Panda Bear On Leaking, Nudity
Person Pitch was a Stereofave, we're loving Strawberry Jam, and getting psyched for Panda Bear's solo show at Bowery tomorrow night ... so indulge us here. PTW points us to Shoutmouth, who met with Noah Lennox in our local haunt Hi-Fi to discuss the sordid details of the Panda man's past. A few things Shoutmouth learned during their meeting:
Back to that last point in a sec. Noah also talked about the effect leaking has had on Person Pitch, and how he feels about the Strawberry Jam spillage (and the label's response) to date.Noah's Education: Went to an "alternative-type, progressive-type" high school called the Kimberton Waldorf School in Baltimore. Later went to, and dropped out of, Boston University. ("I hated college. Since then, if something goes wrong, I just say to myself, 'At least I’m not in school anymore.' I guess it just wasn’t for me.") Has known Avey Tare since 2nd grade! Met his wife during an all-night hang with a group of Portuguese strangers he encountered in Lisbon. He has modeled. Nude.
On the Person Pitch leak...
It’s a very web-centered album. I was psyched about the fact that I was using all digital equipment. I was psyched about the fact that it leaked, that it was an Internet album ... The leak did amazing things for the album. The album has sold pretty well and I don’t think it would’ve…I was hoping that it would do a little bit better than Young Prayer and in the first two weeks it has sold more than Young Prayer had. So, I feel like the leak really helped out in that respect. I should say, though, that Animal Collective is more my job, and I don’t mean that in a bad way. That’s more where my focus is, musically speaking. So this was just like…I had a really good time doing it. At first I would give live copies of my shows to my friends and people I had a lot of respect for as musicians. So, it was all about wanting people to hear the music. That’s another reason I was psyched on the leak. I was like, “The more people that want to listen to it, the better.” And it still sold pretty well, so I can’t complain about it.Next, Shoutmouth brought up that strongly-worded, blog-ballyhooed email to writers who received advance tastes of Strawberry Jam, informing them that the person responsible for the leaks thus far has been identified and may just get fired. Noah's take:
I heard [Domino] sent out a thing; I know they’re stressed about it. It’s a complicated issue. I know, from our side, after a second of them being upset about it, we were like, “Forget about it. Don’t make a big deal about it.” I know they traced back the leak to one person and he was going to get fired, and we don’t want to do that to anybody. We don’t want anybody to get fired…I don’t think he’s going to get fired anymore. I’m happy about that."Put up those other three songs"! Happy Friday, Domino.At the same time, you trust these people with these things and, you know, the leak was really good for my record…and we had to send the promos out really early because of travel schedules and other things. But, I think the label will mellow out about it. The only thing we’re really upset about with the leak is that it’s only parts of it. I think there are six songs out there now. People aren’t even able to get the full experience of the album, which bums us all out quite a bit. So if you’re listening leakers [speaking directly into the tape recorder], put up those other three songs, man, pronto.
But you clicked through to find out about the Noah nudity.
It was kind of one of those “I wonder if I can do this” sort of thing. The allure of it sort of wore off after the first time. The interview for that was crazy, though. I went to this guy at SVA [School of Visual Arts]…this guy brings me into this office: This guy was like, “Have you ever done work like this before?” I was like, “No.”Sorry ladies, he only did it once. Here's Noah on the right (not naked).He goes, “Take off your clothes.” And I said, “If that’s what I’ve got to do to get the job, then I’ll do it.” So I just totally got naked in front of this guy. I got the job.
Posted at 10:55 AM
Tags: Animal Collective | Panda Bear
I was all excited yesterday when I supposedly found online Strawberry Jam. To my dissapointment the whole album was a joke and pretty well done actually. Like For Reverend Green was a song by Al Green, Cuckoo was a random song I don't know it has the word cuckoo in its chorus... it was hilarious. I thought AC did it on purpose to fool us and have a good time...
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typo typo
called the called the
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Pretty interesting to hear a musician who actually supports the idea of his work being 'leaked' early.. Maybe it did contribute to Person Pitch becoming a sort of sleeper hit, I wonder if there would have been a difference in the reaction to it if there was no leak..
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Dear Stereogum,
#1: We aren't the authors of this "thing" that was sent out nor did we ask for it to be sent. We were over the leak days ago.
#2: We chose to deal with this privately because our personal relationships with the folks that originated the leak. We all accept that leaks are for the most part a way of life, but it was just doubly disappointing that it came so early (album's not out for three months) and from where it originated.
#3: The offender apologized profusely and offered other self-disciplinary measures (which we declined) and seemed genuinely repentant. We accepted the fact that is was an error in judgment and musical enthusiasm, not malice.
have a nice weekend,
Kris Gillespie
Domino Records North America
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Hey Kris --
Yeah, I know who sent it out and that it wasn't Domino. Panda Bear implied that it was, though we should've clarified he was wrong. Letter = not from Domino, kids!
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i want to see some panda n00dz.
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"self-disciplinary"??? what did this leaker offer to do to himself? that's some serious catholic guilt/flaggelation sounding shit right there.
ps. "reverend green" is the new "banshee beat". so good!
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er...Kimberton Waldorf School is in Pennsylvania, and was his elementary school. He went to Park for High School in Baltimore, the "alternative type..."
I live near Park, and know many graduates. And I must say, I have never met any person that graduated from that school with even the slightest hint of "normal"
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