Devendra Banhart needs no introduction, though his Technicolor stream of consciousness could use an interpreter. Drunk on the possibilities of wordplay and a master of giddy sentence inversions, the king of the neo-folkies responds to even the most banal questions as though they deserve Symbolist punchlines. (I only regret that while he was in this mood I forgot to ask him how often he's mistaken for Vincent Gallo and Cat Stevens' lovechild.)
We were scheduled to speak via telephone while he was on tour in England, but due to various scheduling conflicts, we caught up later via email. This is what Banhart had to say the week before releasing his fourth, most accessibly hippified album, Cripple Crow.
Any interesting or weird tour anecdotes?
Well, at the Roskilde Festival two people were making love in the crowd while we played. That was quite beautiful. I've found something or a million things to enjoy about where we have ever played, though anytime we play with Antony might be the witches tit. Weird? Improv jazz session with Sammy Hagar And The Waboritas. What the fuck, right?
Last time we spoke, you were just starting to get pummeled with the "freak folk" tag. Now, six or so months later, I've heard some anti-"freak folk" grumbling. What's it like being dissed by the same folks who pigeonholed you in the first place?
I don't know! Gees, I didn't know I was getting dissed by the anti-folkers, freak folkers, mook modal humpers, unicorn captains, volk folkers, and on and on with the Jamba jap folkers. Seems to be so many of them. But to answer your question, what's it like being dissed by the pigeonholers? Well, it hurts at first but then you start to really enjoy it and it makes you happier and happier and you love everything ever!
Can we expect to see a second installment of Golden Apples Of The Sun [a compilation of neo-folk curated by Banhart and released by Arthur Magazine's audio imprint, Bastet]? If so, who might you include?
Well, the two most creative bands in music right now—I think!—are Animal Collective and CocoRosie. If I was to do a second Apples it would have Animal Collective, Sunburned Hand Of The Man, Lavender Diamond, No Neck Blues Band, Dungen, Adem, The Metallic Falcon, Feathers, Marissa Nadler, Danielle Stech Homsy, Tarantula A.D., The Icarus Line, P.G. Six, Charlambides. I would beg Byron Coley to record his poetry as a track. The Pupils or anything Daniel Higgs is up to... Cat Power, M. Ward, Bobby Birdman, Thanksgiving, Jackie-O Motherfucker, Indian Jewelry, Ariel Pink, Inca Ore, Deerhoof, Matasyahu... Gees, there're lots of people. Lotsa good beings blowing aural wings at the earth and sky—and don't forget the ocean.
How about R. Kelly? Are you still a fan?
Oh my god, he's such a freaky genius! I love that guy!
How's life after [previous label home] Young God?
It's like that Cher song "Do You Believe In Love After Life"—or is it life after love? I do, in both cases, and it doesn't feel like there's no more Young God. Michael [Gira] is busy as ever and doing wonderfully and we still support each other and he still has Rejoicing and Nino, so it's still threading along. Working with XL is great. We are working together to do something. I don't know what... To release records? They are such good people: Very awake, very awake.
With the success you've had in the past year, was Cripple Crow a tougher album to record? Did you suffer from writer's block?
I was constipated after two and half years of touring straight. Then, after holing up in the Soggy Tit (Saugerties) and sitting by the fire—whoooooff, diarrhea of the tune—and out shot 45 tunes. I regret that we recorded that many songs in a month and am learning from that one.
Why did you move away from your own artwork for the cover?
It felt right to take a picture and then make a collage. It was mostly people who just showed up. I'm a little terrified at how white most of the people are, but I guarantee 68% of the people on the cover have Native American blood.
Have you been listening to a lot of Donovan?
Yes! We are friends now—that was probably the best night of our tour. The sex while we played was a trip, but holy moly we had a four-hour jam with Donovan after our show in Cork, Ireland. THAT was amazing. We love Brother Don—he's got the Celtic Spirit! And yes, Barabajagal was definitely an inspiration for the record.
What's the story behind "Chinese Children"? I was listening to it one afternoon and my girlfriend said, "I guess his girlfriend's Chinese." I like her interpretation, though I realize it's wrong.
I like her interpretation too! Let's say it's that, and I'll tell you my interpretation: It's about that theory, that when Pangea was in action, Asian Gypsies traveled west and became the Native Americans whom the Europeans then wiped out. Now that China has the largest population in the world, they are just gonna walk right in and take over...
I also enjoy the pairing (contrasting) of "I Do Dig A Certain Girl" and "I Love That Man." Then there's "Little Boys." Are you aiming for sexual ambiguity on this record? Ambiguity in general?
Oh no, oh yes, oh who knows. But let me say that I love my father, but I don't wanna lick his nips—you know what I'm saying? And "Little Boys" is about a schizophrenic hermaphrodite, the first half being the male and the second the female.
All said, Cripple Crow feels more personal and less surreal. I can glimpse more bits of Devendra in there.
Well, "Now That I Know" is very personal at first but then it drifts into other lives I could chose to have led or the lives of others and then to the collective us. "Inaniel" is my favorite love song I've ever written for the woman I love the most in the whole world. There are others, though I haven't heard the record in a while. This one feels no less personal than the others, it just feels a bit more direct.
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