Amoeba Music

Avey Tare (born David Michael Portner) is a solo artist and co-founder of Animal Collective. While in high school in Maryland, he met Josh Dibb (Deakin), Noah Lennox (Panda Bear),...More

Avey Tare (born David Michael Portner) is a solo artist and co-founder of Animal Collective. While in high school in Maryland, he met Josh Dibb (Deakin), Noah Lennox (Panda Bear), and Brian Weitz (Geologist); the friends shared homemade recordings and played in different band formations together. Portner and Weitz both moved to New York City after graduation and when they were joined by Dibb and Lennox, the longtime pals formed Animal Collective. In 2000, Avey Tare and Panda Bear released Spirit They're Gone, Spirit They've Vanished, which was later classified as the first official Animal Collective LP. 2001's Danse Manatee saw Avey Tare, Panda Bear, and Geologist joining forces. The bandmates played together in various groupings, sometimes releasing work as Animal Collective and sometimes releasing work under other monikers but it wasn't until 2004's Sung Tongs that the band really began attracting national attention.

While Animal Collective toured and put out records throughout this period, Avey Tare found time to release his debut solo LP, Down There, in 2010. As Avey Tare's Slasher Flicks, he released Enter the Slasher House in 2014. Eucalyptus followed three years later and Animal Collective's latest, Tangerine Reef, landed in summer 2018. Avey Tare recorded his latest on reel-to-reel tape in Asheville, North Carolina, releasing it as Cows on Hourglass Pond in spring 2019.