For Folk's Sake » Devendra Banheart

Interview: Wild Honey

Helen True — Fri, 06 Aug 2010 11:00:23 +0000

The hottest thing to come out of Spain since Sangria, Wild Honey’s Guil talked to FFS about being a Spaniard in London, giving away Epic Handshakes and a Bear Hug for free, Beach House, Summer Camp and Spotify Playlists (he’s a big fan of our Brian). Read this bumper Q&A session here…

FFS: You came over to London to play a gig a few months ago. How was the gig for you, and what did you think of our illustrious capital?

Our gig was put together by the Spanish promoters La Fonoteca that are focused on bringing Spanish bands to play in London. Wild Honey is a really small project, I’ve released the album on my own label and I don’t have any kind of distribution.

What I do is to sell the records by mail and at the gigs (as well as having it for free download in Bandcamp) so you can imagine that having the chance to play in London is just amazing. We had a lot of fun and I think it went pretty good even if I could not play with the whole band (normally we’re seven people on stage). The gig was also a good excuse to spend a weekend in London, which is always great.

Giving away the whole record for free is rather generous – why did you decide to do it that way?

I’ve released the record on my own. That means that I don’t have the budget, the contacts or the knowledge of a classic label and the best way to let people know your music is to give away the record for free. I think it makes sense: the more people that listen to the music, the more that will eventually buy the psychical record. Also, I’ve tried to make a beautiful edition of the album, it’s an 180gr red vinyl that comes along with a CD and it has a really cool cover made by Grande Graphix, so that way those who want to pay for the physical record will also be buying a beautiful object.

What do you think makes a great song?

It’s difficult to say. Sometimes I like a song because it has a great hook (it could be a chorus, a keyboard riff, etc.), sometimes because I can’t take the melody out of my head and sometimes because it tells a good story. When all these things happen at the same time then you’ve got an amazing song.

If you could collaborate with any artist on the music scene at the moment, who would it be?

Maybe I’d take the chance to work with one of my heroes, someone like Dion DiMucci, so I could ask him thousand of questions, or maybe Brian Wilson just to spend some time with him. From the current music scene, I’d love to have a song arranged by Neil Hannon or Alexandre Desplat, the French Film composer. As this is about daydreaming, I’d definitely put Beck on the list, his productions are amazing. I’d also love to collaborate with people like Panda Bear or Daniel Victor Snaith from Caribou, I guess that their way to write and record songs is far different from mine, so it’d be great to spend some time with them learning different techniques and different approaches to song writing.

Do you have any new releases in the pipeline?

I play bass and write for another band, Mittens. We’ve released our first record a couple of weeks ago. You can download it for free at Bandcamp. Besides, I’m starting to record new songs for Wild Honey that will be published after the summer in two 7” on two of my favorite Spanish labels, Elefant and Jabalina.

Do you have any gigs and/or tours coming up?

I don’t have anything like a booking company working for me, so it’s just me trying to find gigs, which can be difficult sometimes because I don’t have the right contacts. We played Primavera Sound a month ago in Barcelona, a huge festival with headliners like Wilco, Pavement or Pixies, there are a few gigs in Spain after the summer and I’ll play in London again next November (although I don’t have any information on the venue yet).

Are there any new artists you want to tell the world about?

I’m listening to music all the time and I get excited about songs I discover almost everyday. I try to post about my new favorite bands in my blog (all the entries are in English too if anyone wants to check them out). There are some songs I’ve been listening to non-stop for the last week: Beach House Teen dream is amazing, I love Caribou’s new album and my favorite 7” of the year is Ghost Train from Summer Camp. Here are some Spotify “mixtapes” I’ve done in the last months:
Love Is Here To Stay (Mixtape)
Winter Beats & Harmonies (mixtape)
Wild Honey’s 2009 Hit Parade

What are your plans for the next year?

Epic Handshakes and a Bear Hug had a very small release, just the LP+CD version, and I’m working trying to release it worldwide on a nice digipack version right after the summer. There are the two 7” I’m writing songs for now and my plan is to start working on a new LP next winter and also try to play as many gigs as possible.

You can listen to Epic Handshakes and a Bear Hug on Bandcamp whenever you darn well like.

Brian’s Mixtape #36: Brian’s been to Glasto

Brian — Fri, 02 Jul 2010 16:45:12 +0000

Brian’s been a bit quiet of late, largely because when he gets really excited his wings start quivering and he can’t type. What happened was, he realised it was June and that it was about to be Glastonbury, and his feathers were no longer under his control. The lucky fellow doesn’t even have to buy a ticket – he just stows away in HelenFFS’s backpack and no one ever notices.

This year was spectacular, especially for Brian, who could fly to the highest bough of the nearest tree whenever he needed shade, and flutter over the fences that divide the dirty from the clean in order to spy on Jarvis Cocker (who was wearing a lovely suit).

Here’s a swift round-up of his favourite parts of the weekend in the form of a Spotify playlist so that you can close your eyes and pretend all the flags, bunting, stages and sleeping hippies are all still firmly in place and you’re not going to have to sleep in a boring old bed tonight.*

Seasick Steve – Walkin’ Man
tUnE-yArDs – Sunlight
Laura Marling – I Speak Because I Can
Mountain Man – Arabella
Fanfarlo – The Walls are Coming Down
The Leisure Society – Love’s Enormous Wings
Ellen and the Escapades – Without You
Midlake – Small Mountain
Mumford & Sons – Roll Away Your Stone
Devendra Banhart – Meet Me at Lookout Point
Stornoway – Boats and Trains
Alessi’s Ark – Dancing Feet
Candi Staton – Young Hearts Run Free
Beach House – Walk in the Park
Frightened Rabbit – Old Old Fashioned
Stevie Wonder – Signed, Sealed, Delivered (I’m Yours)

Get the playlist here: Brian’s Mixtape #36: Brian’s Been to Glasto and Spotify here if you’re late to the party.

*Disclaimer: before you accuse Brian of appearing to have been in two places at the same time on occasion, please take a moment to remember that he has WINGS and can FLY. Thank you.

Brian’s Mixtape #29: Parliament of Fowls

Brian — Mon, 29 Mar 2010 06:17:31 +0000

Safely installed in his cosy nest, Brian’s been musing on how great his winged neighbours are. Birds are a splendid bunch – lots of them sing (although admittedly with varying levels of success), some of them are darned attractive (Mr Peacock, we’re looking right at you) and some of them are just utterly fascinating conversationalists.

In summary, Brian feels that the avian world deserves some celebration, so this week’s mixtape is devoted to his fellow fowl, and it’s a bit of a stunner, if he does say so himself.

Here’s the tracklist, as if you needed convincing:

1. Florence and the Machine – Bird Song
2. Devendra Banhart – Owl Eyes
3. Neil Young – Beautiful Bluebird
4. Rachel Unthank and the Winterset – Blackbird
5. Mark Lanegan and Isobel Campbell – The Raven
6. A Hawk and a Handsaw – Salt Water
7. Simon and Garfunkel – Sparrow
8. Kristin Hersh – The Cuckoo
9. Alessi’s Ark – Hummingbird
10. Shearwater – Rooks
11. Elliott Smith – Ostrich and Chirping
12. Michael Jackson – Rockin’ Robin

For the Spotify Playlist, all you need do is click here: Brian’s Mixtape #29: Parliament of Fowls

Did Brian miss any stonking good songs about birds? Let us know below if so.

Our Spotify Inivtation amnesty continues – if you need one let us know and we’ll make a request of the ever-generous posse of FFS readers. Similarly, if you have any going spare let us know and we’ll give you the opportunity to do a good deed for a stranger, providing them with an lifetime’s supply of free music.

Have a flap around our mixtape section to find Brian’s previous efforts.

Live: Devendra Banhart @ Shepherds Bush Empire 15/12/09

Lynn Roberts — Fri, 18 Dec 2009 18:22:06 +0000

Bounding on stage at Shepherds Bush Empire, girl-hipped and beard-faced, Devendra Banhart assessed a crowd made up of copy-cat males (long hair and moustaches gleaming), flower-adorned teenage girls, and a rather large chunk of what I can only describe as ‘hip’ London.

If he and his band (which included guitarists from Little Joy and the drummer from Priestbird) had been a little more with it, they would have sensed the problem that having this ‘hip’ crowd around would bring. As it was, they were gloriously and decidedly not with it. But remarkably they were pitch and note perfect all night.

The ‘hipsters’ were a problem because they had only heard, and were only there because of, the new album, the earner of some glittering reviews that had rendered Banhart ‘cool’. Hence, when the slower acoustic numbers of the previous four albums were played by a huddled cross-legged Banhart (the glorious ‘Now that I Know’ among them), he was completely drowned out by said hipsters having a nice chat. He was apparently oblivious and did nothing to quiet or distract them. Fortunately, despite this, for those there not to increase their street cred it was an assured and enjoyable acoustic performance, if interrupted by posh girls shouting “OH MY GOD” at some inaubible gossip.

Undeterred, Banhart shifted gear and gave us a mid section of the love child of a swing band and a Mexican Mariachi band. Five-part harmonies came out to play, as did some choice screaming, and Banhart waved his arms and danced his way into a nice little frenzy, ‘Shabob Shalom’ from the album Smokey Rolls Down Thunder Canyon being the main culprit. The hipsters still chatted away, waiting for one they knew, but they were drowned out, thankfully.

And still they waited, for Banhart had yet another gear to go through before he fed them their song. On the back of a track written by the drummer, Banhart decided that, actually, he quite wanted to be Jimmi Hendrix and that very hard, very dirty blues rock and roll was a bit of a favourite. Guitar solos and head banging ensued. The hippies were nearly physically sick. The flowers in their hair wilting.

But finally, the checked shirts got what they wanted. To the opening beats of “16th & Valencia Roxy Music”, hoards of designer labels poured down the stairs into the pit. They jangled around. Then they went back to their Merlot.

By this time, of course, we had sort of worked out Banhart was perhaps more knowing about his audience than he let on. For he came out for the encore and uttered one of his more obscure tracks, Chinese Children, followed by a six-minute stomp through “I Feel Just Like A Child”.

And child-like it was. Impish even. Taunting of his new-found coolness. Most of all, it was a lot of fun and incredibly impressive musically.

Banhart may seem like a shambolic mess, but he is a live experience to be savoured. Just try and not stand near the hipsters. Or if that’s impossible, take a gun.

Words: Jon Severs

For Folk's Sake » Devendra Banheart

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