80 • UNCUT • OCTOBER 2019
was,“Let’stryandworkwith
someoneelse,seehowthatgoes.”
Thebandthatwasmakingmusic
thatI thoughtsoundedthebestwas
TheBees,soI reachedouttoPaul
Butlertoproduce,andit turnsout
he’stheloveliest,sweetest,most
humbleguy.Wechosethenorthern
Californiantown[Bolinas] where
RichardBrautiganshothimselfto
record– I’velovedBrautigansinceI
wasinhighschool,andthere’sa
themewitheachoneofourrecords,
togowheresomeofthesethingsthat
haveaffectedushavebeencreated
andseeif wecanfeelsomeofthat
energy.Sowerenteda houseand
startedbuildinga studiothere.It
turnsoutthatI’ma bitofa control
freak,whichI didn’trealiseuntil
then– I certainlytriedPaul’s
patience.I’msofuckingshocked
andpleasedthatwe’restillfriends
givenhowawfulit musthavebeen
toworkwithme!Noahwasalso
beinglike,“Well,if you’renotgonna
workwithmethenI’mdefinitelynot
doinganything,I’mjusttheguitar
player!”whichwasprobablythe
bestthinghecouldhavedone.We
stillendedupfinishingtherecord
somehow,allgoinga littlebit
insane.Butit wasalsoa beautiful
time,andmanypsychotropic
substancescameintoplay.Again,
thisis comingtowardstheend
ofour’60s– thingsgota little
darkbuttherewasstillsome
tremendous madness.
MALA
NONESUCH, 2013
Anewstripped-backsound,
inspiredby“ArthurRussell’s
N e w Yo rk ”
Soour’60sare
overandfrom
therubblewe
realisedthatwe
neededtobring
thingsbackto
workingina
simplerway.We’renotgonnarenta
houseandbuilda studio,we’re
gonnakeepthingsa littlebit
simpler.Sowesheda lot,Noah
movedinwithhiswifeandI moved
intoa littlehouseinEchoParkwith
mypartner.Werealisedthatwe
wantedtogobacktoa smalltape
machine,theearliestonethata lot
ofourfavouritehip-hoprecords
wererecordedon.Wethoughtit
wouldbeaninteresting
juxtapositionwithmysongs.Sowe
gotthisveryparticularmachineand
startedrecordingit ourselves,and
thenbroughtinfriendsina much
moremethodical,calmerand
organisedway.Thenit wasmixedin
NewYork,becauseI wasobsessed
with Arthur Russell at this point. So
“Manypsychotropicscameintoplay...
Thingsgota littledark,buttherewas
still some tremendous madness”
IhadtomovetoNewYork,tofeelthe
placeshe’dbeenaround.I hadmy
ownpersonalexperienceofNew
York,andit hadnothingtodowith
theNewYorkthatwashappeningat
thetime!I wasinmyownstrange
‘ArthurRussell’sNewYorkthatno
longerexists’experience while we
weremixing.
APEINPINKMARBLE
NONESUCH, 2016
Banhartembracesdigital
recordingwithhismostintimate
record to date
Forthisrecord,
againwe
wantedto
makeit as
stripped-down
aspossible,
soit’sjust
ProTools,foursynthesisers,a koto
andmyelectricguitar.Youthink
you’rea musician,butreallyyou’rea
cablede-tangler– 99percentof
makinganalbumis detangling
cables.Wedecidedtominimise,so
thoseweretheonlyelementsinthe
studio.Themajorityofthiswas
recordedina roominEchoParkwith
JosiahSteinbrick,NoahGeorgeson
andme.I don’tthinkthere’sevenan
acousticguitaronthis,maybeon
onesong?AtthatmomentI felta
strongerrelationshipwiththe
electricguitar– I’dgotusedto
playingtheelectricunpluggedon
myowninmyhotelroomwhile
touring.Myacousticis muchmore
flamboyant,asit’sresonatingout,
buttheelectricfeltlikea muchmore
intimateinstrument.Soeverything
wasbeingcomposedthroughthat
lens.It’sa ’60sFenderJaguar– I
thinkI havethreeguitars,I never
went into collecting too much gear.
MAN O N E SUCH , 2019
Apaeantomotherhoodin allits
forms,begunin a Kyototempleand
completed in California
Werecordedin
StinsonBeach
andEchoPark,
butwestartedin
a templein
Kyoto,oneofthe
oldestBuddhist
templesthere.Wedidn’tendup
usingthatsong,butthat’swherewe
started,inthemeditationhall.There
wasno-onethere,exceptthiszen
priest,andI startedtocryandsweat
andtremble– I’veneverplayeda
showlikethatforoneperson,a zen
master!It wasoneofthemost
profoundexperiencesI’vehad.We
trackedthesong,thenthenextdayI
broughthima hugebottleofsaki,a
littlethank-youcontributiontothe
temple,sotheyleadusintothisroom
andleftusthereforquitesometime.
Hefinallywalksin,sitsdownbut
doesn’tsayanything.Aftera whileI
pointedupatthisscrollandsaid,
“Whatdoesthatsay?”Hesays.“Pure
light,”thenstandsupandleaves.So
wewentbackhomeandagaintried
tokeepthingsassmallaspossible.
Thethemeoftherecordis maternity,
soweworkedoutwhatlandscapefelt
mostmaternaltous.Thatprimordial
motherarchetypefeltliketheocean,
sowewenttoBigSur,becauseit’s
pureoceanenergythere,andpeople
can’treallysettleasit’suntameable
land.Wesetupa micatBigSurto
recordfor 24 hours.Weused
momentsofthatisolatedoceanon
everytrack,butit’snotaudibleonall
ofthem.Whatalsomadethisrecord
verydifferentwasthepresenceofa
toddler,Noah’sson.There’sthis
energyfromhim,thistinybeing,
curiousabouttheworld,perceiving
it ina waywe’veforgotten.Sohis
presencewasjustasimpactfuland
informativeastheentireocean.
Ironically, his name is Ocean!
Ma is out September 13 on Nonesuch
Banhartin
M ay2019:
“Ou r’60s
was over...”
“Abeautifultime”:
withNoahGeorgeson
andJosiah Steinbrick,
2014
LAUREN DUKOFF
