Vampire Weekend have teased a new offshoot project with an “imaginary backstory”.
In a New York Times profile, the band revealed they had created an offshoot project with the remaining founding members Ezra Koenig, Chris Baio, and Chris Tomson. The project began during the summer of 2020, where the band would do weekly jams and recorded “hundreds of hours of music”.
“The world had stopped working and a lot of what we normally do was just not being done,” Tomson said. “There was something about just playing with no expectation — to just play with my two very close friends without an agenda.”
Baio also added: “It’s very rare for people in a band of our size to be alone together. No engineer, no tour manager, nothing like that. It felt like being at the outset of the band again. And we did that for three years and change, whenever we were all in town.”
Koenig further revealed an “imaginary back story” for the band, which he said was “band that came out around 1989, 1990, and they were a little bit too punky for the jam scene and a little bit too jammy for the punk scene. And there’s a little bit of the Minutemen in there.” However, he admitted the band is “still hashing out its sound”, adding: “I don’t want to say too much”.
He also responded to questions about whether the new project could open for Vampire Weekend, saying: “That has been discussed.”
Vampire Weekend are soon to drop their newest record ‘Only God Was Above Us‘, which was described as a “10-track magnum opus”, the “product of five years spent refining, reworking and gradually shaping those lyrical and melodic structures to take Vampire Weekend to a new creative peak.
“The album is direct yet complex, showing the band at once at its grittiest, and also at its most beautiful and melodic.”
The band have previewed a number of singles including ‘Capricorn’, ‘Gen X Cops’ and ‘Classical’. Vampire Weekend have also started up a new podcast called ‘Vampire Campfire‘.
Vampire Weekend have announced a massive US tour to support their new album soon to kick off in April – see tickets here and find all dates below:
Vampire Weekend’s 2024 ‘Only God Was Above Us’ US tour dates are:
APRIL
08 – Austin, TX, Moody Amphitheater (Solar Eclipse) – SOLD OUT
27 – New Orleans, LA – New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival
MAY
10 – Salt Lake City, UT, Kilby Block Party
30 – Barcelona, Espana, Primavera Sound
JUNE
06 – Houston, TX, 713 Music Hall
07 – Irving, TX, The Pavilion at Toyota Music Factory
09 – Phoenix, AZ, Arizona Financial Theatre
10 – San Diego, CA, Cal Coast Credit Union Open Air Theatre
12 – Los Angeles, CA, Hollywood Bowl
15 – Berkeley, CA, The Greek Theatre at U.C. Berkeley
16 – Berkeley, CA, The Greek Theatre at U.C. Berkeley (Matinee Show)
18 – Burnaby, BC, Deer Lake Park
19 – Bend, OR, Hayden Homes Amphitheater
20 – Seattle, WA, Climate Pledge Arena
22 – Bonner, MT, KettleHouse Amphitheater
23 – Bonner, MT, KettleHouse Amphitheater (Matinee Show)
JULY
19 – Morrison, CO, Red Rocks Amphitheatre
22 – Kansas City, MO, Starlight Theatre
23 – Lincoln, NE, Pinewood Bowl Theater
25 – Maryland Heights, MO, Saint Louis Music Park
26 – Chicago, IL, Huntington Bank Pavilion at Northerly Island
27 – Chicago, IL, Huntington Bank Pavilion at Northerly Island
30 – Minneapolis, MN, The Armory
AUGUST
01 – Milwaukee, WI, BMO Pavilion
03 – St. Charles, IA, Hinterland
SEPTEMBER
19 – Cuyahoga Falls, OH, Blossom Music Center
20 – Cincinnati, OH, The ICON Festival Stage at Smale Park
21 – Indianapolis, IN, Everwise Amphitheater at White River State Park
23 – Rochester Hills, MI, Meadow Brook Amphitheatre
24 – Toronto, ON, Budweiser Stage
25 – Laval, QC, Place Bell
27 – Boston, MA, TD Garden
28 – Philadelphia, PA, TD Pavilion at The Mann
30 – Washington, DC, The Anthem
OCTOBER
02 – Charlottesville, VA, Ting Pavilion
05 – New York, NY, Madison Square Garden
06 – New York, NY, Madison Square Garden (Matinee Show)
08 – Wilmington, NC, Live Oak Bank Pavilion
09 – Raleigh, NC, Red Hat Amphitheater
11 – Nashville, TN, Ascend Amphitheater
12 – Atlanta, GA, Cadence Bank Amphitheatre at Chastain Park
13 – Asheville, NC, Rabbit Rabbit
15 – St. Augustine, FL, St. Augustine Amphitheatre
17 – Austin, TX, Moody Center