Bat for Lashes
Bat for Lashes
Natasha Khan, better known by her stage name Bat for Lashes, is an English singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist. She has released four studio albums, Fur and Gold, Two Suns, The Haunted Manand The Bride, and received Mercury Prize nominations for Fur and Gold and Two Suns. Khan is also the vocalist for Sexwitch, a collaboration with the rock band Toy and producer Dan Carey...
NationalityEnglish
ProfessionMusician
Date of Birth25 October 1979
adrift breathe east fill house london nice people round travel
I live in a Moomin house in East London which I fill with blankets and nice crockery and get people round for dinner. When you travel a lot, you feel rootless and adrift - this is my sanctuary, where I can breathe out.
normally people
I like it when people make an effort to wear things that you wouldn't normally put together - I like eccentrics.
artists business industry longer music people quite struggling talk
Mentorship is really important. I really like to talk to people who have been in the music industry much longer than me about artists' block, things I'm struggling with, or the music business. It's really important for artists to have a community. Sometimes you can feel quite isolated.
accept artistic eccentric fit honour others people quite turn
It can be frightening to turn your back on what others think is right. But I'm not the same as a lot of people - I'm quite artistic and quite eccentric sometimes. If you honour that, you fit into yourself better - and people accept you for what you are.
heads people
When I was little, people like Talking Heads were on the radio. There was something geeky yet groundbreaking about them.
frightened hairy people shoot time
I get people being frightened of me. One time I did this photo shoot where I had hairy armpits - I was really digging it, but they were like, 'We'll airbrush that out.'
imagine loves music people playing stardust
There's something in me that loves to inspire people: when I'm playing music, I imagine all this sparkly stardust going through everyone. I want to make people come alive.
duty held liberated people perhaps prison trapped work
I feel empathy for people who are trapped in a prison of self-consciousness in an uncomfortable way. We can be free, but we're so held back. So perhaps that's why I feel a duty to make my work. I feel liberated when I'm doing it, and I want other people to feel liberated through it.
thinking people want
I always think that the exceptional people are those who remain outsiders but still communicate on a grand scale. I think I want everyone to feel more free, and so I feel really claustrophobic on behalf of lots of people.
hair clothes people
Ive hidden behind my hair more than clothes. Sometimes having long hair with a fringe is very useful when you dont want to look at people. I used to have very short hair, but long hair is my thing - a black nocturnal shield.
afford creatively hope notice otherwise people power using wield
The way you wield your power is about using it to afford you opportunities that you wouldn't otherwise have. So I'm very creatively ambitious, and I just hope people notice it; that's all I want.
art artist david dream layers love people
All of the art that I love is about peeling back layers and delving into something that's in a subconscious or dream realm. People like Jan Svankmajer, or the artist Yoshimoto Nara, or David Lynch.
blocked needs
The creative part of your brain needs to be stimulated. Sometimes you get blocked in the thing you do, because there's so much pressure to do it.
absolutely brought english family repressed side
I was brought up by the English side of my family, who are very repressed and working class. Absolutely lovely, but very English.