Rostam on the Paul Simon song that changed his life

Bullseye with Jesse Thorn

NPR

Society & Culture

4.7 • 2.7K Ratings

🗓️ 27 August 2021

⏱️ 17 minutes

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Summary

The Song That Changed My Life is a segment that gives us the chance to talk with some of our favorite artists about the music that made them who they are today. This time around we're joined by singer songwriter Rostam. He got his start as a member of Vampire Weekend. He produced the band's first three records, including some of their biggest hits. He's since left the band but keeps busy producing. He collaborated on a record with Hamilton Leithauser of the Walkmen in 2016, followed that up with his solo debut, and produced the acclaimed Haim record Women in Music Pt. III. Rostam joins us to talk about The Coast by Paul Simon. Rostam explains how the song helped him visualize and produce the first Vampire Weekend album. Plus, he'll shares a story about the time he met Paul Simon when the band performed on SNL. Rostam's second solo album Changephobia is out now.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	Bullseye with Jesse Thorn is a production of MaximumFun.org and is distributed by NPR.
0:22.3	It's Bullseye, I'm Jesse Thorn, time now for the song that changed my life, where we invite
0:26.9	musicians to tell us the story behind the song that changed their life.
0:32.0	This week our guest is Rostem.
0:34.4	Rostem is a singer and songwriter.
0:36.2	He got his start as a member of the band Vampire Weekend.
0:39.8	He produced that group's first three records, including some of their biggest hits. Rostem
0:59.5	left the band in 2016, not just to go solo but to change things up and diversify his work.
1:06.1	He collaborated on a record with Hamilton Lighthouseer of the Walkman in 2016, followed that
1:11.9	up with his first solo record and produced the acclaimed time record Women in Music Part
1:18.0	3.
1:18.0	This summer Rostem released his second solo album, Change of Fobia, is a laid back romantic
1:39.6	pop record.
1:57.4	When we ask Rostem about the song that changed his life, he picked a Paul Simon song.
2:02.3	It's called The Coast.
2:04.0	The coasty is a track from Rhythm of the Saints, which Simon released a few years after
2:08.9	Graceland.
2:09.9	A lot of critics consider Graceland to be Simon's masterpiece, but as Rostem tells it the
2:15.9	coast is a much more rewarding listen.
2:18.8	Okay, here we go.
2:20.2	Rostem on the song that changed his life.
2:26.0	Hi, I'm Rostem and this is the song that changed my life.
	...

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