Top 100 interview: Vampire Weekend (No. 5)
Vampire Weekend started out having a pretty good year. And then it just kept getting better.
The band was already gaining major buzz when it released its self-titled debut, but then the blogosphere seemed to explode with positive reviews for its African- and pop-influenced sound. (They rank at No. 5 on my list of the Top 100 People of 2008.) Songs like Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa and Oxford Comma became breakout hits, and the group spent the year touring the world.
This week, I chatted with drummer Chris Tomson about VW's experiences and its plans for a follow-up record:
Me: Hey, Chris. Where are you right now?
Tomson: Right now I'm in my apartment in Greenpoint, Brooklyn. We just finished touring on Sunday, so we returned home on Monday and are quite giddy about the possibility of a couple weeks off.
So you don't have to work on New Year's Eve?
We talked about that, but then we kind of figured that we'd played a couple hundred shows this year, and it would be OK if we took that night off.
So I guess you've already heard this Hot Chip/Peter Gabriel cover of Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa. What do you think of it?
Yeah, well, I remember the genesis of that. (Laughs) Actually, I use that word ... that wasn't very clever, but I guess it turned out to be. I remember we didn't meet him, but Peter came to one of our shows in London in May, and I guess he enjoyed the song. We obviously had a thing, like, "Please, if you have any interest whatsoever, feel free to do what you want." And then Hot Chip got involved.
I feel like I heard a version of it a couple months ago, and for whatever reason, it kind of got held up. But I guess it finally got cleared up, and we were finally able to meet Peter for real a couple weeks ago at a charity thing in New York. So yeah, we were very excited about the concept. And when we heard it, it was exciting.
What did you guys say to each other when you met?
It wasn't a personal, really get-to-know-each-other audience. But we had a good little chat, and he talked about how he enjoyed what we were doing and wished us the best. Obviously, we're big fans.
We're talking today because you guys are one of my top people of the year. Who were some of the most interesting people you met in 2008?
Well, a lot of people you meet, and it's a small-talky situation. But we met a lot of cool and interesting people when we played Saturday Night Live -- that was just very, very exciting. We had just come home from a European tour. And I'm not sure if this happens with everybody, but we found out (we were going to be on the show) five or six days before.
I remember as we were doing the camera run-throughs on Saturday, looking up at the empty audience and seeing this guy that looked very familiar. It turned out that Paul Simon actually checked us out for the rehearsals. He's very good friends with Lorne Michaels and has appeared there many times. So that was very exciting, and he was very gracious and sat with us when we were eating dinner for 10, 15 minutes. So I remember that being very surreal.
Do you have a favorite moment of the year? I'm guessing that ranks up there.
Definitely playing SNL was a real treat and an unexpected thrill. But I think a mental image that I'll remember forever, no matter what happens, is when we played Glastonbury, which is kind of the biggest in number of festivals in Europe. You know, we're playing at 2:30 in the afternoon or something. Kind of a grayish day. And you walk out onstage, and there's, like, 40,000 people there, and that's a very weird feeling.
Not to sound too hokey, but I remember recording a lot of the drum parts on this album in my friend's basement, or I remember Ezra (Koenig) recording the vocals in my apartment where I'm sitting now. And then to go out and play these songs for a ridiculous amount of people was very ... you're kind of in the moment, you're concentrating, you're trying not to f--- up, but then when you get offstage and look at that crowd, it was incredible.
So are you tired of playing songs from your album yet? Are you ready for new material?
Well, I'm physically very tired. I think I developed tendonitis at the end of this tour! But in certain ways yes, in certain ways no. I think we have been playing a lot of these songs for two and a half, almost three years now. We've had a great time playing the shows and getting to go all over the world, but I definitely think that a year and a half (of touring) is probably good. We are excited to use the other half of our brain and play, rehearse, write, record, whatever, in the studio. We're starting in January, and we'll see how it goes.
Obviously, your band dominated many music blogs this year. Do you read any blogs?
It depends. I'm the least Internet-inclined of Vampire Weekend. I think when we started out, it's very exciting the first time you see your name or your face on websites. But very quickly, it becomes apparent that there are so many people that have the ability to interface and react to your music that, inevitably, a lot of people are gonna hate it, some are gonna like it. That's just the way it goes. I think we learned early on to not put too much stock or really search it out.
What were some of your favorite albums this year?
There are a couple records definitely that I have listened to that I have enjoyed, one being from our friends Ra Ra Riot, whose album called The Rhumb Line came out in August. We knew how long they'd been working on it, and it was really exciting to see them get a release date and have people react positively to it. Another one that was big for me -- and this might've been one of the few physical CDs that I bought this year -- was The Walkmen's You & Me. That album is awesome from start to finish.
What are some of your goals for 2009? I'm assuming the new album tops the list.
Yeah, I believe so. The last time we made an album, you know, was after work, we'd go to our friend's place or to my apartment and then go back to work the next day. So I'm very interested to see what it's like to have rehearsing, recording writing being your ... well, probably not 9 to 5, but let's say 11 to 6.
The goal is to get it out sometime late next year. We don't have much, if any, touring planned for the first five, six months of '09, and I think, hopefully, we can get it done in that time.
Well, I hope next year goes just as well for you as this year did. If I were you, I'd be exhausted.
Like I said, my body is starting to break down a little bit. ... But last night I went to see Neil Young at Madison Square Garden. And I was looking at him and looking at his band and thinking, "I feel I'm tired, right? We've been touring and working hard. But this dude's been touring for, like, 45 years." Maybe when I'm his age, then I'll have some right to say I'm tired. I'm 24, I had a great time this year. I would pay to do this. But we've been lucky enough and people like the album enough that I've been able to go all over the world.
I'm excited to get back in a room with these four guys. I think we can still do interesting stuff.