Stoking the anticipation for its fifth studio LP further, Vampire Weekend have launched Vampire Campfire, a new podcast dedicated to the band’s history, process, meditations, meanderings and more. Hosted by Ezra Koenig, Chris Baio and Chris Tomson, the new series uses a trio of Ikegami ITC-730AP cameras to provide a panoramic view into one of the band’s most sacred traditions – the regular fireside chats by which its members brainstorm its future. This series–which Koenig reveals had been planned for years but “never really clicked until we added the primordial element of FIRE”–will be released on a semi-regular basis for the foreseeable future, up through the April 5 release of Only God Was Above Us.
The first episode of Vampire Campfire, titled “The 4th Wave of Ska,” weaves through a broad range of subjects in the course of its 37-minute runtime. Doing “what people have been doing for millions of years,” Ezra, Baio, and CT broach such topics as their earliest intentions as a band, their preferred gym music, a potential future album called The 40-Year-Old Email, lively debate on The Real World vs. Road Rules and the pitfalls of the pre-release press circuit, particularly the limiting potential of identifying influence. This latter strain gave rise to a special reading from Koenig, whose “little poem of influences” afforded a strong impression of what drives the pioneering band after nearly two decades as indie rock’s frontrunners; read the impressionistic litany below.
Just after the long-awaited release of Only God Was Above Us, Vampire Weekend will stage a special solar eclipse show at Austin, Texas’ Moody Amphitheatre on April 8. With this, the group will launch into its nearly sold-out 39-date Only God Was Above Us Tour, which will conclude with a return to Austin’s Moody Center on Oct. 17. Read more about this massive run here.
Beyond the podcast, today’s dispatch informs fans of a third preview single set to release next week, following “Capricorn” and “Gen-X Cops,” which dropped on Feb. 16. To listen to the first two tracks from Only God Was Above Us and stay up to date on Vampire Weekend’s action-packed album build-up, visit vampireweekend.com.
The first episode of Vampire Campfire is available in audio on all streaming platforms and with video via YouTube.
