Idols and clowns with Devendra Banhart, Phil Elverum, Jenny Hval and Bedouine

Music Life

Devendra Banhart, Phil Elverum, Jenny Hval and Bedouine discuss eating on tour, how art is intimacy exposed, and what can be learned from terrible shows.

Devendra Banhart, was born in Texas and raised between Venezuela and California, where he attended the San Francisco Art Institute. After dropping out in 2000, he started moving around different cities, experimenting with songwriting and busking as he went. When he released his second album, Oh Me Oh My, in 2002 ,he signed to XL Recordings, and has since released nine albums and collaborated with artists like Anohni, Beck and The Strokes’ Fabrizio Moretti. His new album Flying Wig has just come out and was recorded in a Topanga cabin once owned by Neil Young. He’s also a visual artist, and has had pieces featured in galleries including San Francisco’s Museum of Modern Art, MOCA and Brussels’ Centre for Fine Arts.

Phil Elverum is a singer-songwriter, producer and visual artist from Washington state. Best known for his musical projects The Microphones and Mount Eerie, he almost exclusively uses analogue recording equipment to make music and tends to compose as he records. His output spans more than 40 albums.

Norwegian singer-songwriter, producer and novelist Jenny Hval's avant-garde music has a heavy focus on sexuality and politics. Her debut EP Cigars was released in 2006 and was nominated for a Spellemannprisen (the Nowegian Grammys). Since then, she has released music under her own name, Rocket to the Sky and collaboratively with Laura Jean as Lost Girls.

Bedouine is a Syrian-American folk musician whose sound is beautifully reminiscent of 1960s North America. Born in Aleppo, Syria, she grew up between Saudi Arabia and Texas before settling in Savannah to study sound design. Since then, she’s released three studio albums and toured with the likes of Fleet Foxes, Michael Kiwanuka and Jose Gonzalez.