Vampire Weekend’s Ezra Koenig appears on the latest episode of the Under The Scales podcast. Koenig covered a variety of topics during his interview with Phish lyricist Tom Marshall and Osiris CEO RJ Bee.
Koenig discusses the latest Vampire Weekend album, 2019’s Father Of The Bride, and incorporating songs from the record into live setlists. Koenig talks about adding touring members to the band and playing Madison Square Garden for the first time. The interview then moves through each of Vampire Weekend’s other three albums.
Koening describes being influenced by Paul Simon and Peter Gabriel. Marshall talks about how Phish guitarist Trey Anastasio responded to seeing Vampire Weekend drummer Chris Tomson wearing a Phish t-shirt on Saturday Night Live and how Trey reacted to Koenig talking to Bon Iver’s Justin Vernon about Phish on Koenig’s radio program.
As the chat progresses, Marshall asks Koening about some of the lyrics from Vampire Weekend songs, which leads to an examination of influences — including jam bands and the Grateful Dead, the adjustments that came after Rostam Batmanglij left VW and other aspects of the evolution of the band. Koenig also talks about attending his first Phish show at the band’s recent performance at The Met in Philadelphia.
Stream Under The Scales with Vampire Weekend’s Ezra Koenig below:
https://play.acast.com/s/under-the-scales/a06a0735-5654-434d-b9b7-0386ef824e0a
