Avey Tare's Scare
PAPER finds out what curdles David Portner's Blood
By Alex Littlefield
Under the stage name Avey Tare, David Portner is one of the principal songwriters for indie-jamboree act Animal Collective. Now Portner has shed his alter ego for a solo album, which he recorded in an old 19th-Century church in New York's Great Swamp. Titled Down There,
it's a concoction of sounds that's every bit as haunting as the environs whence it crawled and, appropriately, is being released just before Halloween. We caught up with Portner to find out what else curdles his blood.
Favorite ghost story: "Outside Over There by Maurice Sendak. Sometimes it's not what's said in a title that makes it creepy-sounding, but what isn't said. It made me wonder, 'What is outside over there?'"
Best Halloween costume ever: "One year Brian (Geologist) and I dressed up as Spy vs Spy and spent the whole night surprise attacking each other. It was superfun and it made me think group costumes are the best."
Scariest thing about recording in a haunted studio: "One of the previous owners actually died in the church, and I do think I have seen his ghost. But one of the most frightening experiences I had up there was hearing a couple of wild turkeys gobbling off in the woods. I had never heard a sound like that before. I couldn't see them, so I just stood really terrified on the porch waiting to see what it was and listening to that crazy sound. It was just before dark, so I could only see faintly, but when I could finally make their dark silhouettes out in the woods, I was quite relieved."
Down There is out 10/26 on Paw Tracks
it's a concoction of sounds that's every bit as haunting as the environs whence it crawled and, appropriately, is being released just before Halloween. We caught up with Portner to find out what else curdles his blood.
Favorite ghost story: "Outside Over There by Maurice Sendak. Sometimes it's not what's said in a title that makes it creepy-sounding, but what isn't said. It made me wonder, 'What is outside over there?'"
Best Halloween costume ever: "One year Brian (Geologist) and I dressed up as Spy vs Spy and spent the whole night surprise attacking each other. It was superfun and it made me think group costumes are the best."
Scariest thing about recording in a haunted studio: "One of the previous owners actually died in the church, and I do think I have seen his ghost. But one of the most frightening experiences I had up there was hearing a couple of wild turkeys gobbling off in the woods. I had never heard a sound like that before. I couldn't see them, so I just stood really terrified on the porch waiting to see what it was and listening to that crazy sound. It was just before dark, so I could only see faintly, but when I could finally make their dark silhouettes out in the woods, I was quite relieved."
Down There is out 10/26 on Paw Tracks
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