Vampire Weekend’s Rostam Batmanglij has quit the band.
The musician has decided to leave the group he co-founded in 2006 to launch a solo career.
Although he has walked away from his bandmates Ezra Koenig,
Chris Tomson and Chris Baio Rostam insists he is still friends with them all.
In a post on his Twitter account, he wrote: "Hi – I wanted to let ppl k now i’m no longer a member of VW but that Ezra and I will continue to collaborate on future projects + future VW songs. my identity as a songwriter + producer, I realized, needs to stand on its own, still connected to the ppl I work with, but through the songs we make together (sic)"
The ‘Oxford Comma’ hitmaker has promised he has got lots of new music on the way and is sure he’s about to begin "an exciting time" in his career.
He continued: "I can’t even begin to express the joy I get from writing songs, both on my own + with others, I hold it all sacred. there is so much amazing music – all of it dear to me – on its way to you. It’s an exciting time. and I feel lucky to share it with you – Rostam (sic)"
Despite Rostam’s departure, the remaining Vampire Weekend members are still focused on recording their fourth studio LP.
In a statement posted on his Instagram account, frontman Ezra said: "A couple years ago, Rostam and I sat down at his house & talked abt whether our collaboration was dependent on being members of the same band. We both firmly agreed that nope, it was not. In fact, we agreed that our collaboration was more important. I’m psyched about the work we’ve already begun for LP4 and I’m psyched to hear anything else Rostam is a part of. "Also very excited to continue playing music with CT and Baio but there will be plenty of time to talk about that later in the year. For now in the Vampire Weekend universe, it’s all about recording the next album. There will be a lot of familiar faces in the studio but also some fresh, new ones. Working title is ‘Mitsubishi Macchiato’ … for obvious reasons. Shout-out to the fans who have been waiting for new music – it’s coming. Also tomorrow, we gotta talk abt Iowa. (sic)"
Rostam Batmanglij quits Vampire Weekend
