Vampire Weekend frontman Ezra Koenig has undoubtedly divided a few opinions, going on the record to claim that he believes rock music is dead.
No matter who you ask, you’ll likely uncover that the status of rock music is a contentious topic. In fact, while bands like Bring Me The Horizon have criticised the genre’s state, others like Nick Cave, have echoed this sentiment by saying rock music “needs to die for a while”.
On the other side of the coin though, Slipknot’s Corey Taylor has stuck up for the genre, while Slash has claimed that Greta Van Fleet are the future of the style.
However, if there was one name we wouldn’t have expected to see criticising the current status of rock music, it’s Ezra Koenig. As the frontman for New York City indie outfit Vampire Weekend, the band’s music is often classified as “indie rock”, though they don’t share the same riffs or crushing choruses you’d expect from a band within the rock scene.
In a recent interview ahead of their performance at Glastonbury this weekend, Koenig spoke to The Guardian to discuss a number of topics, including the group’s absence from recording, and how musical tastes have shifted from indie-rock to alternative R&B during this time.
“For a lot of people participating in music then, that was a stressful time, an existential crisis,” Koenig explained. “But a few years later, the vibe was not so much this big existential question, because to me there’d been an answer.
“Is rock dead? Yes. Are guitar bands relevant? Not particularly. And I enjoyed the straightforwardness of that.”
Despite this opinion, Ezra Koenig looked towards the fashion industry, noting the industry feels much more honest and straightforward than that of the music scene.
“There’s no question about cycles,” he explained. “How come the person who did the same thing year-to-year is not getting the same praise as the person who changed things? Because that’s how it works.
“How come the person who is bringing back something from 20 years ago is getting praise? Because that’s how it works.
“The gods aren’t showing much favour to guitar music, but that makes playing guitar scales at home even more kind of joyful and cool to me.
“It’s pretentious to say, but there’s a line from [Roman philosopher] Cato that I always liked: ‘The winning cause pleases the gods, but the losing cause pleases Cato.’ And I’m like: I feel you Cato!”
In related news, Vampire Weekend recently paid tribute to some Australian icons, performing a cover of Crowded House’s ‘Don’t Dream It’s Over’ at an American concert.
Check out ‘Sunflower’ by Vampire Weekend:
