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First of all, i would like to say thanks to God for the grance

and bless, so writer can

accomplish a coffee table book titled I WANT THAT KID TO BE A

LONG-HAIRED KID well.

Music,Art,andFashionareclosewithyouthandasainfluence

in youth culture. That youth culture

giving a big effect to themself in economy, social, and also lifestyle.

One of great artist who giving a big contribution in youth cul-

ture movement is Devendra Banhart, a

freak-folk psychedelic artist. A journey of Devendra Banhart’s career

is a sample of getting success with passion in Music, and Visual Arts.

This must be a guide to Indonesian youth how to get a success in

other way and giving a big effect in youth culture.

Writertakethatphenomenonasasetofproblemsandfindinga

solution that aim to communicate of

Devendra Banhart’s career, especially to all Devendra Banhart’s fans.

This book made with passion and pride of writer, if there are

some absence here, pardon.

Writer

13

Devendra Obi Banhart (born May 30, 1981) is a singer-songwriter and

visual artist. Banhart was born in Houston, Texas and was raised by

his mother in Venezuela, until he moved to California as a teenager.

He began to study at the San Francisco Art Institute in 1998,

but dropped out to perform music in Europe, San Francisco and Los

Angeles. Banhart released his debut album in 2002, continuing to record

his material on the Young God and XL labels, as well as other work on

compilations and collaborations.

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17

19

Devendra Banhart was born May 30, 1981 in

Houston, Texas to a Venezuelan mother and an

American father.

Banhart’s middle name Obi was modeled after

the Star Wars character. Banhart’s parents divorced

two years after his birth and he moved with his

mother to Caracas, Venezuela.

His given name is a synonym for Indra, the Hindu god

of rain and thunder, which was suggested by Prem

Rawat, an Indian religious leader whom Banhart’s

parents followed.

early life

In 1998, Banhart began

studying at the San Francisco

Art Institute on a scholarship

while living in The Castro, San

Francisco’s gay neighborhood.

He began to busk instead of

attending classes and played his

firstshowinachurchatagay

wedding, performing Elvis Presley’s

“Love Me Tender” and the classic

hymn “How Great Thou Art.”

21early life

23

Banhart dropped out of

art school in 2000 and left San

Francisco after the dot-com bust

worsened the city’s economy. He

moved to Paris, France, over the

summer and opened shows for

indie rock bands such as Sonic

Youth.

25

Banhart returned to the

United States in the fall of 2000

and played music in San Francisco

and Los Angeles, until he was

discovered by Michael Gira, owner

of Young God Records, after

Siobhan Duffy, Gira’s wife,

bought a copy of Banhart’s demo

CD The Charles C. Leary and gave

it to Gira.

27

29

31

Whenhewas11,BanhartfirstheardNirvana’s

“Smells Like Teen Spirit,” and that served as a direct

inspiration. After moving to California as a teenager,

Banhart took up the guitar.

He dropped out as a 19-year-old, and traveled

to Paris, before returning to San Francisco with the

intent to pursue music, inspired by an album he’d

just heard: Vashti Bunyan’s Just Another Diamond

Day, a then-obscure folk-revival record from 1970

that had just been rediscovered.

Hediscoveredhewasincrediblyprolific(“that

just means I write a lot of bad songs!” he gags) and

wrote intently whilst studying at the San Francisco

Art Institute.

music career

Banhart and Gira compiled an

album from Banhart’s recordings,

and in 2002, Oh Me Oh My, which

was made up of short fragments,

was published by Young God

Records and received favorable

reviews. He recorded two other

albums and an EP for the label:

Rejoicing in the Hands, Niño Rojo,

and The Black Babies the releases

had a simple acoustic sound.

33

Banhart changed to XL Recordings in 2005

and released Cripple Crow, which was recorded

in Bearsville Studios, New York and had a more

elaborate sound. He recorded his second album for

XL Records, Smokey Rolls Down Thunder Canyon, at

his home studio in Topanga, California.

The album charted on

the Billboard 200 at number 115.

The album’s song “Lover” was

featured in the soundtrack of the

movieNickandNorah’sInfinite

Playlist, which included a cameo

appearance by Banhart.

music career

Banhart performs with the band Vetiver and

has performed in Carnegie Hall and Hollywood Bowl

opening for Gilberto Gil, as well as at Bonnaroo and

Coachella music festivals.

He founded a record label, Gnomonsong, with

Andy Cabic of Vetiver, in 2005. In 2007, he signed

with Neil Young’s manager Elliot Roberts, who also

contributed vocals to Smokey Rolls Down Thunder

Canyon.

35

In2008,BanhartreleasedthealbumSurfing

in a collaborative project with multi-instrumentalist

Greg Rogove named Megapuss. In 2009, he signed to

Warner/Reprise and plans to release a new album,

What Will We Be.

He has, at the band’s request, produced a

remix of Oasis’ “(Get Off Your) High Horse Lady”.

Along with “Neighbors”, Devendra remixed the Phoenix

song “Rome” from their 2009 album Wolfgang

Amadeus Phoenix.

music career

Yet, when Banhart released Cripple Crow in

2005, it crossed over to bastions like Rolling Stone,

who were drawn to its Beatles pastiches in a way

they’d never been to his bizarre folksongs.

Banhart moved to a property

in Topanga Canyon in 2006 (“there

are coyotes in the night time

that sing through the valley,” he

enthused to Uncut, “if you were

here, you’d live here”).

There he recorded 2007’s Smokey Rolls Down

Thunder Canyon, “I’ve never recorded in a super

controlled environment like a professional recording

studio,” Banhart explained to Pitchfork, “I don’t

think it’s respectful to exclude the rest of the

world.”

37music career

He is a collector of music

artifacts. Banhart wrote the

foreword for and appears in his

friend Lauren Dukoff’s book

Family: Photographs by Lauren

Dukoff.

Amoregoofin-offLPthanBanhart’searlier

work, it featured collaborations with members

of The Strokes and The Black Crowes, and even

bothered the nether-regions of the Billboard chart.

He has also written the

introduction to a selection of

poems by Kenneth Patchen.

39music career

In April 2008, Banhart started dating Natalie

Portman.Theyhadfirstmetin2007,whenPortman

was assembling a charty compilation for FINCA

(that also included Beirut, The Shins, and Antony

and the Johnsons). Portman repaid Banhart’s favor

of appearing on the record by appearing in the music

video for his song “Carmensita.”

Late in 2008, Banhart unveiled a new band,

Megapuss, a collaboration with Greg Rogove of

Priestbird and Fabrizio Moretti of The Strokes and

Little Joy. The band released their debut album,

SurfingonNeilYoung’sVaporRecords.

Later, in an interview with Pitchfork, Banhart

would recall of the video: “I was too busy falling in

love with Natalie while making it.”

For a brief period, Banhart and Portman were a

gossip-rag couple —strange territory for an artist as

strange as Devendra— before parting ways.

41music career

43

“ I see so many little boys I wanna marry, I see plenty little kids I’ve yet to have. “

On October 27, 2009,

Banhart released What Will We

Be,hisfirstrecordonWarner/

Reprise.

Banhart and Jon Beasley, who were credited as

art directors for the album’s artwork and packaging,

were nominated for a Grammy in 2011 for Best

Recording Package.

45

ThefilmLifeDuringWartime,directedbyTodd

Solondz, features a musical collaboration between

BanhartandBeck.Thesongplaysoverthefilm’send

credits.

Banhart sings lead vocals

while Beck adds backing vocals

and also recorded the track.

The lyrics were written by

Solondz and the music by

composer Marc Shaiman.

music career

In 2011, he collaborated with Marisa Monte and

Rodrigo Amarante on a version of the song “Nú Com

a Minha Música” for the Red Hot Organization’s

most recent charitable album “Red Hot+Rio 2.”

The album is a follow-up to the 1996 “Red

Hot + Rio.” Proceeds from the sales will be donated

toraiseawarenessandmoneytofightAIDS/HIV

and related health and social issues.

47music career

Banhart’s music is often associated with

the New Weird America genre, along with Vetiver and

Joanna Newsom. The New York Times has called his

songs “free associative work” and SPIN magazine

has written that “Banhart’s albums offer ashram-

appropriate guitar strums, trippy-hippie tone poetry.”

Many notable reviewers, including AllMusic,

The Times, and Mojo, have pointed out similarities

between Banhart’s songs and production with that

of the early 1970s band Tyrannosaurus Rex (an early

version of Mark Bolan’s T. Rex).

Devendra Banhart has downplayed Bolan’s

influenceonhismusic,andinsteadprefersto

credit Vashti Bunyan, Karen Dalton, Caetano Veloso,

Simon Diaz, Fred Neil, Nico, Donovan, Six Organs

of Admittance and certain albums such as David

Crosby’s If I Could Only Remember My Name

amonghismaininfluences.

Various publications have described his style

as psych folk, avant-folk, freak folk, Lo-Fi, hipster

folk revival, and alternative folk.

In a May 2004 interview with Arthur magazine,

Banhart claimed that he was unaware of the music

of Tyrannosaurus Rex until after he began writing

and recording songs.

49music career

51

Drawings by Banhart were featured in the San

Francisco Museum of Modern Art and in the Centre

for Fine Arts, Brussels. Banhart’s drawings have

also been featured in the Art Basel Contemporary

Art Fair in Miami, FL, the Mazzoli Gallery in Modena,

Italy, Spain’s ARCOmadrid. and the Andrew Roth

Gallery gallery in New York.

Banhart’s drawings are currently featured in

MOCA’s exhibit: “The Artist’s Museum” which

showcasestheworksofinfluentialLosAngeles

based artists from the last 30 years. As part of

the exhibit Banhart collaborated with artist Doug

Aitken and musicians Beck and Caetano Veloso for a

musical and visual performance piece.

art career

Pencil on paper2011

53

Pencil on paper2011

art career

Pencil on paper2011

55

Pencil on paper2011

art career

Colored Pen on paper2010

57

Colored Pen on paper2010

Colored Pen on paper2010

art career

Pen on paper2010

Pen on paper2010

59

Pen on paper2010

Pen on paper2010

art career

“ Cook me in your breakfast, and put me on your plate, ‘

cause you know i taste great. “

61

Pen on artboard2009

63

Pen on artboard2009

Pen on artboard2009

art career

Watercolors on artboard2009

65

Watercolors on artboard2009

art career

Mix Media on paper2007

67

Mix Media on paper2007

Mix Media on paper2007

art career

Pencil on paper2005

69

Pencil on artboard2005

Mixed media on artboard2005

art career

71

73

75fashion

77fashion

79fashion

81

83fashion

85fashion

87

89

91discography

93discography

WHAT WILL

WE BE

2009

NINO ROJO2004

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HEARD SOMEBODY SAY

2005

SMOKEY ROLLS DOWN THUNDER CANYON2007

discography

BABY (SINGLE)

2009

AT THE HOP2004

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REJOICING IN THE HANDS

2004

LITTLE YELLOW SPIDER2004

discography

OH ME OH MY

2002

THE BLACK BABIES2003

99

I JUST FEEL LIKE A CHILD

2005

discography

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103

105extra

Earlier this year you shaved your trademark beard. Do you miss it at all ?

I just got tired of it being a “thing,” and I also forgot what I looked like without it. Now that

I know, I’m throwing my razor away. Also, it’s fun sporting the creepy biological-father-at-a-

fondue-party-in-1972lookI’mcurrentlyflopping.

You’ve been working with Beck on his ambitious Record Club project, where a group of musicians get

together and re-record a classic album in one day. How hard is it to record a whole album in a day?

Very easy, when it’s with musicians as adroit as Beck and his bandmates, MGMT, Binki Shapiro from Little

Joy, and Andrew Stockdale from Wolfmother. I was the only exception to an otherwise truly talented

phalanxofmusicians.Oh,andtheyareallfirsttakes,whichhelpedwithgettingitalldone.

You guys did some pretty wild things with Songs of Leonard Cohen. Your “Master Song” rap is one of the

more radical cover versions in recent memory. Did you ever worry about taking liberties with the classics?

The goal was to have fun, to play for playing’s sake and to do it through an album and songwriter that we,

and I think everybody, loves. And, yes, I would rather hear a radical reworking of a tune than hear someone

trying to recreate a song I love. Do you want to hear a cover of George Harrison’s “Long, Long, Long” with

the exact same instrumentation at the exact same tempo but with a different singer trying to sound like

George? Would you rather hear a ska version of it? Maybe not, but one is fundamentally -- although it may

not seem to be -- more respectful in that it acknowledges the sacrosanct nature of the song.

Was Record Club’s anything-goes ethos in keeping with your own recording process at all?

I felt right at home...

107extra

What Will We Be, your new album. What Will We Be is noticeably shorter than Smokey Rolls and Cripple

Crow. Was that a conscious decision, or did it turn out that way on its own?

It’s funny: Earlier I’m ineloquently sockin’ my selling-out harangue at you, and as hypocritical as it is, I

gotta admit that it was partly because after every record, a buddy of mine (I’m looking at you, Zach Cowie)

would say, “Dude, too long.” [Laughs.] But mostly it was that out of 48 tunes, these felt done, these

felt ready. Sort of.

The new-album tracks currently making rounds on the Net have a relaxed, rustic feel to them. What kinds

of sounds can we expect from the rest of the album?

Thesame.Andalittlefifth-generationskabingbangblop,pangolinpoofterpolkabop,crapulouscrunkplop,

third-generation electroclash Akashic pop, a little bit of nothing for everyone and a whole lot of something

for no one.

You’ve contributed a remix of “Rome” to Phoenix’s Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix remix project. Is that

something you’d like to get into more in the future? Who else would you like to rework?

Oh, it’s not that I think I can do it, but it’s just so fun to do and a crazy honor -- a crazy, crazy, crazy-

ass honor. It’s stultifying, dizzying. Anywho, who else would I like to rework? Well, I am a big R. Kelly

fan…

Of course, you recently announced that you’ve been working with the Wu-Tang Clan’s GZA. When can we

expect to hear the fruits of that collaboration?

Who knows? It’s the most exciting thing in my life, just getting to meet a true hero, avatar, paragon,

iconoclast, the man. Liquid Swords had a huge impact on me. There are a couple of lines in that album

that literally changed the way I saw the world. For example, from the song of the same title, he says,

“lowkey like seashells.” That seriously fucked me up. Just the title, those two words: Liquid Swords.

That’s alchemy! But all his albums -- Pro Tools, Words from the Genius, Legend of the Liquid Sword,

Beneath the Surface -- and all his appearances on various projects -- have you heard his track with

Mando Diao? Holy shit! -- have been huge, inspiring and humbling. So we shall see, but I certainly won’t

be rapping. (You’re welcome, everyone.)

109extra

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113extra

http://devendrabanhart.comhttp://devendrabanhart-art.comhttp://pitchfork.com/artists/288-devendra-banhart/http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Devendra_Banharthttp://altmusic.about.com/lr/devendra_banhart/667169/1/http://fuckyeahdevendrabanhart.tumblr.com

SOURCE

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INDEX

Psychedelic

Folk

Hippies

Starwars

Warbonett

Tote bag

Trippy Hippy

Freak-folk

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I WANT THAT KID TO BE A LONG HAIRED KID

by Fran Hakim

© 2012 Fran Hakim

Photo © internet

Design and layout: Fran Hakim

Page Layout: Fran Hakim

Production: Fran Hakim

1st edition, 2012

124 page; 29,7 x 42 cm

ISBN-13: 978-82-9019-68-1

All correspondence concerning

this book may be sent to:

Swadaya 7 no.70 Pancoran Mas

Depok 16436

www.lilfrankhakim.blogspot.com

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