Devendra Banhart

Singer-songwriter Devendra Banhart’s earliest musical influences included merengue and cumbia, which he heard while growing up in Caracas, Venezuela. ∙ He credits skateboarding videos—including one made by pro skater Keenan Milton that featured “King of Ska” Desmond Dekker—for making him want to pursue a career in music. ∙ Banhart started performing around San Francisco bars and clubs while in art school, although his first gig was playing two songs at his roommates’ wedding. ∙ His 2002 debut, oh me oh My...., was released via Michael Gira’s Young God Records after Gira’s then-wife heard Banhart’s self-released album, The Charles C. Leary. ∙ In the 2000s, Banhart became a major figure in the freak-folk movement, later collaborating with one of his inspirations, British folk singer Vashti Bunyan. ∙ In 2009, Banhart sang on and coproduced “Life During Wartime,” the theme song of director Todd Solondz’s movie of the same name.