We all know Animal Collective, the sometimes quartet/sometimes trio/sometimes duo responsible for some of the decade’s most critically lauded releases, particularly 2009’s Merriweather Post Pavilion, a surprisingly infectious album that took their trademark blend of surreal experimentation to new levels of commercial accessibility with danceable rhythms and a newfound focus on bass.
Vocalist/multi-instrumentalist Avey Tare (Dave Portner) is often viewed as Animal Collective’s sort-of figurehead, forming, along with percussionist/vocalist/electronic manipulator Panda Bear (Noah Lennox), the band’s consistent nucleus, writing on and playing on every release, beginning with their 2000 debut, Spirit They’ve Gone, Spirit They’ve Vanished. Bottom line: the guy’s had a sizable impact on pop music in the 2000s—with each new album, Animal Collective have reinvented themselves, from the warped acoustic campfire romps of 2004’s Sung Tongs to the shimmering electric drones of 2005’s Feels. His musical fingerprints are virtually impossible to remove from modern music, to the point where "Animal Collective" is now not only a band name but also a critical shorthand for "adventurous noisemakers".
In spite of the success, though, Portner’s recent years have seen their share of tumult, from his sister’s scare with cancer to relationship struggles to family deaths. Under the Avey Tare moniker, Portner released his debut album, Down There, under this dark shadow, creating electronic soundscapes filled with oscillators and sequencers, odd synthesizers bubbling underneath pitch-shifted vocals and sound effects. He envisioned the album as a swamp (which explains the album’s crocodile-themed artwork) and as a journey through hell. Glide spoke with Portner about his debut album, the dark themes permeating through the music, and his love of both filmmaking and the music of Steely Dan.
Down There has been out for awhile now. Are you as pleased with it now as you were when you released it? Also, since this album was influenced by death and dark times (your sister’s cancer scare, etc.), do you feel it’s helped "heal you" in a sense?
Yeah, I’m happy with it it though I feel that I have reached the point (as with most records I work on) where I have kind of moved on from thinking about it so much. It’s been awhile since I listened to it. Writing the songs and spending the time with Josh recording it was definitely helpful and cathartic. It has been good in general to be able to get out of New York City and to feel a little more isolated and separated from the life I was living there. I needed some time to work out some stuff in my head, and recording this recorded helped that a lot. I’ve needed a bit of change.
It’s definitely swampy and dark, but at the same time, there’s a lightness here, even if it’s subdued. Some tracks (like "Ghost of Books") even have a bouncy quality to them—at times it feels like a funeral march, full of grief but with light at the end of the tunnel.
That’s definitely how I imagined it. I feel like there is always a bit of hope and light in any of the music I make. I don’t want it to sound too down and depressing because I feel like there is a lot worse happening in the world than my problems, and I still want the album to be somewhat uplifting or at least enjoyable to listen to.
There’s definitely a lot of sonic manipulation happening on Down There, and vocals are no exception. At some points on the album, you get pretty low in your register, but it’s often hard to tell if it’s really you getting all Isaac Hayes on us or if editing was involved. One such moment comes in the chorus of "Cemeteries", where you’re hitting some low notes I feel like I’ve never heard you go for. Are you actually getting that low, and did you make a conscious decision to explore your vocal range more on this album?
Sometimes I think my natural vocal range is a bit lower. Animal Collective plays so loud that I’ve grown really accustomed to singing higher and louder because that’s a range where it’s easier for me to sing above the volume level that we play at. I can’t really sing low in AC and have it come through the wall of sound. But since these songs were written for the studio, I was able to sing in some ranges that I haven’t done really in the past. That is me singing that way naturally on "Cemeteries".
There are a lot of growly, pitch-shifted voices that segue the tracks together—something you guys have done a lot on Animal Collective albums. You’ve also talked about how this album is like a swamp, and how you think of hell as a swamp. Are those voices supposed to represent Satan?
No, not really. I guess they are more like ghosts or characters that are dwelling in the swamp land that I envision.
Since Down There definitely has a "hellish" quality to it, it got me thinking: What are your thoughts on religion? Do you believe in a heaven or hell?
I guess I do believe in them in a sense, but certainly not like they are places made of fiery chambers or pearly gates. I think over the years of reading about religions, I’ve come closer to having my own understanding of what they at least symbolize. For me, both of them are all about what you carry over or hold onto from this life when you die. The things and thoughts and feelings you hold onto. It’s hard for me to separate these things from any kind of notion of heaven on earth or hell on earth. So basically I just think about how they factor into my day to day life while I’m here.
Why did you choose Deakin as producer for Down There? We obviously know you’re friends and bandmates, but why did you specifically choose him, and what was it like working with him again?
I originally intended to record it myself, but in the end, I realized it would just take too long. Whenever I or AC record anything, the other person we work with always gets spoken of as our “producer”. But I don’t think we ever think of most of those people in those terms. I knew I could get everything done a lot quicker and more efficiently with Josh at the controls. He’s gotten very quick with Logic, whereas I don’t use any computer programs to record. It’s also very easy for us to communicate with each other in terms of music. Sometimes I think we want to keep the whole creative process within AC, you know? It would be nice to become completely self-sufficient in terms of everything that goes into making our music.
You worked mainly with sequencers and oscillators for this album. When did you officially decide to go that route, and what was the inspiration behind it?
I think it was just a matter of having them around and experimenting with them. It’s not something I was accustomed to, and I was using them to get different kinds of sounds for our ODDSAC project. Sometimes I find the less I know about an instrument or a piece of equipment, then the easier it is for me to write newer sounding songs. I like to learn instruments while I learn how to write new songs.
In promotion for Down There, you’ve talked a lot about your love for horror films, and with ODDSAC, you sort of made your version of one. Do you think you’ll keep working on the visual side of things as part of your own music and with Animal Collective? Also, would you ever be interested in simply directing a more traditional film instead of a "visual album"?
I would definitely love to try and make a more linear film perhaps with music very heavily involved or perhaps not. But it’s something that requires a lot of time, and for better or for worse, most of my work time is spent focusing on just music. But I do love messing around with visual mediums, and I hope to continue to align that experimentation with the music that I or AC makes. For me, there is a lot less thought that is put into the visual art that I make because I’m not as critical of it, I guess. And so it can be a lot more meditative for me in some ways because I do a lot of it without thinking so much. I just make things based on what I like to look at.
Speaking of horror (or, at least, visually disturbing) films, are you a fan of David Lynch?
I like the movies of his that I’ve seen, especially Inland Empire, but I haven’t really seen that many of his movies.
I noticed in your interview with Death + Taxes that you’ve been jamming to Steely Dan lately. As a huge fan myself, I have to ask: which era of the Dan are we talking about? Are we talking super slick, Michael McDonald backing vocals-and-all Aja era, or are we kicking it old school? Also, since the year’s winding down and it’s almost list-making time, what are your top three to five albums of 2010?
Lately, I’ve been really into the first four Steely Dan records, but I can tell they are the kind of band that has something to offer no matter what era I listen to. Aja was a record I used to jam to when I was younger, and I don’t really go back to it, but it’s still great.
Down There is super sparse compared to the Animal Collective stuff, particularly Merriweather Post Pavillion, which is loaded with details. Did you intentionally set out to make Down There a sparser effort, or did it just happen naturally in the recording process?
I definitely wanted it to feel like it was something one person made and not a group. I really love minimalist music, and even though Down There is by no means that minimal, it was still a challenge for me to experiment with a sparser sound. It can be very easy in AC to want to layer and layer and layer, and that’s really fun in its own way, but I wanted to shy away from my natural tendency to do that.
You’ve talked about how "Heather in the Hospital" is inspired by your sister’s battle with cancer. Are the images of grieving family members and lyrics like "’Let’s get out of here’, says a boyfriend to a dad" actually based on real conversations you overheard?
Not exactly word for word, but yes, they do come from the situations that were happening around me.
I actually think Down There works best as a cohesive listening experience, even more so than Animal Collective stuff. I love how the tracks do literally bleed together—you really managed to capture one consistent sonic vibe across the whole album. I think it hit home hardest, though, when I heard "Lucky 1" as the last track. When it was released online before the album was out, I enjoyed it, but I was honestly a little confused how well it worked for me. And then I heard it at the end of the album, flowing straight out of "Heather in the Hospital" and thought, "Holy shit! This is awesome!"
It’s definitely an aspect of the record that I worked really hard at. There was actually a point a bit earlier in the process when the songs were ready in an album format, but I realized I wasn’t happy enough with the flow and overall atmosphere of the whole thing. So I took some more time to make it really gel together. I think part of the creative process for this record involved envisioning this sound world I wanted the whole thing to represent. And I knew I wouldn’t be happy till the whole thing felt right.
You’ve mentioned not having plans to perform the Down There material live because you don’t like the idea of a solo performance. You should think about doing a couple one-off shows where you do some visual stuff to go along with the music that way the emphasis wouldn’t be strictly on "you" as a performer.
It is definitely something I am a little interested in, but it would take a lot of time for me to be happy with it, and right now, I am focusing on other things.
I know you get asked this question in basically every interview you do, but if I didn’t ask, I would probably get fired or something: What’s the current status on the new Animal Collective album—any demos or further discussions? Also, now that you’ve made your "Death Record" with Down There, do you foresee the next Animal Collective to be a little brighter? Or do you think this vibe will carry over?
All I can say is that we will be writing and jamming non-stop for the greater portion of the first half of next year.
Since your bandmates are having kids and getting a lot more domestic, it makes me think about how the music has changed over the years. Sure, a lot of it is probably just due to a change of perspective with age, but you guys definitely wouldn’t have put out a song as direct as "My Girls" six years ago. Do you think you’ll still make music as weird and colorful when you guys are grandpas?
As long as we have the drive to keep making music that we think is new or inventive or even interesting, I would say yes. But it’s really hard to predict what will happen next let alone what will happen when we are grandpas. There are so many different kinds of sounds and things you can do with music–sometimes it feels like the possibilities are endless. With that in mind, I hope the future will be full of a lot of curves.
