Rostam Batmanglij is a songwriter, producer, and composer, who first rose to prominence in 2006 as one of the members of Vampire Weekend. He’s produced songs for Frank Ocean, Solange, Carly Rae Jepsen, and more. But his September 2017 album Half-Light is his first as a solo artist. In this episode, Rostam breaks down his song “Bike Dream.” In this episode, he explains how it was influenced in part by bands like T.Rex and Coldplay. But “Bike Dream” began very differently from how it ended up.

You can get “Bike Dream” on iTunes.

Illustration by Carlos Lerma.

For a transcript of this episode, click here.

footnotes
T.Rex – I Love to Boogie
Dave Fridmann
Korg Trident

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The band Ibeyi is made up of twin sisters Naomi Diaz and Lisa-Kaindé Diaz. When they were only teenagers, they were signed to a record deal by Richard Russell, who had previously signed artists like Adele and Vampire Weekend to his label, XL. He also co-produces their records. In this episode, Naomi and Lisa-Kaindé take apart their 2017 song “Deathless,” featuring Kamasi Washington.

You can get “Deathless” on iTunes.

Step inside the stems of “Deathless” with this new project from Song Exploder and Google called Inside Music. Visit g.co/insidemusic on your computer, mobile device, or with your VR headset, and you can experience the song in a whole new, interactive way.

Illustration by Carlos Lerma.

For a transcript of this episode, click here.

footnotes
Miguel “Angá” Díaz
Buena Vista Social Club
Kamasi Washington
Nina Simone

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Maggie Rogers had a breakthrough moment when she was a student at NYU’s Clive Davis Institute. Pharrell Williams visited to her class, and when he heard her song “Alaska,” his reaction was dramatic, and caught on video. The video of Pharrell listening to Maggie’s song went viral, and “Alaska” became a hit, with over 40 million streams on Spotify alone. Maggie Rogers is now playing sold out shows across the country, just a year after graduating. In this episode, Maggie tells the story of what came before that day in class—all the steps and missteps that eventually led to her writing the song “Alaska.”

You can get “Alaska” on iTunes.

Maggie’s Masterclass with Pharrell

Illustration by Carlos Lerma.

For a transcript of this episode, click here.

footnotes
Maggie Rogers – “James”
NOLS Alaska Backpacking Program
Ableton House Racks – Undrgrnd Sounds
Carly Rae Jepsen
Doug Schadt – Producer

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