Uncut UK – October 2019

78 • UNCUT• OCTOBER 2019

THECHARLESC LEARY

HINAH, 2002

Thesongwriter’searliestrecordings,

trackedaroundtheworld(and

sometimesitstoilets)

I started

recordingin

SanFrancisco,

thenI wentto

Paris– oneof

thesongswas

recordedina

toilettherebecausetheacousticsare

sogood!I wastravellingwitha

TascamthatNoahGeorgesonhad

lentme,ontheconditionthatI

wouldhavetosharethemusic.I just

hadthisfeelingthatI hadtorecord

becauseI waswritingthesesongs.

You’repullingfromthefirst 17 years

ofyourlife,andyou’relearningthat

songwritingcanbea wayofworking

throughcertainthings,andit canbe

a wayofsayingtopeople,“Thisis

whatI’mlikewhenno-one’saround.

Thisis reallyme.”InParis,I would

sitoutsideshowswitha guitar

annoyingpeople,fromnoonuntil

theshowwouldbegin.I washoping

thebookingagentwouldcomeout

andhavea cigaretteandseeme–

eventuallyonesaid,“Hey,the

openercancelled,doyouwanna

play?”A FrenchlabelcalledHinah

boughtmydemoatoneoftheselittle

showsandaskedtoputit out,in

clearplasticwithnocover.The

originalcoverwasofmymom

fallingintoa bodyofwater,smiling

• it’sbeautiful!Yearslatertheband
  LittleJoyusedthepictureofmy
  momastheiralbumcover.The
  CharlesC Learywasmygreat-great-
  grandfather’snavalship,andI have
  a paintingoftheshipinHongKong
  harbour.It lookslikethere’sa
  sunset,butI thinkit’sartilleryand
  thewar.BackinLA,I openedfor
  FluxInformationSciences,a band
  thatYoungGodhadsigned.The
  drummerforthatbandhappenedto
  beMichaelGira’spartneratthetime,
  andshetoldhimandheputout
  [secondalbum]OhMeOhMy.... He
  wasunbelievablyinspiring.Hewas
  thefirstpersonI metthatwas
  disciplinedenoughtomakethe
  work,putouttheworkandwas
  t r u lyDI Y.

REJOICING

INTHEHANDS

YOUNGGOD, 2004

Recordedatthesametimeasthat

year’sNiñoRojo,thiswasthepeak

ofBanhart’sacousticperiod

Werecorded

boththese

albumson

theGeorgia/

Alabamastate

line– thestudio

ownercutusa

gooddealbecausehewasa Swans

fan.Wespenttwoweeksthereand

wemadea doublerecord,NiñoRojo

andRejoicingInThe Hands.

Werecordedeverysingle day,

andMichaelforced me to do it

live,nooverdubs.Michael

saidDylanwouldn’t have

doneoverdubs,I don’t know

if that’strue.Butthis one bit

in“LittleYellowSpider” was

sohardtoplayandsing at the

sametime!NowI think abut

it,playingthisstuff live is

thewholepoint,but back

thenI wassobummed. “Just

usesomestudiotrickery,

usesomeofthese 3000

tracks!”Butwedid it all live to

tape,whichwasthe best thing

wecouldhavedone. I was writing

a lotthen?It’samazing what you can

getdonewithoutInstagram! When

I’dbeeninParis,I’d heard Vashti

Bunyan’sJustAnother Diamond

Day, andtherewas so much

rejectionaround[for me then] that

thatwastheguiding light in the

distance.It wassobeautiful that I

wasfeelingcomforted and loved by

it,andallthatloneliness that comes

fromsomuchrejection was

dispersingwhenI put it on. Before

Rejoicing..., I wroteto Vashti, and

senthermymusic,and she wrote

backsaying“It’snice”, and that was

allI needed.Theblow of rejection

wassoftenedbyknowing that

Vashtilikedit.When Michael and I

startedworkingon Rejoicing..., I

emailedVashtiand asked her to sing

a song with me. I remember

sitting on the pavement in

this really beat-down part of

San Francisco, I’ve got a

Discman and I listen to Vashti

singing the title track of the album

for the first time. I’ll never forget how

beautiful and clear and surreal the

world seemed.

CRIPPLE CROW

XL/YOUNG GOD, 2005

Banhart goes electric on his

first album for XL, an epic

psychedelic opus

I think the change in sound had to

do with access, not a conscious

decision to make a record that was

acoustic or electric. With Cripple

Crow I was on XL in the rest of the

world so we had more of a budget.

Noah Georgeson had graduated,

he’d recorded Joanna Newsom’s first

record, so we worked together. We

went on a tour of classic studios –

“I

’Ma littlebitoutofmymind,”explainsDevendraBanhartfrom

hishomeinLosAngeles.“IgotbackfromJapanyesterdayand

I’mgoingtoNepaltomorrowfora month.It’shalfa pilgrimage,

halfshootinga movie.Oh,anda videotoo!”

Thesinger-songwritercan’trevealmoreabouthisnewacting

gig,otherthanthat“thesubjectis somethingthat’sreallyimportant”tohim,

buthe’sdelightedtodiscusshisnewalbum,Ma, atlength,andtakeUncut

throughthedustycornersofhisveryfinecatalogue;comewithus,then,

fromParispavementstoWoodstock,andfromNewYorktotheplacewhere

RichardBrautigandied.

“Everyonehastheirownprojects,”Banhartexplainsofhisclosecircleof

long-termcollaborators,“sooneoftheonlywaysI gettoseemyfriendsis to

makea record!”

TOMPINNOCK

Thelong,strangetripofa psychedelic

aesthete:“Itwastheheightofourown’60s”

UNCUT

CLASSIC

WENDY

REDFERN/REDFERNS

DB, wide-eyed

and bushy in LA,

2004

Devendra

Banhart