Life after 30 finds the original freak folker putting away hippy-dippy things. Meet Devendra Banhart Version 2.0: shorn, showered, shaved, engaged, focused and wearing a shirt. He’s also making the finest music of his career. New album Mala (Nonesuch) is the best thing he’s done since his debut. Guest appearances are few and far between, so what comes through is the thing that’s always been Banhart’s greatest asset: himself. He will be guest editing magnetmagazine.com all week. Read our recent print cover story on him.
Banhart: This is one of my favorite “interviews” ever. It’s the artist collaborating with a part of himself clothed as homage to John Cage, accessing, filtering, freeing-up and having fun with it. Colter Jacobsen showed me this years ago. Supposedly Cage wasn’t initially sure if it was a diss or not, but after reading the whole piece, he saw it for the playful, intelligent and loving work it is.
