Words by Patrick F. Albertson
Illustration by Maureen Gubia

Part-time Animal Collective member Panda Bear, aka Noah Lennox, just released his phenomenal new solo record Person Pitch which has been recorded and polished over the last two years in his new home of Lisbon, Portugal. He has put down the acoustic and built a new sonic landscape around samples and synths, the result of which takes his catalogue to ethereal new heights. From his home across the sea, Noah found the time to talk with ‘Sup about the new record, the pitfalls of cool, men’s clothing, medication, natural disasters and how to smell good.

‘Sup: The songs on this record have much more traditional structure than Young Prayer. There are fewer distortions in tempo and the record generally seems much more straightforward. Did playing to samples influence the pace and direction of these new songs?
Noah: Yes for sure. The samples kind of set the tone for everything. It was fun and easy to sometimes let the samples dictate the style and the mood and the melody and everything for the songs-I didn’t ever find it restrictive. For pretty much all of the songs, the first part would be finding and gathering samples and then id try and fit them together by pitching them, or messing with the speeds or cutting them up and things like that. It was really random and all over the place at first and then gradually I kind of whittled it down into something that I thought sounded nice.

Lyrically Person Pitch has a very positive, empowered tone-a sort of confidence. I know a lot has changed for you since the last record with the move to Lisbon and the young family you’ve started there, care to hit this one out of the park or draw any correlations here?
I couldn’t say that lyrically my approach for the words on person pitch was any different than anything else I’ve ever done. That is to say that I find it very difficult to write songs about anything other than what is important or intense for me in the right now if you know what I mean. I’m glad that I sound confident and empowered, and thanks for saying that. I have been a lot happier in the last couple of years and I feel like I’ve had to deal with some real serious stuff, so perhaps its coming off in the songs and I’d be happy if it did for sure.

So many of the harmonies have a profoundly Brian Wilson feel, from the harmonies in seventh chords to the old plate-sounding reverb. Was creating that sound of ethereal innocence something you were intentionally after for this record?
The first Beach Boys album I heard was pet sounds and that was in college so about 8 years ago at this point. My good friends Brian Hall and Mitch Wimbish played it for me and I really liked it. I’ve heard most everything else, especially the later things (up until around Kocomo I guess) from the Animal Collective boys and Eric Copeland and Scott Miller out in Sacramento. I don’t really know the albums like those guys do but there are lots of songs I like. I certainly didn’t set out to make songs or to sing in ways that sounded like them, but I can see where people are coming from for sure and obviously its intensely flattering to be likened to them in any way because their jams are so good. As far as reverb goes it’s just a quality of sound that I’ve always really responded to even before I’d heard music that really employed it in any heavy kind of way. I think there was a time when pretty much all music was experienced in a reverby environment (in churches and concert halls and that sort of thing-even though that reverb was the natural kind) and I’d like to think it was setup that way to encourage some kind of spiritual altered state. In a lot of ways, I’d like my music to do the same thing. On the most basic level I’d just like people to feel good when they listen to the jams.

Regarding the chorus of ‘Take Pills’, which pills don’t you want to take anymore?
There’s a long history of depression in my family on both sides I guess. I’ve had trouble with it for sure and for a while I was taking antidepressant drugs. They really helped me out in a time when nothing else seemed to be working and so the song certainly isn’t an anti antidepressant drugs song. But I had gotten to a point where I felt like I didn’t need them and I felt like they had served their purpose for me and I didn’t want to take them anymore. My mom was (and is) also taking them and part of the song is me trying to make a case for her getting off of them. I should say here that I think everyone is different and the things people go through, and the places they’re at, are all different so you cant apply any one system of success to every person if you know what I mean. I don’t have any desire to tell anyone what they should be doing and how they should be living their life.

Was there some musical influence from your new home in Lisbon, Portugal on this record? What does the popular music there taste like?
I would assume that there is a Portuguese influence but it’s hard for me to trace. I’d guess that it’s more of an implicit thing. I’d say the attitudes and the moods probably came out in the jams quite a bit, but there’s not much concrete stuff to hold on to. Club culture and dance music is really big in Portugal-house music of all forms is kind of the standard. People usually don’t go out until midnight and usually don’t come back until between 10 and noon the next day and I’m talking mostly about Thursday through Sunday nights. I don’t really have that kind of endurance, but it seems pretty natural for everyone here. Every once in a while I’ll go at it like that, although less so since the kid.

Are you afraid of earthquakes, in particular earthquakes in Lisbon? Historically, they can be disastrous.
It’s scary for sure, although my neighborhood (Bairro Alto) is one of the only places in the city that stayed put after the earthquake a while ago that kind of leveled Lisbon. But I feel like disaster could hit me anywhere at anytime and in any way so it’s not really worth sweating over just one aspect of it if you know what I mean.

Comfy in Nautica. Are you partial to the casual sportswear line, do you admire seafaring vessels, or is this a statement about being comfortable with yourself as a person and living life to its potential?
I do like Nautica, but it’s mostly the latter of the three. I like a lot of things-like Max Mara and Prada and Lacoste that most people I know find kind of drab, but I suppose that’s neither here nor there… Really, the song is about me not liking the exclusivity and clubhouse of coolness and how I wish coolness could be equated with smartness and kindness on the simplest level even though it sounds stupid and fruity. I’d like to feel like I’m hard working and honest and sympathetic, but I could give a shit if people think I’m cool or not.

Are you looking forward to taking these songs on the road and what kind of a stage show is it when it’s you singing along with samplers? How do you keep up the energy?
I am looking forward to playing for sure but I don’t know that ill be playing a whole lot. It’s hard to find a lot of time in between the band jams and being with my family. At the same time I didn’t want to work on the album for two years and then just let it fall by the wayside so I’m trying to play shows here and there when I can. The live show is way more minimal and noised out than the album version and to be honest I feel a little bad about how low energy I am. It’s just because I’m trying to focus hard on singing and hitting the right notes and hitting the samples and keeping all the samples for the songs in order in my head. It’s not the kind of thing where I can go super crazy on stage and still stay on top of it. I think at least for the us shows coming up in a bit I’ll have my friend Danny Perez doing some video jams so its not totally boring just watching me standing there.

Any chance of some guests helping you out on stage?
I don’t think so. I really like the way Brian and I from the band work our sounds together so I asked him if he’d like to play and he was down but its a bad week for him so he cant do it so I think for better or worse it will just be me.

Do you have a favorite smell currently?
My favorite smell is Eau de Rochas for men and it smells like lemons a little bit but in a really good way. I put just a little on every once in a while if I’m feeling fancy and it gets my wife totally stoked.