Ezra Koenig, Chris Baio, Rostam Batmanglij and Chris Tomson met while finishing their studies at Columbia University. After Koenig and Tomson collaborated on the hip-hop project L'Homme Run, they founded Vampire Weekend in early 2006. The name was inspired by a short film that Koenig worked on during the summer between his first and second year at university. 
With a mix of indie rock, Afro-pop, ska, hip-hop, 80’s pop and other styles, Vampire Weekend played a crucial role in defining the sound of indie music from the 2000’s onwards. They were the first indie group to reach number one on the Billboard 200 chart twice in a row: Contra (2010) and Modern Vampires of the City (2013), the latter winning the Grammy for Best Alternative Music Album in 2014. Throughout their career, they have added to their repertoire with constantly evolving sounds and ideas, as on Father of the Bride (2019), an album in which they combine jam-rock and psychedelic soul with reflections on the complexities of life in the 21st century. Only God Was Above Us (2024), co-produced by Koenig and Rechtshaid, channeled memories of New York City in the late 1990’s and early 2000’s with their characteristic experimental pop.