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 Animal Collective is an American experimental pop band formed in Baltimore, Maryland. Its members consist of Avey Tare (David Portner), Panda Bear (musician), Panda Bear (Noah Lennox), Geologist (musician), Geologist (Brian Weitz), and Deakin ( ...

. In addition to his work with that group, Lennox has released six solo LPs since 1999, with his influential 2007 album ''

Person Pitch ''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 ...

'' inspiring numerous subsequent acts. His subsequent albums ''

Tomboy A tomboy is a term for a girl or a young woman with masculine qualities. It can include wearing androgynous or unfeminine clothing and actively engage in physical sports or other activities and behaviors usually associated with boys or men. W ...

'' (2011) and '' Panda Bear Meets the Grim Reaper'' (2015) both reached the ''Billboard'' 200. Lennox was primarily raised in

Baltimore Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic, and the 30th most populous city in the United States with a population of 585,708 in 2020. Baltimore was ...

, Maryland, where he sang

tenor A tenor is a type of classical male singing voice whose vocal range lies between the countertenor and baritone voice types. It is the highest male chest voice type. The tenor's vocal range extends up to C5. The low extreme for tenors is wide ...

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

mixtape A mixtape (alternatively mix-tape, mix tape or mixed tape) is a compilation of music, typically from multiple sources, recorded onto a medium. With origins in the 1980s, the term normally describes a homemade compilation of music onto a cassette ...

s 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 Daft Punk were a French electronic music duo formed in 1993 in Paris by Thomas Bangalter and Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo. Widely regarded as one of the most influential acts in dance music history, they achieved popularity in the late 1990s as p ...

on their 2013 single "

Doin' It Right "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 ...

" 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

, 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 "Brother Sport" is the third single from Animal Collective's 2009 album ''Merriweather Post Pavilion (album), Merriweather Post Pavilion'', released on November 9, 2009 by Domino Recording Company, Domino Records. The single is available as a 10" ...

" is directed at), was a leading player on the high school basketball team and Noah was also a team member, playing as

point guard The point guard (PG), also called the one or the point, is one of the five positions in a regulation basketball game. A point guard has perhaps the most specialized role of any position. Point guards are expected to run the team's offense by ...

. Lennox has also stated in interviews that he enjoyed drawing a lot as a teenager, especially pandas, and later started drawing pandas on his early mixtapes. He also studied piano until he was eight, then cello, and later on he sang

in his high school

chamber choir A chamber choir is a small or medium-sized choir of roughly 8 to 40 singers (occasionally called 'chamber singers'), typically singing classical or religious music in a concert setting. (This is distinct from e.g. a church choir, which sings in rel ...

. Though he and his family have never been very religious, Lennox briefly attended

Boston University Boston University (BU) is a private research university in Boston, Massachusetts. The university is nonsectarian, but has a historical affiliation with the United Methodist Church. It was founded in 1839 by Methodists with its original cam ...

, where he majored in religion because of his interest in "the concept of God".

Career

Animal Collective

As a teen, Lennox began listening to electronic music styles such as

house A house is a single-unit residential building. It may range in complexity from a rudimentary hut to a complex structure of wood, masonry, concrete or other material, outfitted with plumbing, electrical, and heating, ventilation, and air cond ...

and

techno Techno is a Music genre, genre of electronic dance music (EDM) which is generally music production, produced for use in a continuous DJ set, with tempo often varying between 120 and 150 beats per minute (bpm). The central Drum beat, rhythm is typ ...

, and artists such as

Aphex Twin Richard David James (born 18 August 1971), best known as Aphex Twin, is an Irish-born British musician, composer and DJ. He is known for his idiosyncratic work in electronic styles such as techno, ambient, and jungle. Journalists from publicati ...

, all of which became a major influence on his later work. He recorded and performed music solo and with friends. Lennox started using the name "Panda Bear" because he drew pictures of pandas for the artwork of his recordings. Lennox had been friends with Deakin (Josh Dibb) since the second grade. Deakin introduced Lennox to his high school friends

Avey Tare David Michael Portner (born April 24, 1979), 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 three solo albums, as well as three collaborative a ...

(Dave Portner) and

Geologist A geologist is a scientist who studies the solid, liquid, and gaseous matter that constitutes Earth and other terrestrial planets, as well as the processes that shape them. Geologists usually study geology, earth science, or geophysics, althou ...

(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. The band then became more collaborative in nature and they finally settled on the name "Animal Collective". Animal Collective-7

Since the 2007 releases of Panda Bear's ''

'' and Animal Collective's '' Strawberry Jam'', he has focused more on using samplers and other electronics in their shows. He has named

Black Dice Black Dice is an American experimental noise music band based in Brooklyn, New York and consisting of brothers Bjorn and Eric Copeland along with Aaron Warren. Formed in 1997, the group was initially inspired by hardcore and noise rock, but subs ...

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." 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 f 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." In addition to singing, Lennox played drums and occasionally guitar in Animal Collective's live performances. He cites

Stewart Copeland Stewart Armstrong Copeland (born July 16, 1952) is a Scottish-American musician and composer. He is best known for his work as the drummer of the English rock band the Police from 1977 to 1986, and again from 2007 to 2008. Before playing with th ...

as the biggest influence on his drumming style; for his drumming work on Animal Collective's 2022 album ''

Time Skiffs ''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 recordin ...

'', Lennox cited

James Brown James Joseph Brown (May 3, 1933 – December 25, 2006) was an American singer, dancer, musician, record producer and bandleader. The central progenitor of funk music and a major figure of 20th century music, he is often referred to by the hono ...

's drummers, especially

Clyde Stubblefield Clyde Austin Stubblefield (April 18, 1943 – February 18, 2017) was an American drummer best known for his work with James Brown. A self-taught musician, he was influenced by the sound of natural rhythms around him. His drum patterns on Brown's ...

, as influences.

Solo work

Lennox's early musical influences included electronic styles, and his solo work has been variously characterized as experimental pop, electronic, bedroom pop, neo-psychedelic pop, and

indie music Independent music (also commonly known as indie music or simply indie) is music that is produced independently from commercial record labels or their subsidiaries, a process that may include an autonomous, do-it-yourself approach to recording a ...

. ''

The Line of Best Fit ''The Line of Best Fit'' is an independent online magazine based in London, concentrating on new music. It publishes independent music reviews, features, interview, and media. Founded by Richard Thane in February 2007 and currently edited by P ...

'' called him a "

psychedelic pop Psychedelic pop (or acid pop) is pop music that contains musical characteristics associated with psychedelic music. Developing in the late 1960s, elements included "trippy" features such as fuzz guitars, tape manipulation, backwards recording, ...

trailblazer." Lennox's debut album ''

Panda Bear The giant panda (''Ailuropoda melanoleuca''), also known as the panda bear (or simply the panda), is a bear species endemic to China. It is characterised by its bold black-and-white coat and rotund body. The name "giant panda" is sometimes u ...

'' was released in 1999 on Soccer Star Records. After focusing more on touring and recording with

, he released the follow-up '' Young Prayer'' in 2004 and the highly acclaimed third solo album ''

'' 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." 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. Panda Bear, Paris

His song "Comfy In Nautica" appears in ABC's 2010 global warming movie '' Earth 2100''. Lennox was chosen by

Jeff Mangum Jeff Mangum (born 24 October 1970) is an American singer, songwriter, and musician who gained prominence as the founder, songwriter, vocalist and guitarist of Neutral Milk Hotel, as well for his co-founding of The Elephant 6 Recording Company. M ...

Neutral Milk Hotel Neutral Milk Hotel was an American band formed in Ruston, Louisiana, by musician Jeff Mangum. They were active from 1989 to 1998, and again from 2013 to 2015. The band's music featured a deliberately low-quality sound, influenced by indie rock ...

to perform at the All Tomorrow's Parties festival he planned to curate in December 2011 in Minehead, England. 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 Jane may refer to: * Jane (given name), a feminine given name * Jane (surname), related to the given name Film and television * Jane (1915 film), ''Jane'' (1915 film), a silent comedy film directed by Frank Lloyd * Jane (2016 film), ''Jane'' (20 ...

and Together with DJ Scott Mou. He has also performed on tracks with Atlas Sound (Bradford Cox of Deerhunter), Ducktails ''(

Matt Mondanile Matthew A. Mondanile is an American guitarist, singer and songwriter. He is best known as the former lead guitarist of the American indie rock band Real Estate, with whom he recorded three studio albums, and for his solo music project Ducktails ...

'', best known as the former lead guitarist of the American

indie rock Indie rock is a subgenre of rock music that originated in the United States, United Kingdom and New Zealand from the 1970s to the 1980s. Originally used to describe independent record labels, the term became associated with the music they produ ...

band

Real Estate Real estate is property consisting of land and the buildings on it, along with its natural resources such as crops, minerals or water; immovable property of this nature; an interest vested in this (also) an item of real property, (more genera ...

) and electronic musicians

Zomby Zomby is a British electronic musician who began releasing music in 2007. He has released music on several labels, including Hyperdub, Werk Discs, and 4AD. Zomby's influences include oldschool jungle music and Wiley's eskibeat sound. Car ...

and Pantha du Prince. Panda Bear appeared on the track "

" on the 2013

album '' Random Access Memories''. The album won Daft Punk the

Grammy Award for Album of the Year The Grammy Award for Album of the Year is presented by the The Recording Academy, National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States to "honor artistic achievement, technical proficiency and overall excellence in the recording ...

in 2014, making Panda Bear a co-winner. Almost a decade later, Lennox worked with previous Daft Punk collaborators

Alan Braxe Alain Quême (), professionally known as Alan Braxe (born 9 July 1971), is a French electronic music artist. Braxe is most widely known for his collaborative work with electronic bassist Fred Falke and Kris Menace, and for being part of the music ...

and DJ Falcon on their new duo's debut single, "Step By Step", in 2022.

Personal life

In 2004, Lennox moved from New York City to

Lisbon Lisbon (; pt, Lisboa ) is the capital and largest city of Portugal, with an estimated population of 544,851 within its administrative limits in an area of 100.05 km2. Lisbon's urban area extends beyond the city's administrative limits w ...

, Portugal. He first visited the city for a vacation following a long

tour in 2003. Lennox says about Lisbon: "Since I got off the airplane here or the first timeI had a good feeling about this place." He met his 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", considering himself as a "slow moving kind of person" and Lisbon as a "slow moving kind of place". Lennox and Pereira have a daughter, Nadja, born in 2005 and a son, born in June 2010. In 2007, he and Pereira collaborated on a line of sweatshirts called ''2nd Things''.

Musical equipment

;Synthesizers *

Minimoog Voyager The Minimoog Voyager or Voyager is a monophonic analog synthesizer, designed by Robert Moog and released in 2002 by Moog Music. The Voyager was modeled after the classic Minimoog synthesizer that was popular in the 1970s, and is meant to be a s ...

Korg M3 Korg M3 is a music workstation synthesizer manufactured by Korg Corporation and introduced at the Winter NAMM show during January, 2007, being released four months later. The M3 is the successor of the famous Triton series. The name is based o ...

; Digital samplers *

Elektron Octatrack The Octatrack DPS-1 (Dynamic Performance Sampler) is a digital electronic music instrument made after the Machinedrum UW by Elektron Music Machines. An LCD surrounded by hand controls let the user interact with sampler, step sequencer, mixe ...

* Roland SP-555 * Boss SP-303 "Dr. Sample" * Teenage Engineering OP-1 ;Drum machine/synthesizer *

JoMoX JoMoX Elektronische Musikinstrumente GmbH is a German electronic musical instrument manufacturer founded in 1997 and based in Berlin. Jürgen Michaelis is the CEO and product developer. The company specializes in analog synthesizers. The XB ...

Xbase 999

Discography

Studio albums

Extended plays

Singles

*" I'm Not/Comfy in Nautica" (September 22, 2005, UUAR) *"Bros" (December 4, 2006, Fat Cat Records) *"

Carrots The carrot (''Daucus carota'' subsp. ''sativus'') is a root vegetable, typically orange in color, though purple, black, red, white, and yellow cultivars exist, all of which are domesticated forms of the wild carrot, ''Daucus carota'', nati ...

" (January 23, 2007, Paw Tracks) *"

Take Pills "Take Pills" is the fourth and final single to be released by Panda Bear (musician), Panda Bear from his 2007 album Person Pitch. The 7″ single was released by Paw Tracks, in limited quantity of 1,000 copies. While the title of this single may ...

" (June 19, 2007, Paw Tracks) *"

" (July 13, 2010, Paw Tracks) *" You Can Count on Me" (October 19, 2010, Domino) *" Last Night at the Jetty" (December 13, 2010, FatCat Records) *" Surfer's Hymn" (March 28, 2011, Kompakt) *" Mr Noah" (October 23, 2014, Domino) *"Boys Latin" (December 15, 2014, Domino) *" Crosswords" (August 20, 2015, Domino) *"Dolphin" (November 8, 2018, Domino) *"Token" (January 14, 2019, Domino) *"Playing the Long Game" (October 9, 2019, Domino)

Remixes

*"Boneless" (remix of

Notwist The Notwist are a German indie rock band. Formed in 1989, the band moved through several musical incarnations, despite maintaining a relatively stable line-up. While their early records moved through heavy metal into dark indie rock, their re ...

song "Boneless") on "Boneless" 7" *"As Young As Yesterday" (remix of Korallreven song "As Young As Yesterday") on "As Young As Yesterday" 12" (2011) *"Cheap Treat (Panda Bear Version)" (remix of

Eric Copeland Eric Copeland (born 1978 in Brunswick, Maine, United States) is an American experimental musician based in New York City. He is a core member of Black Dice and forms half of the duo Terrestrial Tones with Animal Collective's Avey Tare. Copel ...

song "Cheap Treat") on "Remixes" EP. *"Melody Unfair (Panda Bear Remix)" on ''Essence of Eucalyptus'' by

*"Never Ending Game (Panda Bear Remix)" on ''Bigger House'' by Angel Du$t

Appearances

*One untitled track on Visionaire 53 – Sound (December 1, 2007, Visionaire Publishing, LLC) *"Anna" on the album '' East of Eden'' by Taken by Trees (September 7, 2009) *" Walkabout" on the album ''

Logos ''Logos'' (, ; grc, λόγος, lógos, lit=word, discourse, or reason) is a term used in Western philosophy, psychology and rhetoric and refers to the appeal to reason that relies on logic or reason, inductive and deductive reasoning. Aris ...

'' by

Atlas Sound Bradford James Cox (born May 15, 1982) is an American singer-songwriter and musician, best known as the lead singer and guitarist of the indie rock band Deerhunter. He also pursues a solo career under the moniker Atlas Sound. Cox formed Deerh ...

(October 20, 2009) *"Stick to My Side" on the album '' Black Noise'' by Pantha du Prince (February 9, 2010) *" Killin the Vibe" (bonus track) on the album '' Ducktails III: Arcade Dynamics'' by Ducktails (January 18, 2011) *"Atiba Song" composed music for a skateboarding montage directed by Atiba Jefferson and Ty Evans. The track was initially created by Atiba, then finished by Panda Bear. *"The Preakness" on the cassette tape ''Keep + Animal Collective'' (March 2011, Keep) *"Things Fall Apart" on the album ''

Dedication Dedication is the act of consecrating an altar, temple, church, or other sacred building. Feast of Dedication The Feast of Dedication, today Hanukkah, once also called "Feast of the Maccabees," is a Jewish festival observed for eight days f ...

'' by

(July 11, 2011) *"Pyjama" on the album ''Tracer'' by Teengirl Fantasy (August 21, 2012) *"

" on the album '' Random Access Memories'' by

(May 17, 2013) *"Time (Is)", "Binz", "Beltway" and "I'm a Witness" on the album ''

When I Get Home "When I Get Home" is a song written by John Lennon (credited to Lennon–McCartney), and recorded by the English rock band the Beatles on 2 June 1964, during the last session for their third studio album '' A Hard Day's Night'' (1964). Its fi ...

'' by Solange (March 1, 2019) *"I Don't Need a Crowd" on the ''I Don't Need a Crowd/The One That Got Away'' 7" by Paul Maroon (March 15, 2019) * "Studie" on the album ''Anicca'' by

Teebs Mtendere Mandowa, better known by his stage name Teebs, is an American record producer and visual artist from Los Angeles, California. He is a member of the My Hollow Drum collective. He is also one half of the duo Sons of the Morning. Life and ...

(September 18, 2019) * "Gameday Continues" on the album ''HBCU Gameday'' by Sporting Life. (January 27, 2020) * "Just a Little Piece of Me" on the album ''All Things Being Equal '' by Sonic Boom. (June 5, 2020) * "Step By Step" by Braxe +

Falcon Falcons () are birds of prey in the genus ''Falco'', which includes about 40 species. Falcons are widely distributed on all continents of the world except Antarctica, though closely related raptors did occur there in the Eocene. Adult falcons ...

(March 29, 2022)

References

External links

Interview from 2008 on Onhiat.usOla's Kool Kitchen on Radio 23 – Panda Bear Live, Primavera 2010
{{DEFAULTSORT:Panda Bear American male singers 1978 births 21st-century American musicians Living people Ableton Live users American expatriates in Portugal Animal Collective members Grammy Award winners Experimental pop musicians Domino Recording Company artists 21st-century American singers FatCat Records artists