Only with the release of Animal Collective’s last full-length album, Feels, did the public witness a transformation of the nicknamed band members, Avey Tare, Panda Bear, Geologist, and Deakin, to their individual selves, David Portner, Noah Lennox, Brian Weitz, and Josh Dibb, who for seven years have been broadening folk music’s horizon to include electronica, noise, drone, and pop. From their previous recordings like Here Comes the Indian, up through their new release, Strawberry Jam, Animal Collective aims to barrage the senses so that music heard is also seen, tasted, and felt. This makes Animal Collective, as a concept, a psychedelic endeavor and a descendant of the 13th Floor Elevators. Animal Collective relies on aural discord, new technology, and has international influences that vary with each album, making them more akin to Black Dice and Wolf Eyes than new folkies like Devendra Banhart. Years ago, speaking with band member Geologist (Brian Weitz) about his collection of recorded field samples, it struck me that Animal Collective is an anthropological team who struggle to define culture musically. If they express cultural identities, Lennox, still better known as Panda Bear, is the ursine ambassador of friendliness. His contribution to the band often leaves the listener awash in a luxuriant bubble bath of notes.

Panda Bear is one of my musical heroes, more so than ever following this past spring’s release of his third solo album, Person Pitch. Made from his home studio in Lisbon, where he lives with his wife and child, Person Pitch is a harmonious sanctuary of oceanic lullabies and chants reminiscent of Brian Wilson’s masterpieces. Enchanting rhythms, from Caribbean to industrial, keep the listener in motion, minus a couple of tracks that provide an ambient retreat. Vocals loop and echo, folding in on themselves like taffy. Backstage at the Bowery Ballroom in New York, Eric Copeland of Black Dice warmed up downstairs while Panda Bear and I chugged beers, chatting on a gigantic sofa that would have accommodated the entire Animal Collective.

—Trinie Dalton

I. “I DREW PANDA BEARS ON THE EARLY TAPES BECAUSE I WAS PSYCHED ON THE IMAGE, AND IT STUCK.”

THE BELIEVER:How do you feel? You just did a sound check and you’re about to play live. Are you nervous?

PANDA BEAR: Not really. I was a lot more nervous for the first night here.Though I’m much more nervous solo than playing with the band, because if I make a mistake here it’s obvious.There’s nobody to hide behind. I’m hitting buttons,turning knobs,and singing at the same time. If I hit something at the wrong point, people hear it. It’s sensitive. Ultimately, I’m pretty good at focusing on...