Panda Bear (musician)

Last updated

Panda Bear
PANDA BEAR 2010 (cropped).jpg
Lennox performing in 2010
Background information
Birth nameNoah Benjamin Lennox
Born (1978-07-17) July 17, 1978 (age 45) [1]
Charlottesville, Virginia, U.S.
Origin Baltimore, Maryland, U.S.
Genres
Occupation(s)Musician
Instrument(s)
  • Vocals
  • drums
  • percussion
  • sampler
  • guitar
  • synthesizer
Years active1998–present
Labels
Website pandabearofficial.com

Noah Benjamin Lennox (born July 17, 1978), also known by his moniker Panda Bear, is an American musician, singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and co-founding member of the band Animal Collective. In addition to his work with that group, Lennox has released six solo LPs since 1999, with his 2007 album Person Pitch inspiring the chillwave genre and numerous other acts. [2] [3] His subsequent albums Tomboy (2011) and Panda Bear Meets the Grim Reaper (2015) both reached the Billboard 200.

Contents

Lennox was primarily raised in Baltimore, Maryland, where he sang tenor in his high school chamber choir, and studied piano and cello. The name "Panda Bear" derived from his habit of drawing pandas on his early mixtapes as a teenager. He and the other members of Animal Collective began collaborating in the late 1990s. He has also collaborated with other artists, including Daft Punk on their 2013 single "Doin' It Right" and Sonic Boom on the 2022 album Reset . Since 2004, he has lived in Lisbon, Portugal.

Early life

Lennox grew up in the Roland Park section of Baltimore, Maryland, and attended Waldorf School of Baltimore through 8th grade, and Kimberton Waldorf School in Chester County, Pennsylvania, for high school. His family moved frequently during his early years, owing to his father's studies to be an orthopedic surgeon. As a youth, he played sports, mainly soccer and basketball. His brother, Matt Lennox (whom the Animal Collective song "Brother Sport" is directed at), was a leading player on the high school basketball team and Noah was also a team member, playing as point guard. [4]

Lennox has also stated in interviews that he enjoyed drawing a lot as a teenager, especially pandas. He also studied piano until he was eight, then cello, and later on he sang tenor in his high school chamber choir. [5]

Though he and his family have never been very religious, Lennox briefly attended Boston University, where he majored in religion because of his interest in "the concept of God". [6]

Career

Animal Collective

As a teen, Lennox began listening to electronic music styles such as house and techno, and artists such as Aphex Twin, all of which became a major influence on his later work. [6] He recorded and performed music solo and with friends.

Lennox had been friends with Deakin (Josh Dibb) since the second grade. [7] Deakin introduced Lennox to his high school friends Avey Tare (Dave Portner) and Geologist (Brian Weitz). For years, the four of them swapped homemade recordings, shared musical ideas and performed in different group configurations. Lennox, along with Deakin moved to New York in 2000. [8] The band then became more collaborative in nature and they finally settled on the name "Animal Collective".

Lennox performing with Animal Collective in 2007 Animal Collective-7.jpg
Lennox performing with Animal Collective in 2007

Since the 2007 releases of Panda Bear's Person Pitch and Animal Collective's Strawberry Jam , he has focused more on using samplers and other electronics in their shows. He has named Black Dice as a major influence stating "Black Dice took us on our first tour and I feel like the wisest things I've learned about being in a band I learned by watching them." [9] He said he looks to Black Dice "as a model for a band... I feel like as a band, I can't speak for the other guys [of Animal Collective], but certainly for myself, like I modelled the way I approach to everything with the band watching the way Black Dice did it." [10] In addition to singing, Lennox played drums and occasionally guitar in Animal Collective's live performances. He cites Stewart Copeland as the biggest influence on his drumming style; [6] for his drumming work on Animal Collective's 2022 album Time Skiffs , Lennox cited James Brown's drummers, especially Clyde Stubblefield, as influences. [11]

Solo work

Lennox's early musical influences included electronic styles, and his solo work has been variously characterized as experimental pop, [12] [13] electronic, [14] bedroom pop, [15] neo-psychedelic pop, [16] and indie music. [2] The Line of Best Fit called him a "psychedelic pop trailblazer." [17] Lennox's debut album Panda Bear was released in 1999 on Soccer Star Records. After focusing more on touring and recording with Animal Collective, he released the follow-up Young Prayer in 2004 and the highly acclaimed third solo album Person Pitch in 2007. Of his songwriting style, Lennox says "I get impatient writing songs, I can't spend more than a couple of hours before I get frustrated. So I got to kind of spit it out real fast. My favorite songs are the ones where I worked really really fast on, when it comes all out in like two hours or something." [6]

Panda Bear's fourth album, Tomboy, was released April 12, 2011, on his own label, Paw Tracks. He started performing material from Tomboy on December 5, 2008, at a show with No Age in Miami, Florida. During a brief European tour in January 2010, he played three shows consisting almost entirely of new material. On March 7, 2010, a tour setlist with titles for ten of the new songs was posted on Panda Bear's MySpace blog. He also played Primavera Sound Festival in 2010. The single "Tomboy" and the b-side "Slow Motion" were released in July 2010. It was announced in August that singles "You Can Count on Me" and "Alsatian Darn" would be released via Domino on September 28. The limited 500 copies of "You Can Count On Me" sold out in less than a day. The single "Last Night at the Jetty" was released December 2010. The single "Surfer's Hymn" was released March 28, 2011.

Lennox performing in Paris in 2010 Panda Bear, Paris.JPG
Lennox performing in Paris in 2010

His song "Comfy In Nautica" appears in ABC's 2010 climate change TV special Earth 2100 .

Lennox was chosen by Jeff Mangum of Neutral Milk Hotel to perform at the All Tomorrow's Parties festival he planned to curate in December 2011 in Minehead, England. [18] However, Lennox was unable to play when the event was rescheduled to March 2012.

In June 2013, Panda Bear performed a set of all new material at ATP. In October 2014, the Mr Noah EP was released, featuring four new songs. The full album, Panda Bear Meets the Grim Reaper , was released in January 2015.

In 2018, Lennox released the vinyl-only A Day With the Homies EP, a collection of five songs heavily influenced by house + bass music. Included on the packaging of the release were hidden URLs that pointed to samples used on the EP. In February 2019, he released the LP Buoys, featuring production work by longtime collaborator Rusty Santos. It was preceded by the single "Dolphin".

Outside musical collaborations

Lennox plays in the band Jane and Together with DJ Scott Mou. He has also performed on tracks with Atlas Sound (Bradford Cox of Deerhunter), Ducktails (Matt Mondanile , [19] best known as the former lead guitarist of the American indie rock band Real Estate) and electronic musicians Zomby and Pantha du Prince.

Panda Bear appeared on the track "Doin' It Right" on the 2013 Daft Punk album Random Access Memories . [20] The album won Daft Punk the Grammy Award for Album of the Year in 2014, making Panda Bear a co-winner. Almost a decade later, Lennox worked with previous Daft Punk collaborators Alan Braxe and DJ Falcon on their new duo's debut single, "Step By Step", in 2022. [21]

Personal life

In 2004, Lennox moved from New York City to Lisbon, Portugal. He first visited the city for a vacation following a long Animal Collective tour in 2003. Lennox says about Lisbon: "Since I got off the airplane here [for the first time] I had a good feeling about this place." He met his ex-wife, the fashion designer Fernanda Pereira, there; after visiting each other in Lisbon and New York, Lennox decided to move to Europe because he also felt "connected to the European way of life", [6] considering himself as a "slow moving kind of person" and Lisbon as a "slow moving kind of place". [6] Lennox and Pereira have a daughter, Nadja, born in 2005 [22] and a son, born in June 2010. [23] In 2007, he and Pereira collaborated on a line of sweatshirts called 2nd Things. [24] Pereira also directed music videos for his songs "Playing the Long Game" and "Danger", off 2022's Reset with Sonic Boom. Shortly after, Lennox described the song as "having a sweetness that is very bitter now", [25] indicating that the couple is no longer together.

As of 2023, Lennox is in a relationship with Rivka Ravede from the band The Spirit of the Beehive, [26] who toured with Animal Collective in 2022.

Musical equipment

Synthesizers
Digital samplers
Drum machine/synthesizer

Discography

Panda Bear discography
Studio albums7
EPs3
Singles10

Studio albums

TitleAlbum detailsPeak chart positions
US
[33] 		US Indie
[34] 		UK
[35]
Panda Bear ———
Spirit They're Gone, Spirit They've Vanished
(with Avey Tare)
  • Released: August 2000
  • Label: Animal, FatCat
  • Formats: CD, LP
———
Danse Manatee
(with Avey Tare and Geologist)
  • Released: July 2001
  • Label: Catsup Plate, FatCat
  • Formats: CD, LP
———
Young Prayer ———
Person Pitch
  • Released: March 20, 2007
  • Label: Paw Tracks
—38—
Tomboy
  • Released: April 12, 2011
  • Label: Paw Tracks
29562
Panda Bear Meets the Grim Reaper
  • Released: January 13, 2015
  • Label: Domino
34249
Buoys
  • Released: February 8, 2019
  • Label: Domino
—7—
Reset
(with Sonic Boom)
  • Released: August 12, 2022
  • Label: Domino
———
"—" denotes album that did not chart or was not released

Extended plays

TitleAlbum details
Mr Noah
  • Released: October 23, 2014
  • Label: Domino
Crosswords
  • Released: August 20, 2015
  • Label: Domino
A Day with the Homies
  • Released: January 12, 2018
  • Label: Domino

Singles

Remixes

Appearances

Related Research Articles

<i>Spirit Theyre Gone, Spirit Theyve Vanished</i> 2000 studio album by Avey Tare and Panda Bear (Animal Collective)

Spirit They're Gone, Spirit They've Vanished is the first collaborative studio album by Avey Tare and Panda Bear, released in August 2000. It was later retroactively classified as the debut album by Portner and Lennox's group Animal Collective. The album was first released as a CD on the band's own Animal label with only 2000 copies produced.

<i>Campfire Songs</i> (Animal Collective album) 2003 studio album by Campfire Songs

Campfire Songs is the debut and only album by the American band Campfire Songs, released in March 2003. A collaborative work between Dave Portner, Noah Lennox, and Josh Dibb, it was later retroactively classified as the third studio album by their band Animal Collective.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Avey Tare</span> American musician (born 1979)

David Michael Portner, also known by his moniker Avey Tare, is a musician and songwriter who co-founded the American experimental pop band Animal Collective. He has released four solo albums, as well as three collaborative albums with Panda Bear which were later retroactively classified under Animal Collective's discography.

Paw Tracks was an independent record label based in Washington, D.C.

<i>Young Prayer</i> 2004 studio album by Panda Bear

Young Prayer is the second solo album by American experimental pop musician Panda Bear, released on September 28, 2004. It follows his debut solo album Panda Bear (1999). It is his first since co-founding Animal Collective.

<i>Panda Bear</i> (album) 1999 studio album by Panda Bear

Panda Bear is the debut solo album by American musician Noah Lennox who later became a founding member of Animal Collective. The album was the first use of the Panda Bear moniker which he later continued to use while performing with group. It was released on June 1, 1999, shortly before his 21st birthday on the label Soccer Star Records. The label was formed by himself and fellow future Animal Collective member and childhood friend Deakin and was initially founded only to release this album. However the label eventually morphed into Animal and then Paw Tracks. This album marks the very first Animal Collective related release, apart from the EP "Paddington Band", which was a recording by the Animal Collective precursor Automine, which featured all other members of the future group except for Lennox himself.

<i>Person Pitch</i> 2007 studio album by Panda Bear

Person Pitch is the third solo album by American recording artist Noah Lennox under his alias Panda Bear, released on March 20, 2007 by Paw Tracks. Departing stylistically from his prior work as both a member of Animal Collective and a solo artist, the album was recorded using the Boss SP-303 sampler, with instrumentation largely composed of manipulated samples and loops, accompanied by Lennox's layered vocals. He described it as a collection of "super dubby and old sounding" songs inspired by his then-recent marriage, fatherhood, and move to Portugal.

<i>Strawberry Jam</i> 2007 studio album by Animal Collective

Strawberry Jam is the seventh studio album by American experimental pop band Animal Collective. It was released in September 2007, the band's first on Domino Records. It was accompanied by the singles "Peacebone" and "Fireworks." The album was the band's first to chart on the Billboard 200, debuting and peaking at #72.

<i>Merriweather Post Pavilion</i> (album) 2009 studio album by Animal Collective

Merriweather Post Pavilion is the eighth studio album by American experimental pop group Animal Collective, released on January 6, 2009, through Domino Records. The group recorded the album as a trio featuring members Panda Bear, Avey Tare and Geologist, with co-production by Ben H. Allen. It is titled after the Maryland venue of the same name, where Portner and Weitz attended concerts in their youth.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Brother Sport</span> 2009 single by Animal Collective

"Brother Sport" is the third single from Animal Collective's 2009 album Merriweather Post Pavilion, released on November 9, 2009 by Domino Records. The single is available as a 10" vinyl single and as a digital download. It was written by Panda Bear to encourage his brother into talking about previous ordeals that had troubled him. The single's B-side is a live recording of "Bleed" with an extended jam linking into "What Would I Want? Sky" recorded May 27, 2009 at Henry Miller Memorial Library, Big Sur, CA.

Rusty Santos is a record producer and musician based in Los Angeles. He is known for producing, recording, mixing and/or mastering records like Animal Collective’s Sung Tongs and the reissue of Danse Manatee, Panda Bear’s Person Pitch, Born Ruffians’ Red, Yellow & Blue, Owen Pallett's Heartland & In Conflict, DJ Rashad's Welcome to the Chi, Dawn of Midi's "Dysnomia", and many more.

<i>Tomboy</i> (album) 2011 studio album by Panda Bear

Tomboy is the fourth solo album by American musician Panda Bear, released on April 4, 2011 initially as an online stream and later physically. It was mixed by UK musician Sonic Boom. In contrast to the sample-based composition of the previous Panda Bear album Person Pitch (2007), the recording of Tomboy features a stripped-down sound built around guitar processed through Korg M3-M workstation modules.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Animal Collective</span> American experimental pop band

Animal Collective is an American experimental pop band formed in Baltimore, Maryland. Its members consist of Avey Tare, Panda Bear, Geologist, and Deakin. The band's work is characterized by an eclectic exploration of styles, including psychedelia, freak folk, noise, and electronica, with the use of elements such as loops, drones, sampling, vocal harmonies, and sound collage. AllMusic's Fred Thomas suggests that the group "defined the face of independent experimental rock during the 2000s and 2010s."

<i>Random Access Memories</i> 2013 studio album by Daft Punk

Random Access Memories is the fourth and final studio album by the French electronic duo Daft Punk, released on 17 May 2013 through Columbia Records. It pays tribute to late 1970s and early 1980s American music, particularly from Los Angeles. This theme is reflected in the album's packaging, as well as its promotional campaign, which included billboards, television advertisements and a web series. Recording sessions took place from 2008 to 2012 at Henson, Conway and Capitol Studios in California, Electric Lady Studios in New York City, and Gang Recording Studio in Paris, France.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Doin' It Right</span> 2013 single by Daft Punk featuring Panda Bear

"Doin' It Right" is a song written and performed by French electronic music duo Daft Punk and American musician Panda Bear of the band Animal Collective. It is a track on Daft Punk's fourth studio album Random Access Memories (2013), and was the last to be recorded for the album. The song was distributed to American alternative radio stations on 3 September 2013 as the third single from Random Access Memories. Prior to this, it appeared on record charts in France, the United States and the United Kingdom due to digital downloads of the album. "Doin' It Right" received a positive critical reception, with some reviewers opining it as the group's best work out of the entire LP.

<i>Panda Bear Meets the Grim Reaper</i> 2015 studio album by Panda Bear

Panda Bear Meets the Grim Reaper is the fifth studio album by American recording artist Panda Bear. Coproduced by Sonic Boom of Spacemen 3, it was released on January 9, 2015, by the Domino Recording Company. Panda Bear Meets the Grim Reaper was preceded by the digital release of an extended play, Mr Noah, and two singles, "Mr Noah" and "Boys Latin". It was followed by the extended play Crosswords.

<i>Crosswords</i> (EP) 2015 EP by Panda Bear

Crosswords is the second extended play album by American recording artist Panda Bear. It was released on August 20, 2015 by the Domino Recording Company. This release features an updated audio mix of the track "Crosswords" from the version on his fifth studio album Panda Bear Meets the Grim Reaper. The other 4 tracks on the release were not included on Panda Bear Meets the Grim Reaper, however, an earlier version of "The Preakness" appears on Animal Collective's 2011 EP Keep + Animal Collective and the deluxe edition of Panda Bear album Tomboy.

<i>Painting With</i> 2016 studio album by Animal Collective

Painting With is the tenth studio album by American experimental pop band Animal Collective, released on February 19, 2016. The album is a follow-up to Centipede Hz (2012), and features contributions from John Cale and Colin Stetson. It peaked at No. 46 on the Billboard 200. Three singles were issued: "FloriDada" (2015), "Lying in the Grass", and "Golden Gal". A companion EP, The Painters, was released the following year.

<i>Time Skiffs</i> 2022 studio album by Animal Collective

Time Skiffs is the eleventh studio album by American experimental pop band Animal Collective, released on February 4, 2022, on Domino. It is their first album in six years and marks the return of band member Deakin, who sat out of the recording and touring of the band's previous album, Painting With (2016). Time Skiffs was preceded by four singles: "Prester John", "Walker", "Strung with Everything", and "We Go Back".

<i>Reset</i> (Panda Bear and Sonic Boom album)

Reset is an album by Panda Bear and Sonic Boom. It marks the duo's first collaborative album; Kember had previously co-produced Lennox's Tomboy (2011) and Panda Bear Meets the Grim Reaper (2015).

References

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  2. 1 2 Reges, Margaret. "Panda Bear". AllMusic . Archived from the original on January 10, 2017. Retrieved March 30, 2017.
  3. ↑ Carew, Anthony (May 20, 2011). "Perfecting the pitch". The Sydney Morning Herald . Archived from the original on March 31, 2017. Retrieved March 30, 2017.
  4. ↑ Costello, Lou (December 6, 1993). New Coach Is Relying On A Senior Guard Matt Lennox Is The Cougars' Team Leader. He "Picks Up Other Guys When They're Down," Says Ray Jenkins Archived April 12, 2016, at the Wayback Machine . Inquirer. Retrieved on March 6, 2016.
  5. ↑ "PANDA BEAR Interview". March 9, 2009. Archived from the original on March 9, 2009. Retrieved January 15, 2018.
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "{.::Má Fama::.}: Panda Bear". Mafama.blogspot.com. January 8, 2007. Retrieved February 18, 2016.
  7. ↑ "PBS 106.7FM – Real Radio – Animal Collective – Strawberry Jam". July 22, 2008. Archived from the original on July 22, 2008. Retrieved January 15, 2018.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
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  10. ↑ Magic's Saga Animal Collective Archived July 14, 2011, at the Wayback Machine Part 5/5, Magicrpm.com, February 5, 2009
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  21. ↑ "Alan Braxe & DJ Falcon Team Up, Collaborate With Panda Bear On "Step By Step": Listen". Stereogum. March 29, 2022. Archived from the original on June 30, 2022. Retrieved June 21, 2022.
  22. ↑ Kelly, Jennifer. "Good Times, Other Realities: A Conversation with Panda Bear" Archived June 1, 2016, at the Wayback Machine , PopMatters , March 26, 2007
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  28. 1 2 Panda Bear Meets the Grim Reaper (Media notes). Panda Bear. Domino Recording Company. 2015.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
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