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The Animal Collective grew out of the roots of childhood friendships in Baltimore County. Panda Bear and Deakin had met in the second grade and became good friends. Panda went away to Pennsylvania for high school, while Deakin attended the Park School where Avey Tare and recent Philadelphia transplant Geologist went. Avey, Geologist and Deakin were in an Indie Rock band called Automind with other schoolmates. Deakin introduced Panda to Avey and Geologist. The four of them played music in different variations and often solo, swapping homemade recordings and sharing ideas.
Panda and Deakin both went off to college in the Boston area, while Avey and Geologist attended schools in New York City. Panda and Deakin assembled Panda's eponymous debut during this time from the multitude of recordings Panda had made in the previous years and established their own label, Soccer Star Records, to release it.
Avey was also working on a record, which would eventually become Spirit They're Gone, Spirit They've Vanished. Avey asked Panda to play drums on the record, and so pleased by the effort, released it under the name Avey Tare and Panda Bear. Soccer Star morphed into the Animal label, with the intention of putting out music that came from the four musiscians.
Panda and Deakin both left school and moved to New York in 2000, around the time of Spirit. The group's music became much more collaborative in nature, and Avey and Panda began playing clubs around New York. Geologist soon came on board and began performing with the group.
Much of the live material from this time would evntually end up on Danse Manatee, on the Catsup Plate label. Danse Manatee was released in 2001 under the name of Avey Tare, Panda Bear and the Geologist. This process of preparing material in the live setting and then recording and often retiring songs would become a hallmark of the Animal Collective. The group's first tour, with friends Black Dice, was captured on the St. Ives release Hollinndagain. St. Ives is a boutique label run by Secretly Canadian which releases limited edition vinyl only records. Hollindagin was limited to 300 copies each of which featured a one-of-a-kind handmade cover.
Deakin next began to perform with group. Worrying that Avey Tare, Panda Bear, Deakin, Geologist would be too long-winded a moniker, and with record companies advising that a unifying label would be necessary for the marketplace, the group decided to adopt a catch-all name. Using their old label of Animal as inspiration they picked the Animal Collective. This formation was to be different than a straight-forward band, giving the musicians the freedom to work in combinations of 2 to 4, as dictated by the prokect at hand or their mood. Their first entry under this name was Here Comes the Indian which was released in 2003 by their newly formed record label, Paw Tracks. Paw Tracks was formed with Todd Hyman from Carpark records. The Animal Collective make decisions on what Paw Tracks would release, while Hyman runs the day-to-day operations. The group was happy to find someone like Hyman, who had experience running a label and was dedicated to the group's music; the Animal label was more or less abandoned upon the formation of Paw Tracks. Here Comes the Indian was the first record to feature all four of the Collective and its dense textures and energetic performances widened the exposure of the group significantly.
The next album to be released was Campfire Songs again working with Catsup Plate in 2003. The Campfire Songs concept and some of the material dated back to the earliest Avey Tare and Panda Bear shows in New York. Recorded live in 2001 in a screened-in porch in Monkton, Maryland, the record is one take of the five songs played straight through. Attempting to make a record as warm and inviting as a campfire, the band recorded their performance straight to minidisc, with one recorder outside to grab the ambient sound of the environment. Field recordings of the surrounding area were also added.
The two releases in 2003 attracted the attention of many and the group began a relationship with one of their new admirers, the Fat Cat label. The first Fat Cat release from the Collective was a double disc package of Spirit and Danse Manatee, which were previously only available or well-known in and around New York.
After the dense soundscapes of Here Comes the Indian, Avey and Panda decided to concentrate on more stripped-down material. Each of them began composing material and they performed as a duo usually with just acoustic guitars, a single drum, some effects and their own voices. The duo toured the world for the better part of a year with this new material, opening for Mum and Four Tet among others. The duo went to Laramie, Colorado to record the material with Rusty Santos, a New York musician and friend. The result was Sung Tongs, released on Fat Cat in 2004. Sung Tongs received a great deal of critical acclaim for its strong harmonies, exotic textures, humable melodies and free-wheeling nature.
The group were introduced to Vashti Bunyan in Scotland by Kieran Hebdan of Four Tet, who had recently played in Bunyan's band. Being a fan of the cult folk singer's 1970 album Just Another Diamond Day they started a friendship and asked her collaborate on some recordings. With the groups encouragement, Bunyan sang lead vocals on three songs left over from the Sung Tongs era, released on the Prospect Hummer EP in early 2005. The release lead to Fat Cat signing Vashti Bunyan to finally do her second album after a 30 year wait.
In October 2005, Animal Collective released their highly anticipated seventh album. Feels was met with acclaim from fans and critics both. Again the work of all four members of the collective, Feels was recorded in Seattle with Scott Colburn, known for his work with the Sun City Girls.
Hollinndagain is set to be re-released by Paw tracks along with a vinyl record from Panda Bear.
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