Devendra Banhart Quotes

Getting a record deal is a meaningless thing now.

Well, I had a record deal since I was 18, and it got me where I am.

When I was young, I was offered my first recording contract in 1971 and was offered quite a bit of money if I would change my character and be a '70s version of Cher.

This is a very screwed-up business. Record labels don't sign a lot of bands these days. We just want to find a home and stay there and make records and do our thing and not have to look over our shoulder.

Well, I tried to get a record deal in 1966 or '67, and everyone thought I was too eclectic.

I was signed to a record label at the same time as my friend Elliot Murphy, who makes great records to this day.

Island Records was the first record label to... acknowledge me. After that, quickly, Republic Records, and then Atlantic Records, Sony Records and Warner Bros. It was all the labels at once. It was absolutely insane, like, knowing that this many record labels were interested in me.

When I first started out in the music industry and went to Elektra Records, I didn't go to be an artist, I went to get a record label started. And they said in order to have a label deal, I had to be an artist - so that's what I did.

I know it is common nowadays for artists to start labels but this is a thoroughly constructed vehicle for inspired talent. This is a market that we've been living, breathing and eating for our entire lives - one where a huge void currently exists. Favored Nations is a long-term commitment.

Kill Rock Stars allowed me to put out a real genuine rock 'n' roll record.

I started my own record label.

I can't believe I got a major-label record deal. My music was quirky, and my voice was so odd and high and girlish, it was like a weird novelty act.

My record label is treating me like I'm a new artist, which is exciting after all this time.

A lot of very popular mainstream artists are products of record companies and marketing companies, and any time anyone can stand outside of that, that's interesting.

The people who are making money are the ones who are writing and singing their own songs.

I think it's very important for hip-hop, when an artist reaches a certain level, to ascend to executive work.

When I got my record deal at Atlantic, at the time, 'indie' wasn't a style of music: it was a kind of label. And I think, eventually, the bands that ended up on those labels began to be branded as 'indie bands,' and then it became a genre.

Major labels act as banks in terms of how they produce and release your album. No major label is really good or bad; they just 100 per cent operate as a business, which makes sense... no hard feelings.

I think the music industry is something that's very separate from music. So, by always staying on the music side of it, I've found success.

Jimmy Iovine has been telling me since 2012 that I needed to start my own label with my own artists. This was when he first met me and 'Bandz a Make Her Dance' was first taking off.

When you get a record deal, you got to be pretty headstrong, know your direction.

I've started my own record label - Jeepney Music - and I want to put out my own stuff and also stuff by other Filipino artists.

I wanted to have a label to not only release my own stuff but to also give young talent a chance to release their music without signing away their life. I had a great time with Spinnin', and the people I worked with were amazing, but the contract wasn't really for me. It wasn't what I wanted.

I'm not a hit machine.

When I was 19 I had a record deal.