Rostam Batmanglij makes live solo debut in New York

It’s Batmanglij’s first gig following his departure from Vampire Weekend

Rostam Batmanglij played his first solo gig since leaving Vampire Weekend earlier this year.

On Sunday, Batmanglij performed at McCarren Park in Brooklyn for Northside Festival, as the support act for Brian Wilson. He was joined by Deradoorian and Wes Miles of Ra Ra Riot and accompanied by dancers and a string quartet. The set featured songs by Discovery (Batmanglij’s collaborative project with Miles) as well as solo material.

Rostam & Wes perform as Discovery for the first time…7 summers after their album came out.

A video posted by kris irving chen (@krisirvingchen) on Jun 12, 2016 at 5:20pm PDT

 

String quartet, some gentle sound, beauty + movement from #Rostam feels pretty fine #nside @matsor

A video posted by Aparna (@aparnamuk) on Jun 12, 2016 at 5:00pm PDT

Advertisement

In January, guitarist and keyboardist Batmanglij announced on Twitter that he was leaving the Washington band to pursue a solo career.

In a statement, he said that while he was “no longer a member” of Vampire Weekend, he would still “continue to collaborate on future projects” and “future Vampire Weekend songs” with frontman Ezra Koenig.

The musician said that his departure will allow his “identity as a songwriter and producer” to “stand on its own”.

“I can’t even begin to express the joy I get from writing songs, both on my own and with others, I hold it all sacred,” the statement continued.

“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”.

In the past few months, Batmanglij has released his first solo single, ‘Wood’ and another new song titled ‘Gravity Don’t Pull Me’, both under his first name.

Advertisement

Batmanglij’s label, XL Recordings, has promised that the latter track will be one of a “collection of singles” the artist intends to drop in 2016.

Meanwhile, Haim recently revealed that they have been working with Batmanglij on their second album, due out in autumn.

You May Also Like

Advertisement

TRENDING

Advertisement

More Stories