Rostam Batmanglij

I am a very big fan of Brian Eno, of his work as an artist and making his music, and as a…

— Rostam Batmanglij

I tend to use different microphones, different mic techniques, and different recording mediums - like analogue tape - that evoke multiple eras…

— Rostam Batmanglij

I think the music that speaks to me the most is music that is personal. And that's the music that I'm trying…

— Rostam Batmanglij

I've always been very good at helping other people finish their songs.

— Rostam Batmanglij

The most exciting songs to me are the unlikely hits, when you think, 'I love this, but why is it on the…

— Rostam Batmanglij

Even though I've been making electronic music since I was 14, it's hard for people to see you as a producer with…

— Rostam Batmanglij

It's always my mission to try to do something that hasn't been done before, whether that's musically, lyrically or in terms of…

— Rostam Batmanglij

There's a line in the Arthur Russell documentary where his partner talks about how Arthur is really interested in process. He never…

— Rostam Batmanglij

The first Vampire Weekend record was the first full-length album that I produced.

— Rostam Batmanglij

Classical music can be catchy, so can African instrumental guitar music. It's not just pop songs that are catchy. Rhythms can be…

— Rostam Batmanglij

Because of who I am, and how open I am, there's something inherently political about just writing love songs.

— Rostam Batmanglij

I've always had a complex relationship towards my identity as an American.

— Rostam Batmanglij

When my mom was pregnant with me, my parents moved from France to America.

— Rostam Batmanglij

You want the personality of each performer - whether it's singing or bass or drums or piano - to be intact. In…

— Rostam Batmanglij

I thought it would be interesting to play classical music on rock instruments.

— Rostam Batmanglij

I want to live in a world that is less white supremacist, straight supremacist, male supremacist.

— Rostam Batmanglij

I'm trying to get to a point where I tell people, if you want to get in touch with me, please don't…

— Rostam Batmanglij

One of the things that we talked about was this idea of 'Memento Mori' - like the reminder of our own mortality…

— Rostam Batmanglij

I always want to be somewhat uncomfortable. But at the same time I want to make music that you react to viscerally.

— Rostam Batmanglij

As a kid I had gone to New York a handful of times with my family. I definitely think it planted a…

— Rostam Batmanglij

I feel like when I was in college I was listening to the Walkmen a lot and I actually have a memory…

— Rostam Batmanglij

There's a bunch of rules that I want to break. I have a rule-breaking streak.

— Rostam Batmanglij

Yeah, I'd always wanted to do a song with finger-picked, nylon-string guitar.

— Rostam Batmanglij

I had no problem working for 15 hours straight when I was producing someone else, but I couldn't do it with my…

— Rostam Batmanglij

I can pass as a lot of things: people meet me and don't think I'm gay and speak about gay people in…

— Rostam Batmanglij