Rostam Unveils Early Pre-Vampire Weekend Recording Of ‘Campus’

Rostam has unveiled the original version of ‘Campus’ that dates back to before Vampire Weekend recorded it. You can hear it below.

The former co founder of the New York City group uploaded a video yesterday Thursday February 19 called ‘The Story Of ‘Campus’’. In it, he looks back at how the song first came together before landing on Vampire Weekend’s 2008 self titled debut album.

Rostam handled production on the album and is credited as a co writer on ‘Campus’ with frontman Ezra Koenig.

The clip opens with grainy footage of Koenig and the band playing the track live for the first time at Columbia University in 2006. “The Vampire Weekend version of the song was a kind of adaptation of a strings version that was never finished,” Rostam says, before the video jumps to a performance at Reading Festival 2008.

He then reflects on putting together an early version of ‘Campus’ in his Columbia dorm room. Rostam points to American composer Mark Mothersbaugh, “and many of his Wes Anderson scores”, as a key influence.

Rostam explains how he started “building out the song”, saying: “It was easy for me to just not think too much about what the lyrics should be, and almost embody this character. It removed a lot of my inhibitions.

“I had a vision that I was kind of like pursuing for this strings version of the song.”

That first take of ‘Campus’ is now available to stream and will also be pressed on a limited edition seven inch vinyl arriving May 15. Pre order here.

According to an official listing, 51 per cent of the master recording proceeds from ‘Campus (Original Version)’ will go to Palestine Legal, CHIRLA, Palestine Children’s Relief Fund, and Sudanese American Physicians Association.

Elsewhere in the video, Rostam recalls uploading his original ‘Campus’ to Myspace in the 2000s and mentions that some listeners had “ripped it down” and reuploaded it to YouTube.

“I never really felt like it was finished,” he says. “This year I’m excited to finally release the original version of ‘Campus’.”

In a separate statement, Rostam shared: “I wrote most of this song in December of 2005, we came together as a band a few months later.

“Ezra wrote pretty much all of the lyrics on our debut album, but this song was an exception. I was interested in creating a piece of music that was built around a cello, a kick drum, and a vocal that told a story. Robyn’s ‘Be Mine’ was an inspiration.”

He continues: “From the first time we tried playing it as a band with rock instruments, it happened to work. That was a happy accident, but I always intended for this original version to see the light of day someday.

“The strings in this version were recorded in my dorm room at Columbia in 2006. It’s just one cellist and one violinist that I built up into an ensemble with multi tracking.”

Rostam also mentions “some small differences” in the lyrics compared to the later release, noting he is “sure some people will notice them”. He adds: “I’m happy that version exists and I’m also happy this one is out in the world now, too.”

The artist and producer is preparing to release his upcoming solo album ‘American Stories’ later this year, following 2021’s ‘Changephobia’. Over the years he has also produced for Haim, Clairo, Charli XCX, Carly Rae Jepsen and Maggie Rogers.

Vampire Weekend released their fifth and most recent album, ‘Only God Was Above Us’, in 2024. Rostam officially left the band in 2016, although he has continued collaborating with them in a production role.