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 Experimental pop is pop music that cannot be categorized within traditional musical boundaries or which attempts to push elements of existing popular forms into new areas. It may incorporate experimental music, experimental techniques such as m ...

band

Animal Collective Animal Collective is an American experimental pop band formed in Baltimore County, Maryland. Its members consist of Avey Tare (David Portner), Panda Bear (Noah Lennox), Geologist (Brian Weitz), and Deakin (Josh Dibb). The band's work is cha ...

. He has released four solo albums, as well as four collaborative albums with

Panda Bear The giant panda (''Ailuropoda melanoleuca''), also known as the panda bear or simply panda, is a bear species endemic to China. It is characterised by its white coat with black patches around the eyes, ears, legs and shoulders. Its body is ...

(Noah Lennox) three of which were later retroactively classified under Animal Collective's discography.

Animal Collective

Portner met Animal Collective's Deakin (Josh Dibb),

(Noah Lennox), and

Geologist A geologist is a scientist who studies the structure, composition, and History of Earth, history of Earth. Geologists incorporate techniques from physics, chemistry, biology, mathematics, and geography to perform research in the Field research, ...

(Brian Weitz) in high school. For years, the four of them swapped homemade recordings, shared musical ideas and performed in different group configurations. Portner recorded the ''

Spirit They're Gone, Spirit They've Vanished ''Spirit They're Gone, Spirit They've Vanished'' is the first collaborative studio album by Avey Tare (David Portner) and Panda Bear (Noah Lennox), released in August 2000. It was later retroactively classified as the debut studio album by Port ...

'' album with Lennox, and initially released the recording on the band's own Animal label in 1999. The album is commonly referred to as the first official Animal Collective release, with Portner writing the music and Lennox providing the 'perfect percussion' (as cited in the album's credits). After high school, Portner and Weitz moved to New York City to attend

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private university, private research university in New York City, New York, United States. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded in 1832 by Albert Gallatin as a Nondenominational ...

and

Columbia University Columbia University in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Columbia University, is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Churc ...

, respectively. Lennox and Dibb eventually moved to New York City, and the band became more collaborative in nature. They finally settled on the name "Animal Collective". Although the band's output is, as their name suggests, a collaborative effort, with no typical 'frontman,' Portner has been cited by the other members as being the 'primary songwriter' and de facto leader of the group. For the band's ''

Centipede Hz ''Centipede Hz'' is the ninth studio album by American experimental pop group Animal Collective, released on September 4, 2012, on Domino Records. The album marks the return of band member Deakin, who sat out of the recording and touring of the ...

'', Portner confirmed that the album has eight songs penned by him.

Other musical projects

Portner's other projects and releases include

Terrestrial Tones Terrestrial Tones are Avey Tare, Dave Portner (Avey Tare) of Animal Collective and Eric Copeland of Black Dice. The two were roommates who began recording together when both of their respective primary bands went on temporary hiatus in November 2 ...

with Eric Copeland of

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 s ...

, a split 12" with

David Grubbs David Grubbs (born September 21, 1967) is an American composer, guitarist, pianist, and vocalist. He was a founding member of Squirrel Bait, Bastro, and Gastr del Sol. He has also played in Codeine (band), Codeine, The Red Krayola, Bitch Magnet a ...

, and ''

Pullhair Rubeye ''Pullhair Rubeye'' is a collaborative studio album released by Animal Collective member Avey Tare (David Portner) and his then-wife Kría Brekkan (Kristín Anna Valtýsdóttir, formerly of múm). The album was released April 24, 2007 in CD, LP ...

'', an LP made with his then-wife

Kristín Anna Valtýsdóttir Kristín Anna Valtýsdóttir (born 5 January 1982), also known as Kría Brekkan, is an Icelandic vocalist and classically trained multi-instrumentalist. She is best known as a former frontwoman of múm, and later on for collaborating with former ...

, former member of Icelandic band

múm Múm (stylized in lowercase) () is an Icelandic indietronica band whose music is characterized by soft vocals, electronic glitch beats and effects, and a variety of traditional and unconventional instruments. History The band was formed in ...

. He released his debut solo album, ''Down There'', on October 26, 2010. In April, 2013, it was announced that Portner had formed the group

Avey Tare's Slasher Flicks ''Enter the Slasher House'' is the only album by Avey Tare's Slasher Flicks, a group consisting of Avey Tare of Animal Collective, ex-Dirty Projectors member Angel Deradoorian, and ex-Ponytail drummer Jeremy Hyman. The first single from the albu ...

with

Angel Deradoorian Angel Deradoorian (born July 18, 1986), also known mononymously as Deradoorian, is a musician based in Los Angeles, California. She is best known for her work with Dirty Projectors as full-time member from 2007 to 2012. She left to pursue a solo ...

, former member of

Dirty Projectors Dirty Projectors is an American indie rock band from Brooklyn, New York, formed in 2002. The band is the project of singer-songwriter David Longstreth, who has served as the band's sole constant member throughout numerous line-up changes. The b ...

, and ex-

Ponytail A ponytail is a hairstyle in which some, most, or all of the hair on the head is pulled away from the face, gathered and secured at the back of the head with a hair tie, clip, or other similar accessory and allowed to hang freely from that po ...

drummer Jeremy Hyman. Portner describes the band as " group of three hippies on a road trip through the backwaters of 2013s rural music scene fall prey to a murderous cannibalistic band making..." Their debut album, ''Enter the Slasher House'', came out internationally on April 7, 2014, and a supporting West Coast tour was announced soon after the album's release. Ahead of the album, they released a video for "Little Fang", directed by Portner's sister and featuring a puppet created by Jim Henson's Creature Shop. In 2017, he appeared on Grateful Dead member Mickey Hart's solo album, ''RAMU''.

Personal life

David's sister is

Abby Portner Abigail Portner is an American visual artist, designer, music video director and musician in the bands Rings and Hex Message, and solo under the name Drawlings. She currently lives and works out of Savannah, Georgia. Visual art Abby Portner's ...

, Los Angeles artist and experimental musician, who creates some of Animal Collective's artwork and stage design. From 2006 to 2008, Portner was married to Icelandic musician

, also known as Kría Brekkan. Afterwards, he was in a relationship with musician

and moved to Los Angeles with her. He currently lives in North Carolina and is in a relationship.

Discography

Studio albums

EPs

* ''Essence of Eucalyptus'' (2018,

Domino Dominoes is a family of tile-based games played with gaming pieces. Each domino is a rectangular tile, usually with a line dividing its face into two square ''ends''. Each end is marked with a number of spots (also called '' pips'' or ''dots'' ...

) * ''Conference of Birds / Birds in Disguise'' (2019, Domino) * ''Fast Lea / Amphora'' (2024, DOSed) (split cassette with Superflower)

Singles

* ''Lucky 1'' (October 5, 2010,

Paw Tracks Paw Tracks (formerly known as Soccer Stars until 2000, then Animal until 2003) was an independent record label based in Washington, D.C. At first only records by Animal Collective were released on the label, but since 2004 it has also released r ...

) * ''Wake My Door'' (April 8, 2020, Domino) *''Pandemic Dream #4'' (February 5, 2021, Domino)

Splits

* ''Split Series #16'' (2003,

Fat Cat Records FatCat Records is an English independent record label based in Brighton. The label's output reaches into many styles including experimental rock, electronica, psychedelic folk, contemporary classical, noise and post-punk. Notable artists that ...

) (split 12" with

)

Appearances

*"Judy Biworker" on the sampler '' Esopus CD #4: Imaginary Friends'' (Spring 2005) *"I'm Your Eagle Kisser" on the compilation ''Living Bridge'' (February 26, 2008, Rare Book Room Records) *"Call Home (Buy Grapes)" on the cassette tape ''Keep + Animal Collective'' (March 2011, Keep)

Collaborations

;With Ellicott Hooligan * ''Ellicott Hooligan'' (2025, Tree of Heaven Recordings) ;With

Mickey Hart Mickey Hart (born Michael Steven Hartman, September 11, 1943) is an American percussionist. He is best known as one of the two drummers of the rock band Grateful Dead. He was a member of the Grateful Dead from September 1967 until February 19 ...

* ''

RAMU The Ramu River is a major river in northern Papua New Guinea. The headwaters of the river are formed in the Kratke Range from where it then travels about northwest to the Bismarck Sea. Along the Ramu's course, it receives numerous tributaries ...

(2017) ;With Terrestrial Tones * ''Blasted'' (2005, Psych-o-Path records) * ''Oboroed/Circus Lives'' (2005, UUAR) * ''Dead Drunk'' (2006,

)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tare, Avey New York University alumni American rock guitarists American male guitarists 20th-century American singers 21st-century American singers American male singers American multi-instrumentalists 1979 births Living people Animal Collective members Domino Recording Company artists FatCat Records artists