Rostam Batmanglij (Rostam) Talks The Persian Version, Vampire Weekend

The Film Scorer

In this somewhat Halloween-flavored episode, Rostam Batmanglij (Rostam) (ex-Vampire Weekend, The OA) joins the show! Taking a little detour from his solo and collab music, and writing and producing for other artists like Haim, Charli XCX, and Frank, Ocean, Rostam and I primarily talk about his new score for the film The Persian Version. Rostam's score is quite subtle and restrained, marrying ancient Iranian music with Western classical music, as well as some pop and more mainstream musical influences from the last several decades. His score is capped by a cover of Cyndi Lauper's classic "Girls Just Want To Have Fun", featuring some very cool Iranian musical twists. As always, Rostam and I travel along various tangents, including his interest in film music from a young age, his first post-college music gig (with composer Craig Wedren (Yellowjackets, School of Rock)) and how this experience influenced his work on Vampire Weekend, and his Iranian cultural identity.

The Persian Version is available digitally while Rostam's score, and much of his other music, is available on all major platforms. Meanwhile, you can find out more about Rostam on his website.