Biography

Introduction

Noah Lennox (born July 17, 1978), known as Panda Bear, is an experimental musician and a founding member of Animal Collective. He chose the name "Panda Bear" because he drew pictures of pandas as artwork on the recordings he made as a younger musician.

Lennox grew up in the Roland Park section of Baltimore, Maryland, and had attended high school in Pennsylvania. As a child, he played sports and had studied piano and cello. He later sang tenor in his high school chamber choir. Lennox and Animal Collective member Deakin (Josh Dibb) have been friends since the second grade.

Career

Early career

Lennox briefly attended Boston University where he majored in Religion. While a student at the University, Lennox starred in three student short films: Fish Sticks and Fecal Matters, both directed by Andrew Drazek; and Appy Halloween, directed by Black Nasty.

Animal Collective

Deakin had introduced Lennox to his high school friends Avey Tare (Dave Portner) and Geologist (Brian Weitz). For years, the four of them had swapped homemade recordings, shared musical ideas and performed in different group configurations. Lennox, along with Deakin moved to New York in 2000. The band started to become more collaborative in nature and had finally settled on the name "Animal Collective". Lennox and Avey Tare are the only members who have contributed to all of the band's releases.

In addition to singing, Lennox had mainly played drums in Animal Collective's live performances. But, since the 2007 releases of Panda Bear's Person Pitch and Animal Collective's Strawberry Jam, he has focused more on using samplers and other electronics in their shows.

Solo work

In 2008, he stated in an interview that he is currently working on the follow up to Person Pitch. A release date is yet to be mentioned, but Lennox has performed some new material at a show with No Age in Miami, FL on December 5, 2008. During an autographing session at Lollapalooza, Panda Bear said that progress on the record has stopped and will not be resumed until touring with Animal Collective has finished.

Outside musical collaborations

Lennox also plays in the band Jane.

Lennox appears as a guest on the song "Walkabout" on the upcoming album Logos from Atlas Sound, the solo project of Bradford Cox of Deerhunter.

He also sings harmonizing vocals in the song "Anna" on the 2009, Taken by Trees album, "East of Eden".

Personal life

Lennox is married to fashion designer Fernanda Pereira. They live in Lisbon, Portugal with their daughter, Nadja. In 2007, he and Pereira collaborated a line of sweatshirts called 2nd Things.