Vampire Weekend is a young rock band. It was formed in 2006. New York was the birthplace of the new trio. It consists of four performers: E. Koenig, K. Thomson and K. Baio, E. Koenig. Their work is associated with such genres as indie rock and pop, baroque and art pop.
Creation of a "vampire" group
The members of this team studied at the same university. The students were students at Columbia University. The guys were connected by music. They were distinguished by their love for African motifs and punk direction. After meeting, the quartet decided to create their own group.
The newly minted group did not think about the name for a long time. Based on a short film by Ezra Koenig. In the future, the guys indicated that the topic of vampirism was designed for Internet users. They understood that many fans of these genres simply would not see their compositions. Accordingly, you need to attract the name.
Work is in full swing
Work on the launch album began immediately after graduation from the university. At the same time, the guys not only did their favorite art, but also worked. In particular, Thomson was an archivist, and Koenig worked at the school. He was an English teacher. At the beginning of the development of the team, the guys had to perform in the immediate vicinity of their university.
The first success came in 2007. "Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa" managed to rise to 67th place in the Rolling Stone rating. Such success was made possible thanks to the hype raised by Internet users. The scandals were connected with the fact that the debut album "Vampire Weekend" hit the net even before the official release. All this led to the fact that the pre-order of the record amazed many experts.
It is worth noting that the team became the best new group of the year according to Spin. At the same time, their photographs appeared on the cover of the March (2008) issue of the magazine. That is, even before the official version of the record appeared.
Australian radio station Triple J conducted a survey among its users. As a result of this, 4 compositions of the band from the 1st album entered the TOP-100 of the best compositions of 2008. More than 800 thousand music lovers took part in the survey.
But the hype around the team brought not only positive. Many critics began to call the artists "white bone". They were considered the offspring of wealthy parents who decided to become musicians. At the same time, they were accused of stealing the ideas of foreign artists.
The experts did not pay attention to the fact that the guys have foreign roots. In particular, Italian, Ukrainian and Persian. They got a place at the university thanks to the grants they won. Koenig said that he had to take out a large loan to study. He has not closed it yet and continues to pay.
Debut album "Vampire Weekend"
The starting work officially appeared on January 29, 2008. "Vampire Weekend" becomes megapopular almost all over the world. First of all, it is necessary to note the 15th line in the UK Albums Chart. In addition, the disc was able to reach 17th place in the Billboard 200.
From this work, the guys release 4 singles. The most popular are 2 tracks. "A-Punk" made it to number 25 on the Billboard Modern Rock Tracks. In addition, the composition takes 55th place in the UK Singles rankings. Rolling Stone gives the 4th line of the rating of compositions of the year. Separately, the success of Oxford Comma should be noted. The track climbs to number 38 in the UK charts.
"A-Punk" sounds in the film "Step Brothers". In addition, it can be heard in "Overage". She was also made the melody for three computer games.
At the initial stage of the development of the group, a mixture of popular music from America and Africa was observed. Koenig has repeatedly stated that the culture of Madagascar serves as a source for the search for ideas. What is not modern, but the one that was popular in the 80s of the last century. The quartet constantly feared that they would be accused of being attached to the fetishization of ethnic motifs. They regularly try to prove that they are not a collective of the African continent.
2010 and record number 2
On January 11, the album "Contra" is released in England. In America, it appeared on January 12. On the same day, the composition "Horchata" hit the net. It was made available for free download. The track "Cousins" was released on 17.10.2009/3/200. American stores sold discs with a bonus CD "Contra Megamelt". This work consisted of XNUMX compositions of the producer from Mexico Toy Selectah. He was engaged in mixing the compositions of the young team. An important event was that the album was able to top the Billboard XNUMX.
The team celebrated with an acoustic concert MTV Unplugged. It took place on January 09.01.2010, 18. In February, the team goes on tour in Europe in general, and the UK in particular. They were the opening act during Fan Death concerts. At this time, on February XNUMX, a new track "Giving Up the Gun" appears. At the same time, a video was filmed for this composition. The video featured artists such as Jonas and Gyllenhaal.
On March 6, the team was invited to take part in the television project Saturbay Night Live. The host was Galifianakis. In addition, it is worth noting that during 2010 the team became a participant in large, large-scale festivals in different countries of the world. They have performed in America, Australia, Spain, Sweden, UK and South. Korea. At the end of the summer they made a tour of the North. America.
On June 7, another single appears. The song "Holiday" became the theme song for Honda and Tommy Hildiger. On June 8, the soundtrack "Jonathan Low" for the film "Twilight" was released.
But it was not without scandals. Photograph of Kristen Kennis was used in the design of the disc. In the summer of 2010, she files a lawsuit. The model is outraged that her photo was used without her knowledge and permission. She pointed out that the photographer Brody was not authorized to give permission for the use of the picture of Kennis for personal gain. The fate of this announcement is not known at this time.
The album "Contra" was nominated for a Grammy. But he could only take 2nd place as the best alternative album.
The third record of Modern Vampires of the City
The guys worked on this disc for a relatively long time. They took a short break, during which they were engaged in solo projects. But already in 2012, they began work on a new disc "Modern Vampires of the City". The members of the trio did not want to disclose the details of future work. They tried to keep all their developments secret. Including did not indicate the themes of future compositions. Separately, it should be noted that on April 26 Rolling Stone publishes information that the band's new disc will be released before the end of the year.
The musicians themselves said that while working on the first discs, they received inspiration from nature. But now the last work is given to them much more difficult. On July 12, the guys release the song "New Song No.2" on the air. But the official release took place on October 31. This composition received the official title "Unbelievers".
Work Vampire Weekend to our time
In 2019, the 4th disc is released. The album "Father of the Bride" was presented on May 3rd.
Experts note that the band's compositions are quite difficult to understand. This applies to both the original sound and translations. The fact is that the guys themselves write the texts for their compositions. In creativity, a large number of metaphors and comparisons are used. All this makes the music of the American trio unique and inimitable.
Critics believe that the surrounding space can give the guys a lot of material for the development of their own creativity. During the recording of songs, different styles and genres are used. They are intricately intertwined and create a unique sound.
Thus, modern popular music is gradually changing. Bands such as Vampire Weekend offer music lovers new genre combinations. At what attention is paid to folklore motifs. They are successfully mixed with existing pop directions.
Now we can confidently say that the team will be able to reflect the reality in the song. They offer a special vision of contemporary problems of the World. Separately, it should be said that not always guys can create tons of musical content. Sometimes you need to take a break and rethink the direction of your own creativity.
In addition, they perfectly demonstrated that in order to develop personal creativity, you need to take full advantage of modern technologies. It was the Internet that gave them a real, strong impetus at the start of their creative career. Even now they do not forget about the possibilities of the network.
