Devendra Banhart

“Grizzly Bear's 'Knife' is one of the best videos of all time - everything Encyclopedia Pictura has done is really incredible.”

“When I came home my parents were listening to Pakistani Qawwali music, like Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, they're listening to music from Mali, like Ali Farka Toure, they're listening to Brazilian songwriters, like Gilberto Gil, to opera, to Neil Young even, things you don't hear as a kid in Caracas. I love all the music they turned me onto.”

“I love 'Star Wars.'”

“I was just a huge fan of Blur, Suede, Elastica and Pulp, of course, even Menswear and Ocean Colour Scene.”

“I'm interested in Qawwali and the blues.”

“The real hippie is trying to create something inclusive, something holistic, something loving and healthy which isn't in perpetual conflict with authority and actually knows that the only way to disarm the entire game is to step aside and not take any sides.”

“I try to listen to as much as possible. I know some people really try to avoid music when they're writing and recording, but I am very inspired by so many different musicians, and I need to learn.”

“I love almost every Britpop band.”

“I want to say that Beck is incredible. He is an art machine.”

“Personally speaking, Canada is becoming more and more beguiling and mysterious and I feel as though I really need to explore it.”

“I like clothes. I really do. I like going through colors, in a way. I go, 'Greens, man. Greens. Oh, yellow. This yellow feels good.' So it shapes your psyche in a way. But I don't think about it too much, even though I'm interested in it.”

“This is my definition of selling out: When you change what you do or do what you do as a reaction to someone else's expectations or lack of expectations.”

“People love to take sides, but it's not effective. It's not really an effective way of communicating something, because you're either already part of the side or you're going to feel attacked and get defensive.”

“I was born in Texas, you know. I was born in Houston.”

“When anyone dies, it's sad.”

“Dad had four world records, and they happened to be Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan and Ali Farka Toure. I tried singing like these people, and it didn't work.”

“Real hippies don't like me at all. They can smell a real hippy.”

“The first paid show was in Los Angeles at an art opening and I was paid maybe, I don't know, twenty five bucks?”

“As an adolescent I saw the Specials at the Glass House in Pomona, and that was life changing. I dressed the part - except not well, because it was a thrift suit. I looked more like David Byrne than a rudeboy; I still have a hard time finding suits that fit me. But I had my braces and I had my Docs. It was unbelievable.”

“I practice Rasayana Buddhism.”