Interviews (Panda Bear, Beirut, Lucinda Williams)

This entry was posted by owl and bear staff on Friday, February 27th, 2009 at 10:32 am.

Animal Collective’s Panda Bear (Noah Lennox) at Variety:

Animal Collective has always been critical darlings; with this album, you guys are receiving mega-buzz. Is the attention more pressing for you as a group?

Yeah, absolutely. I kind of feel like it’s over now. There’s an area of music journalism that has gotten more interested in this one. I don’t think ‘mainstream’ is the right word for it, but maybe an older journalistic world? An older group has gotten more excited about and that’s kind of weird.

Beirut’s Zach Condon at the AV Club:

Did you spend any time in Oaxaca City?

Yeah, what’s funny is that it actually reminds me a little bit of Santa Fe, except Oaxaca is actually a functioning, vibrant city, and not a dead tourist stop. It’s laid out the same way, it has the same feel—Oaxaca has the zócalo instead of a plaza—but Santa Fe, you know, is kinda busted. Plus, in Oaxaca, you can munch on crickets as an appetizer.

Lucinda Williams at the Birmingham News:

Many adjectives have been pulled out to describe your voice. How do you feel about it?

When I first started out, I was learning from all the great folk singers of the day, like Joan Baez and Judy Collins and later Joni Mitchell. They all had incredible ranges, and I was real insecure about my singing in the beginning. Most kids, when they first start out, want to sound a certain way, and they get frustrated if they can’t reach all the notes.

I remember Emmylou Harris said, “You learn to work with your limitations instead of against them.” It took a long time, but I learned, over the years, to write songs that fit with my voice.