Vampire Weekend Member Rostam Batmanglij Announces He's Leaving The Band, Will Continue To Collaborate

One of the members of the popular indie-rock group Vampire Weekend is leaving the band, but on apparently amicable terms. In fact, thanks to the promise of more collaborations in the future, it's possible people might not even notice the change.

One of the band’s founding members, Rostam Batmanglij, posted a screencap to Twitter on Tuesday in which he'd written a note to fans explaining that he’ll no longer be a member of Vampire Weekend. Apparently, the songwriter and producer is hoping to branch out and build a brand of his own that people will recognize, but a big part of that brand seems to be collaborations with the band in question.

“My identity as a songwriter + producer, I realized, needs to stand on its own. Still connected to the ppl I work with, but through the songs we make together,” he tweeted. “I can’t even begin to express the joy I get from writing songs, both on my own + with others, I hold it all sacred. There is so much amazing music — all of it dear to me — on its way to you. it’s an exciting time, and I feel lucky to share it with you.”

While it seems clear that Vampire Weekend won’t necessarily be down a member, Batmanglij is certainly no longer going to be identifying himself as part of the band. It makes sense for the well-trained and very successful musician to want to branch out in his career. While being a member of the hit group, his personal website boasts collaborations with Hamilton Leithauser, Jenny Lewis, Charli XCX as well as some solo work. In addition, he’s written and produced music for several short films and according to The Hollywood Reporter, did all the music for the Michael Cera Broadway play “This is Our Youth.”

In other words, while Batmanglij’s biggest claim to fame may be his work on three albums with Vampire Weekend, his career in music is by far much more vast than being a simple member of a hit rock group. However, the announcement does seem somewhat sudden, especially considering that the artist didn’t mention any specific upcoming projects by name in the announcement. Not long after it was posted, the band’s official Twitter page retweeted it. So far, the band and its members have yet to comment beyond Batmanglij's initial note.