Panda Bear

Noah Lennox adopted the name Panda Bear in the late '90s, when he drew a picture of a panda on one of his first bedroom studio recordings. He grew up in Pennsylvania, went to college at the Boston University, and eventually found his way to New York City, where he met his future Animal Collective bandmates Avey Tare, Geologist, and Deakin. In addition to his work with Animal Collective, Jane, and Together, Lennox has released several solo albums. In 1999, While Lennox and Avey Tare were still in the earliest stages of what would grow to be known as Animal Collective, the first solo collection of Panda Bear material arrived on an obscure self-titled release on indie label Soccer Star. The electronica-pop recordings were miles away from the more spectral folk weirdness Lennox would explore over the next several years. Second, more widely distributed solo album Young Prayer materialized in 2004, a murky album largely influenced by the death of his father. Person Pitch, Lennox's third album and second on the Paw Tracks label, followed three years later. The album was a patchwork of repurposed samples and densely layered vocals and not only met enormous popularity and critical acclaim, but went on to be incredibly influential on the entire indie spectrum. For his next solo album, Lennox made the decision to move away from samplers towards a more guitar-heavy sound. Working with producer Sonic Boom, Lennox released his fourth solo album, Tomboy, in 2011. This was followed in early 2015 by Panda Bear Meets The Grim Reaper. The colorful album again found Lennox collaborating with producer Sonic Boom.