Blogs > Indie Outing (the secret jambands roots of indie rockers)

Indie Outing: Animal Collective

Geologist, photo by Kevin Yatarola

Indie-Jam Connection: Animal Collective may never have formed if it wasn’t for the Grateful Dead. Brian Weitz (Geologist) wore a Grateful Dead t-shirt to school on the first of 9th grade. As the new kid in school Weitz didn’t have too many friends but a mutual acquaintance introduced him to his future Animal Collective bandmate David Portner (Avey Tare) because he knew they shared a love of the Grateful Dead and music in general. The friends grew as music fans together, digging deeper into improvisational and experimental music, and Weitz was lucky enough to see the Dead as a lowly high school student. He also attended the H.O.R.D.E. festival in ’95 and cites the Black Crowes’ performance as a highlight. One jamband Weitz didn’t appreciate, however, was Phish. “I never liked Phish, and the only reason I went to the show was because it seemed like an easy place to take part in other recreational activities I was into at the time. Just kidding, sort of,” he says. “I had a good friend named Jon and we both liked music a lot but the only thing we liked in common was the Dead. He was super into Phish and the jamband scene and I just couldn’t get into any of it. I used to try and play him Pavement since the dude from Phish would say he liked them, but Jon never got into that or any of the stuff I played him.”

Notable Jam Moments: Animal Collective has never been shy about its love of the Grateful Dead, Pink Floyd and other classic rocking psychedelic bands. The group even worked up its own take on the Dead’s arrangement of “We Bid You Goodnight.” In 2009, Animal Collective included a sample of the Grateful Dead’s “Unbroken Chain” in its song “What Would I Want Sky” and released the track on the Fall Be Kind EP. Phil Lesh personally approved the sample before the band recorded “What Would I Want Sky,” making Animal Collective one of the few bands to legally sample the Dead (Bruce Hornsby and Jay Lane have nodded to the band in a similar fashion).

Lot Talk: “I saw them both. I liked The Dead a lot so I took away a great time from that concert. They played ‘Wharf Rat’ and ‘The Other One,’ so I was psyched on that. I was only 14 or 15, and not playing much music myself yet, so I didn’t really take much away from that specific night that is relevant to what I’m doing now. I remember the feeling of community though and how at least for me, it didn’t feel exclusive. Even if you were a young kid going to your first show people seemed to welcome you,” Geologist, Relix