Hi Noah. It's really nice to meet you. How are you? Thank you so much for taking the time between rehearsals and concerts.

 

Nice to meet you too, and thanks for the interview… I'm doing ok just trucking really. gonna be a busy summer, but I can’t complain.

 

Your first Panda Bear concert in Istanbul took place at Blind on June 2. Do you tend to think about a city before you visit it? Do you tend to think about a city before you visit it? 

 

I think it's actually my second time in Istanbul because Animal Collective played many years ago…but you're right, this will be the first pb show there. I really loved being in the city the first time I was there, so definitely looking forward to going back. It's hard to consider the places we go when it's one city after another, but on shorter trips like these, I do try to appreciate where I'm going a little more.

 

In a city you’ve never performed in before, does unfamiliarity change the emotional temperature of your music and the performance — or does it stay almost the same wherever it lands?

 

I tend to think of the performances as bringing what I do or what I'm about at home to the place I'm playing, so I won’t change anything or give more or less of an effort. I think it's best to give every show the same care, and I try to stay consistent with that attitude.

 

These are the last concerts of the tour. How was the Sinister Grift tour for you? If you have any special memories, could I ask about them?

 

The SG touring was great and special to me because I got to play with a group of musicians I respect and admire. It was also the first time I’ve done pb songs with a band, so that made it special too. I'm a little sad to see the end of the era on its way, but one door closes, and another opens. I had some inscrutable health stuff for a while, but I'm mostly recovered from that, I'm glad to say. There are almost too many memories to count really…being on tour is such an explosion of experience…new places, new people every day… flights and vans and landscapes whipping by. Hard to pick out just one thing…

 

Some listeners and critics describe the last album as warmer, more open, and more direct. If you also feel this, what was different for you while writing and recording this one? What made that kind of openness possible?

 

I'd certainly agree it feels more direct…perhaps less clouded or disguised. My original plan was to record the songs with a traditional rock setup and then blur and distort those shapes, but as we got further along making the stuff, we grew to really like it just as it was. I try to let things go where they want and don’t like to fiddle too much,, so we just let it go.

 

The album feels to me as if it follows an emotional curve: it begins in a bright, almost warm place, but gradually moves downward into something darker and more shadowed. By the final song, “Defence,” it feels less like a story of healing or resolution, and more like an attempt to keep going — to accept change, to find a fragile kind of hope within uncertainty or meaninglessness, and to say “Here I come” to a place that may never fully feel like home. In that sense, does the title Sinister Grift point to this contrast: something that can sound peaceful, calm, or even cheerful on the surface, while carrying something darker underneath?

 

I actually had the title long before the record was done… even before several of the songs were written, so it became like a target I was aiming at. The way you describe the arc of the record is exactly what I was going for, so I'm glad to hear that. There are many contrasts of dark and light on the record, and I hoped the sequence would also reflect that relationship. But I didn't want the thing to end in the darkness, so Defence was meant as a kind of closing of the circle…it’s supposed to connect again to the energy of the beginning.

 

Each of your albums reflects the emotional traces of different periods. To what extent do you think the process and mood you're in while producing songs determine the direction of your music?

 

I'd say that if you’re doing it right, it should reflect your situation, both emotionally and otherwise. Even when I’ve tried to circumvent that influence, it’s always found its way in…although sometimes I only notice it years later.

 

I want to ask a similar question about Lisbon, where you've lived for a long time. How do you think the daily rhythm and pace of life there have influenced your music-making style over time?

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I'm sure Lisbon has had a massive influence on me both creatively and personally, but it’s very difficult to trace. Or rather, I'd wager its influence is found in many small decisions rather than in grand and more noticeable ways.

 

Can you walk us through your songwriting process from sound design and composition to lyrics and your vocal approach, which feels very unique and distinctive in your work? Whatever part of the process you’d like to talk about would be great.

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It’s not always the same, but for this one, the songs started in different forms. Some were more straight-up guitar songs, while others came from synth pieces or DAW constructions… maybe a loop here and there. Lyrics are always last for me, but similarly, they’re usually culled from moments of inspiration when I’ve written something down… often a small phrase or a title. Both the music and the words, for me, tend to work like a polaroid photo, where the thing is kind of blurred and shapeless at first and only gradually sharpens and comes into focus.

 

Can you tell us about the differences in your creative processes in your solo project, with Animal Collective, or collaborations with Sonic Boom and other artists?

 

On my end of the process, they’re all pretty similar…the differences come from mixing my zone with others. I like that about collaboration…you end up in places you'd never wander to on your own.

 

Speaking of collaborations… Your post with Sonic Boom means a lot. I think it is very important to rethink communication and connection in the way music is shared today. I guess this decision means stepping away from online culture a bit and re-establishing "real connection." Could you tell us a little about the process that led you to that and, if possible, your plans going forward with this approach?

 

That decision came about mostly through conversations Pete and I had over the last 10 years or so. i think people need people, and perhaps we've moved a little far from that…and I should say at this point it feels more like an experiment than anything… we're both curious to see what happens with the record and are grateful that the label (Domino) is on board to give it a shot. I don’t mean to be on a high horse about anything, but social media tech is powerful, and I think it's worth being mindful about what it is and what it's doing. Like any powerful technology, there are ways to engage with it that are positive and ways that are negative. Similar to streaming…I don’t have an issue with streaming as a technology, despite its consequences for people's tastes and experiences with music… things change, and that’s as it should be… but the economics of streaming as it stands currently seem imbalanced to me and should be readdressed.

 

Could you tell us about any bands, musicians, albums, or films that are inspiring you these days and that you would recommend to us?

 

Maria Reis and Tome Silva from the PB band both have records out… My girlfriend Rivka's band, Spirit of the Beehive, also has good stuff coming out soon…I like Cam Winters' heavy metal record…I liked the movie Bugonia and one called Sentimental Value…there’s a Danish film called Druk that I still think about often.

 

As someone so productive and inspiring – if that's okay with you – may I ask how you do with your days when you're not on tour?

 

That’s nice of you to say, thank you…I like to stay working, so most days I spend at least a couple of hours in the studio poking around. My favourite days always involve a balance of working and resting.