Avey Tare

Animal Collective’s Avey Tare just hurled his newest musical endeavor ‘Enter the Slasher House’ – out via Domino – into the universe. Together with his girlfriend Angel Deradoorian (ex-Dirty Projectors) and ex-Ponytail drummer Jeremy Hyman, he’s formed ‘Slasher Flicks’, a power jazz trio with a freaky love for horror movies and otherworldly sounds. It sounds crazy, but it makes perfect pop sense. We talked getting out of New York City, slasher movies and why people are special.

 

Phone interview by Brenda Bosma

 

“The idea of universal consciousness is important, that we’re all one, but within that we all add something unique.”

 

//www.youtube.com/embed/f6H4OGARJMs
 

You moved from New York city to L.A. a couple years back to live a more peaceful life, I read. Now you maintain a vegetable garden. What kind of vegetables do you keep?

Yeah, I’m glad I left that city. Me and Angel have a little plot for some flowers, three other plots for tomatoes, kale, pumpkin, cucumber, broccoli, peppers and herbs. We like to do a lot of cooking.

 

In NY you can get overstimulated by people, but also by all of this commercial information. How did you zone out when you lived there?

That’s what was so hard. I almost started to feel like I was in jail. It can be very oppressive. The city has a lot of resources of course, but it became an ugly thing for me. You’re always surrounded by people. No silence. That energy was one of the reasons I had to get out of there.

 

In the song ‘Little Fang’ you sing the line ‘You’re something special’. Do you think people are special?

It’s a cheesy sentiment, but yeah, I do. For some people, especially youth, it’s important to believe in yourself and find a way of making yourself special. We all can get so easily lumped into feeling like we are like everybody else, but the reality of it is that sometimes people don’t understand these individual specialties. Some traits gets lost. I don’t think that that’s anybody’s fault, but it’s cool to be reminded.

 

That’s a nice angle on it, ’cause you could also say we’re interchangeable.

The idea of universal consciousness is important, that we’re all one, but within that we all add something unique.

 

And I read you said that the sounds on the album come from a place that are not human. How is that?

Yeah, in the sense that it’s not like I’m trying to be a lyricist like say Bob Dylan, saying something. Music for me is more about sounds and escape, creating environments that are not so human.

 

Not so human? What about your own voice?

I do actually think music starts with a vocal melody. In terms of getting emotions out, the human voice is really important. Like these days I listen to a lot of Persian music, it’s really emotional. Somehow I connect to it, even though I don’t understand a thing about it. I think it’s very religious, but I don’t understand a word. Somehow the song transcends that. It becomes something bigger. The ground work like writing songs is very emotional, but once the structure and production starts building up, then it becomes something that moves it away from focussing on human things.

 

“You have these routines and plans and stuff that seem really grounded, but it can all change immediately anytime”

 

//www.youtube.com/embed/J_nHgrlZMCs
 

 

A little universe?

That’s what it is.

 

Is ‘The Slasher House’ a little universe?

Well, I had a tough year while writing these songs, ’cause I was sick a lot. My life felt like a slasher house where I got tossed and turned like I was on this wild ride. That’s how I wanted the record to be represented; not knowing what’s coming next. You have these routines and plans and stuff that seem really grounded, but it all can change immediately anytime. It’s not a fully positive record, it’s just realistic, I guess.

 

And so, quite personal. Do you think of yourself as special?

I wouldn’t say special in the way that would make me better than anybody else. Especially in today’s musical world in terms of the way something like capitalism works, it’s easy to get caught up in competition. For me the thing that’s gonna make it special, is that it has this individualistic quality, that someone might not like, but for me it’s important that it comes from me personally and not from anywhere else.

 

What about negative critiques?

Oh, I just don’t read reviews anymore.

 

Do you watch slasher movies instead?

I’m not really into modern gore and torture stuff, more into the supernatural things, like ghosts and black magic. Artistically it’s really cool to look at, ‘cause it’s so absurd and over the top. It’s such an extreme genre that it opens the door for almost anything really. Anything can happen. That’s what’s so great about it.

 

//www.youtube.com/embed/D6cngTn2_NY

 

Avey Tare’s Enter The Slasher House is out now via Domino Records.