Hi from Rostam. AMA.

Does your Grammy make a good door stop?

I don't know. I sent it to my parents. : )

I'm not really sure how this is a question but i just wanted to let you know that you made me feel comfortable and proud of my heritage. I'm half iranian and for a while i was uncomfortable telling people that because of the stigmas surrounding the country. however, you really inspired me to be proud and celebrate who i am, so thank you so much. I guess my question would be what is your favorite persian food?

tadiiiiiig!

Hi Rostam,

I met you in the fall of 2009, when I was a shaggy-haired American making my way around Europe on a back-packing tour. I was downtown London trying to find my way to King's College for y'all's show that night at the student union, and I ran into you on the street. We chatted a bit while we walked the few blocks to the venue, and then when you found out I didn't have a ticket, you put me on the list! So, thanks for that—it was very kind of you.

I have two questions:

1. Being a big Radiohead fan as well, I've always wondered: were you and the guys in VW aware that Thom Yorke included "I Think Ur A Contra" on one of his "office lists" shortly after Contra came out? If so, did that hold any significance for you?

2. I'm now living in the upper westside—do you have any dining recommendations around Columbia?

1. yes it was amazing to see that. one of my first tweets ever was about the song "atoms for peace"

2. "taqueria y fonda" on amsterdam and 107 used to be amazing back in the old days, i'm guessing it still is

what's ur fav arctic monkeys album??

i'm a really big fan of the submarine EP

Are you still flossing? :)

ohhhh thanks for the reminder

What did you write your Columbia application essay about?

i actually wrote it about music and what it meant to me. how i applied music theory to everything i listened to, including pop songs like "hit me baby one more time" (it was 2001 at the time)

Hey Rostam, will you be singing more songs on LP4? I sure hope so. Discovery is incredible and Young Lion has become an extremely important song to me. Thank you for creating the things that you do.

who knows what the future holds... : ) thank you for your kind words

Hey Rostam! I know VW recorded the debut on your own time with limited space/equipment. Got any tips for DIY recording with a pretty tight budget/not a lot of space? Big fan of your work. Thanks for doing this.

find friends who have drums set up in their basement, pay them with pizza 🍕

What is your favorite venue to play?

webster hall!

Hi Rostam, Why weren't there any b-sides on MVOTC?

MVOTC is the album we wrote the most songs for... and there are a lot of scraps left over and half-written songs lurking about. i think some bits and pieces might turn out in the next thing we do.

is batman your actual favorite super hero?

def, I also like Neil Gaiman's Death the High Cost of Living

Hiya Rostam - what are your top three desert island classical songs?

BEETHOVEN 6th SYMPHONY TCHAIKOVSKY 1812 CHOPIN PRELUDE IN A MAJOR

What would you consider your favorite song out of everything you've worked on?

"don't lie" has a special place in my heart, "i retired", a song i did with Hamilton Leithauser from the Walkmen is also pretty dear to me... "need your love" which is coming out in October on Charli XCX's new album is a song that i'm really proud of : )

What sort of things help you when you feel stuck creatively?

taking a break, taking a shower, taking a walk

Rostam! How do you like to kill time on a long-ass flight?

reading play scripts!

What movies/books/TV/albums have you been really inspired by in the past few weeks?

I'm really into the web series "High Maintenance" https://vimeo.com/channels/highmaintenance

What's your favorite song to perform with VW?

i love playing the slide guitar part at the end of "hannah hunt", I also love performing of "obvious bicycle", it's really tough but when we nail it i get a great feeling

what is the best concert you've ever been to?

dirty projectors at carnegie hall... everyone who was there agrees : )

hii rostam what is your favorite type of dog?

german shepherd

How did you get Bill DiBlasio in your promo video for Modern Vampires of the City?

he and steve have known eachother for a long time!

Any chances we'll see some more solo stuff from yourself? The song Wood is absolutely amazing and I'd love to hear more from you. (ps your gig at leeds festival this year was amazing! thanks for playing California English pt 2 live, i never ever expected that to happen!)

yes. absolutely. thanks for the kind words about wood. i'm glad we played Cali English II as well. i think it's one of my favorites.

I have a tattoo of lyrics "Here comes a feeling you thought you'd forgotten" who wrote that lyric? Thank you for making my favorite music!

hey there, actually that is one of the lyrics of horchata that i wrote. Ezra had the melody and we were working on it together trying different things. that lyric was from a little demo i made with a very different melody a couple days prior. we tried it out in that spot and it worked so we kept it

What's your favorite album by The Strokes?

first impressions...

Do you ever read the comments on your instagram and or twitter?

yeah i do!

how do you feel about mac DEMARCOS new album, salad days?

I LOVE THE FIRST TWO SONGS TO PIECES

Would you bring Angel back in studio to record more vocals for future tunes?

absolutely, she is so fun to work with and her voice has so many textures to it

also... maybe i already have ; )

when will the unbelievers music video be released?

😳

How did you get the idea to write music for a play?

eli and scott , the producers, sent me the script for this play, i think they knew how much i loved Kenneth Lonergan's movie Margaret. i read the play in one sitting and immediately said yes!

Hey, big Vampire Weekend fan. Saw you guys in Michigan in June, and you were great! Anyway, what advice would you have for a band just starting out?

learn as much about music as you can but also be ready to forget everything when you need to and just trust your instincts

Matsor, what have you been listening to lately?

human sadness : )

who is one artist that you would LOVE to make a collab with??

kate bush!

Favorite Springsteen song?

atlantic city

What's your favorite food?

arugula !

Hi Rostam, I'm a very big fan! Will the music from "This is Our Youth" be available on iTunes or any other platform? I'm very excited to hear it. Also, have you met Michael Cera yet and is he a strange guy?

figuring out the release schedule... but you'll be hearing music from it very soon. : )

michael is not a strange guy to my knowledge... he's seems like a good dude

what was it like seeing jay z and beyonce live??

AMAZING!