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| Avey Tare | |
|---|---|
| Name | David Portner |
| Stage name | Avey Tare |
| Birth name | David Michael Portner |
| Birth date | 1979 |
| Birth place | Baltimore, Maryland, United States |
| Origin | New Jersey; Athens, Georgia |
| Occupation | Musician, singer, songwriter, producer |
| Years active | 1999–present |
| Labels | Paw Tracks, Domino Recording Company, Subliminal Records |
| Associated acts | Animal Collective, Panda Bear, Deakin (musician), Geologist (musician), Black Dice, Grizzly Bear (band), The Dead Science |
Avey Tare David Michael Portner (born 1979), known professionally as Avey Tare, is an American musician, singer, songwriter, and producer best known as a founding member of Animal Collective. His work spans experimental pop, psychedelia, and avant-garde rock, and he has been influential within indie rock and alternative music scenes linked to Domino Recording Company, Paw Tracks, and FatCat Records. Portner's collaborations and solo output intertwine with figures from Brooklyn, Baltimore, Athens, Georgia, and international collaborators across Europe and Japan.
Portner was born in Baltimore and raised largely in New Jersey before moving to Baltimore County and later attending college in Visiting Students? and ultimately enrolling at the University of Georgia in Athens, Georgia, where he met future collaborators. In Athens he became part of a local scene that included members of Of Montreal, Neutral Milk Hotel, Circulatory System, and Elf Power. Early friendships with Josh Dibb (later Deakin), Noah Lennox (Panda Bear), and Brian Weitz (Geologist) crystallized into long-term musical partnerships; these relationships were shaped by exposure to recordings from The Beach Boys, The Beatles, Can, Syd Barrett, and experimental releases on labels like 4AD and Rough Trade Records.
Portner co-founded Animal Collective with Noah Lennox, Josh Dibb, and Brian Weitz; the group emerged from DIY cassette trades and college house shows into critically acclaimed albums released on Paw Tracks and Domino Recording Company. Early Animal Collective records such as Spirit They're Gone, Spirit They've Vanished, Danse Manatee, and Sung Tongs drew attention from publications like Pitchfork, The New York Times, and Rolling Stone, and led to festival appearances at Pitchfork Music Festival, Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival, and All Tomorrow's Parties. The band's 2009 release Merriweather Post Pavilion consolidated a broader audience and placed Portner among contemporaries such as Grizzly Bear (band), Fleet Foxes, and TV on the Radio. Animal Collective's evolving lineup and experimental live setups connected them to scenes around Brooklyn, San Francisco, and international tours across Europe and Australia.
Beyond Animal Collective, Portner has pursued solo albums and side projects, releasing material on Paw Tracks and Domino Recording Company that explores home-recorded textures and psychedelic folk. His solo album Down There showcased lo-fi production and collaborations with artists associated with Black Dice and The Dead Science. Portner formed the project Avey Tare and Kría Brekkan with Kría Brekkan (Kristín Anna Valtýsdóttir) of Múm, and released work that intersected with the Icelandic avant-pop community connected to Sugarcubes and Sigur Rós. He later created Avey Tare's Slasher Flicks with members of Slint-adjacent and The Dead Science-adjacent circles, and issued solo albums reflecting experimental pop approaches similar to Panda Bear and Deakin (musician) releases.
Portner's music synthesizes influences ranging from The Beach Boys' harmonies and The Beatles' studio experimentation to krautrock acts like Can and Neu!, and avant-garde composers associated with ECM Records and John Cage. His vocal delivery, layering techniques, and tape-manipulation echo work by Brian Wilson, Syd Barrett, and contemporary peers including Jim O'Rourke, Ariel Pink, and Thurston Moore. Production choices emphasize found sounds and lo-fi aesthetics reminiscent of early 4AD releases, while melodic structures sometimes reference folk traditions in the vein of Nick Drake and Vashti Bunyan. Portner's live setups and visual aesthetics have drawn comparisons to experimental performances by Bjork and multimedia collaborations seen at festivals like All Tomorrow's Parties.
Portner has collaborated with and produced for a range of artists across indie and experimental scenes, working alongside Panda Bear, Deakin (musician), Geologist (musician), and external artists such as members of Black Dice, Kría Brekkan, and producers affiliated with Warp Records and Rough Trade Records. He has contributed to projects that intersect with Grizzly Bear (band), The Flaming Lips, and MGMT, and participated in recordings and remixes circulated through labels including Domino Recording Company and FatCat Records. Portner's production work emphasizes textural layering, analog processing, and collaborative improvisation, techniques shared with engineers and producers like Scott Litt, Nigel Godrich, and Steve Albini in spirit if not direct lineage.
Portner has lived and worked across Baltimore, New Jersey, Athens, Georgia, and Brooklyn, maintaining ties to DIY and cooperative scenes associated with venues and collectives in those cities. He has engaged in arts advocacy and community-oriented projects connecting to organizations involved in independent music promotion and cultural preservation, often aligning with causes supported by peers in the indie community such as benefit concerts and arts fundraisers associated with National Public Radio broadcasts and local arts councils. Portner's private life remains intentionally low-profile; he balances touring and recording with intermittent residence in rural and urban settings to facilitate both collaboration and solitary composition.
Category:American singer-songwriters Category:Living people Category:1979 births