Bat for Lashes never has a "good answer" to explain her stage name.

Bat for Lashes

Bat for Lashes

The 'Laura' singer - whose real name is Natasha Khan - crafted her alias because she thought it "sounded like the music" and echoed her love of Halloween and heavy metal.

Asked what Bat for Lashes means, she said: "I've been asked many times and I never have a good answer.

"It just sounded like the music to me.

"'Bat' because I've always been obsessed with Halloween and nocturnal animals and subconscious realms.

"And 'lashes' because it sounds quite feminine but also a bit heavy metal. Or sadomasochistic."

Although Natasha's music hasn't been influenced by her Pakistani heritage, a lot of her childhood memories have unintentionally inspired the "concept" of her new album, 'Lost Girls'.

She explained in an interview with Uncut magazine: "Obviously my dad is from Pakistan and I've spent lots of time there.

"It's not so much in the sound of the music but I realised that my memories of going to Pakistan as a child have influenced the 'Lost Girls' concept.

"All my cousins rode motorbikes and I used to jump om the back and we'd ride down these dusty roads into the town to get bottles of Pepsi - they were obsessed with US culture too, but there were also people with pet monkeys on their shoulders and snake charmers.

"Then I realised the emblem for the 'Lost Girls' was a hand with a snake in the air and they all ride bikes and they live in the desert.

"So I think moving to [Los Angeles] stirred up those memories in my subconscious."


Tagged in