OCTOBER 2019 • UNCUT• 79
our dreamonewasBearsville,
becauseeverythingwelovedhad
been recordedthere.It was
available,wetooktheslotand
rented alittlehouseinSaugerties.I
realisedthatallmyfriendswere
musicians,andsuddenlyI had
access toa tremendousstudio.We
were tryingtogetGarthHudsonand
I was tryingtogetDeeBrowntoread
a passagefromBuryMyHeartAt
WoundedKnee. I wasalsotryingto
get Ed SandersorTuliKupferberg
from TheFugstobeontherecord–
none ofthemareonthere,but
I did runintoEdSandersatthe
supermarket!I wantedtodothis
open-doorthingwherewewouldlet
people inaswewererecordingthe
songs –soweweredoing“Hey
Mama Wolf”andsomeonehadthe
husky andwegotit tohowl.There
are babiesonthatrecord,everyone
was invited.Atonepointtherewere
30 peopleinthestudio,singing.It
really wastheheightofourown’60s
at that moment.Thecoverwasshot
in San Francisco– anyonewho
showedupis onit,andforthevinyl
versionweaskedpeopletosendin
photos,soit’speopleI don’tknow
and somefriends.I puta coupleof
heroes intheretoo,likeTheLast
Poets. I thinkwewereoneofthelast
recordsrecordedatBearsvillebefore
it shut down– thatwasa really
magicaltime.I’dwakeup,starta fire
and thenwe’dstartwriting,writing,
writinguntileverybodyelsewas
readytogotothestudio.Everybody
who’sstillinmybandwaslivingin
myhouse!SMOKEYROLLSDOWN
THUNDERCANYON
XL, 2007
Holedupin Topanga,Banhart
andhisgroupcraftthisguest-
heavywork
Aftermaking
CrippleCrowon
theEastCoast,
westarted
lookingwest
andrealising
thatTopanga
hadthathistorywewerelookingfor.
It wassteepedinlore.Sowegota
littlehouse,andcontinuedthat’60s
SummerOfLovethingwhere
everybodylivedinthisonelittle
house,wherewealsobuiltthe
studio.Somepeoplewereina tent
inthegardentoo!WegotFrankSinatra’sreverbchamberinan
auctioninSantaMonica,andwegot
a tapemachinethatsomeesoteric
albumhadbeenmadeon.It was
incrediblyorganicwhenwegot
peopletoplayontherecord.We
heardthatChrisRobinsonjustlived
uptheroad,sosomehowwewere
introducedandwestartedhanging
out.WemetRodrigoAmaranteatOs
Mutantes’firstgigoutsideBrazil,
andwetoldhimtocomevisitus
wheneverhewanted.A coupleof
weekslaterwehearda honkoutside- “Heyguys,I’mhere!”He’dflown
fromBrazil,andthatwasit.We
reallyfelta karmicconnection.He
wasfriendswithTheStrokesand
theystartedhangingouttoo.That’s
howSmoke y...wasmade.Thetitle
comesfromeverytimewe’dseethis
particularcharacter,theoldcrazy
hippieguy,we’dcallhimSmokey.
Therewasa wholerangeof
Smokeys,it wasa littleinsidejoke.
MEGAPUSS
SURFING
VAPOR, 2008
A goofy,light-heartedside-project,
disguisingsomeheavyheartbreak
Thiswasme
andGregory
Rogove,hestills
playsdrumsin
thebandand
we’vebeenbest
friendsforever.We’dmovedintoa littlehousein
EchoPark,andwewereunwinding
bywritingthedumbestsongs
possible.Wewouldlookateach
otherandsay,“Oh,wecouldnever
playthisforanyone...”Andthenit
waslike,“Well,if wecan’tplaythis
foranyone,wereallyshouldnever
recordthis...”Andthenit waslike,
“Wereallyshouldn’tmakea
record...”It wasthetitillationofhow
muchweshouldn’tdoit thatledus
toputdownourself-awarenessand
ourguardandjusthavetotalfun,
writethingsthatarejustforfunfor
us.That’swhatMegapusswasforus,
thiscompletelyabsurdalbumnot
weigheddownbytoomuch.ButI’ve
gottasay,atthetimewewereboth
goingthroughbreakupsandwe
werebothreallyheartbroken,
constantlycryinginourrooms,so
thisrecordinhindsightmakessense
asa releasefromhowsadwewere.WHATWILLWEBE
REPRISE/WARNERBROS, 2009
BanhartmovedtoWarnersforthis
morecompactrecord,producedby
TheBees’PaulButler
Witheach
recordthe
questionyou
askyourselfis
“WhatamI
gonnatry
differently?”
SoonWhatWillWeBe, theanswer“Bearsvillewasa
magicaltime.I’d
wakeup,starta
firethenwe’dstart
writing,writing
w r it i ng...” ALYSSAANDERSON
Electric
eclectic:
at the time
of Cripple
Crow
(2005)