making musically to the point that we feel that his visuals are one of the key instruments in the music. So as of now we have no plans to release the audio as standalone audio and encourage people to expeience the album as it was intended.

josh
Geo on recent listens? (question deleted)
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Video-Aventures, Swell Maps, NSRD. stuff i pulled for the O'Brien System mix that is supposed to air next week.
Avey on writing Todays Supernatural
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Q: yo guys, today’s supernatural is the best song. how do you start to make a song like that?

A: Thanks! I wrote that on the floor of an apartment i lived in on eastern ave in crown heights. I wrote it on the korg M3 i used for most of that album. I remember we talked within the band about wanting to be a little more "proggy" (for lack a of a better word) so i was keeping that in mind while writing. the rest just sort of comes out. I was in a pretty confused state of mind at the time if i recall.
Josh on touring plans
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Q: are there more US tour dates in the works? hopefully some in california?

A: Yes! we have these upcoming US and Europe tours already announced and on sale. https://home.myanimalhome.net/#/tour but we are on the verge of announcing more US and world dates. hope to see you out there!

josh
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