Rostam Batmanglij
| Rostam Batmanglij | |
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| Background information | |
| Birth name | Rostam Batmanglij |
| Born | November 28, 1983 |
| Origin | Washington, D.C., United States |
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| Labels | XL |
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Rostam Batmanglij (born November 28, 1983), known by the stage name ROSTAM, is an American songwriter, composer, producer and multi-instrumentalist formerly of New York City-based indie rock band Vampire Weekend and electro-soul group Discovery.
Batmanglij was born to Iranian parents, and grew up in Washington, D.C.. His mother is cookbook author Najmieh Batmanglij while his father is a publisher. His parents are both Iranian and arrived in D.C. in 1983. His brother is independent filmmaker Zal Batmanglij. The two collaborated on the film, Sound of My Voice, which Rostam scored and which Zal directed and co-wrote. Rostam also composed an original piece for piano that was featured in Zal's film The East.
Batmanglij majored in music at Columbia University where Vampire Weekend formed in 2006. "At Columbia, I would study classical harmony in classes and I would study music on my own, and I would try to re-create songs that I love in recordings...that was really how I learned." The name of the group comes from the movie of the same name that bandmate Ezra Koenig and his friends made over summer vacations. Batmanglij produced their self-titled debut album shortly after graduation while concurrently working multiple full-time jobs. He also produced the band's follow up album, Contra, which sold 124,000 copies in its first week and landed atop the Billboard 200 charts. Batmanglij plays guitar, keyboard and sings in the band but also acts as a lyricist and songwriter, co-writing the song "Diplomat's Son" on Contra. Koenig has described himself and Batmanglij as "the two main songwriters in the band."
On March 18, 2013, Vampire Weekend released two songs from their album Modern Vampires of the City, "Diane Young" and "Step". Within two weeks each song had garnered more than 1 million views on YouTube. Music for both songs is credited to Batmanglij and Koenig, and lyrics are credited to Koenig. Modern Vampires of the City is the first Vampire Weekend album Batmanglij did not produce alone; for this record he collaborated with longtime friend Ariel Rechtshaid and the two co-produced the album together. It was released May 14, 2013.
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