Devendra Banhart: “The fact that reggaeton and trendy music is in Spanish is one of the few things in the world that gives me hope”

Then came the years when the character of Devendra and his music reached a more cautious level. Long hair and suede jackets were replaced by shorter, sleeker hair and plaid shirts to create a more distinct character. innovator Despite the serious injury he suffered a few years ago, he still skates every day today. “I always carry two skates in my car,” he tells EL PERIÓDICO DE ESPAÑA of the Prensa Ibérica group via Zoom from a room in his home. Echo Park (Los Angeles), where the California sun shines. He speaks perfect Spanish with a Caribbean accent. not for nothing grew up in CaracasThe son of an American father and a very hippie Venezuelan mother, he was baptized with the name suggested by his spiritual teachers.

However, there is no trace of Spanish in his newly released album; This seems strange at a time when music in this language is reaching its peak worldwide. “Because I’m a snob,” jokes Banhart, who boasts that he likes to go against the rules. We will return to this topic later. What’s definitely against the rules, at least in terms of his career so far, is how this album sounds. A man who accustomed us to being most excited by guitars, he devoted himself to synthesizers and reemerges with a very atmospheric eighties sound who worked with his friend Cate LeBonanother American musical genius.

“Cate and I have a lot in common. “We have been friends for a long time, but we have never worked together,” says the musician, who always uses the feminine adjective when talking about himself. “We started to think in a not-so-obvious way about the things we shared aesthetically and We realized we loved these bands from the eighties. He adored Crowded House. And I’m obsessed with Talk Talk, Prefab Sprout…” Also with that George MichaelWhat do you talk about often? “My entire aesthetic and sense of beauty has been defined by George Michael since I was a little girl in Venezuela.” However, although this album reminds us of The Blue Nile, which he also mentioned, it does not sound like a British musician. An exercise like this singer Surrounded by synthetic atmospheres that may resemble what the Destroyer did, searching for an existing kinship.

a flying wig

Just because there are synths on Banhart’s new album doesn’t mean the album is live. The exact opposite. He describes this album as a bit gloomy and melancholic, “even though it brings hope.” He chose to give it a title, as if to get across something that might seem too serious. Flying Wig (“flying wig”), in honor of the wig with whom he lives at home (not because he needs it, he has great hair) and travels the world.

Beyond the joke, this album Playing live this Friday the 10th in Madrid, the 11th in Valencia and the Friday the 12th in Barcelona, it comes to collect a certain pain, but not a personal pain, but something more philosophical or spiritual. “I am not a fatalist, in fact I am very naive, very idealistic, but still I know this world is a great disappointment. a great tragedy. Everything in the world is pain, even good things. “You can fall in love and win the lottery, but then everything will be painful because that person will die and the money will be spent,” he says, without giving up dark humour. So, do you use art as therapy in the face of all this evil? “That’s not what I use it for, although in some ways it is. But it is true that I came to art after looking at my darkest parts, the things that scared me. Fear interests me very much.”.

In one of the songs on the album; seerThere is a moment when he says: “I no longer sing for fun, but as a way to protect myself.”. It’s inevitable to ask if this is how you feel. “NO! [risas]. I felt it in that song at that moment. I still sing for fun. But there’s a new dimension to how I use the ritual of singing, and it has a lot to do with getting older and staying curious… I still think I don’t know how to write songs, it’s still a mystery. “I want to continue exploring and learning.” It is noteworthy that these new topics The texture of his singing has changed: his voice sounds different. It doesn’t quite explain why. “When I was young, I almost shouted many songs. There was a lot of wild energy that I needed to get out. I needed to tell the world: ‘I want you to know that I have talent, that I’m special!’” It seems like the opposite of now, where deeper tones and softer cadences dominate his voice.

During the recording of this album and also at some of his recent concerts, the musician wore the Issey Miyake blue women’s dress, seen next to these lines in the photo, like an amulet. Even when he was little, he often dressed as a girl in Caracas. Even though Banhart identifies as a heterosexual cis man, he has spent his entire life talking about it. the weight of the feminine sideand there are many who describe him as an artist queer. The practice of playing with gender identity and presenting oneself in this way is especially important right now, she assures. “My trans friends live in a world that is not safe for them. They cannot live without fear. And just because they are what they are.”

This is not the only thought he devotes to those who go against the normative or the majority in society. Returning to the topic of Spanish, he is clear when asked about the global pinnacle of Latin urban sounds. “The fact that reggaeton and trendy music is in Spanish is one of the few things in the world that gives me hope. “The fact that they have been learning Korean for several years now, thanks to K Pop, or now Spanish, in a place where they have never heard another language before, where they have never seen another way of being, dressing, or expressing themselves… makes me very emotional.” happy.” It’s a shame he left that aside on this album.