Photo:
Vampire Weekend have spoken out about being divisive, saying that they are not the first band to inspire that reaction.
In a new interview with The Guardian, frontman Ezra Koenig has said that a lot of bands believe there's a 'reward' for being hated, but that being in a band should be about making music instead.
When told that they seem as though they're finally having fun, Koenig responds by saying, "It's true. Because, ultimately, there is a myth that you believe that if you can weather all these storms, deal with the hype and the hate, that you'll end up in a magical place where you finally made it, you're stable and everyone loves you. I think a lot of musicians believe that in the back of their minds.
"But really, you're not weathering a storm to gain a reward; you already got that. It's making music people give a fuck about, being hated and loved at the same time. We are not the first band in history that were divisive."
Vampire Weekend: determined not to take criticism to heart
The Vampire Weekend frontman also went on to say that getting mad at the criticism they receive would be 'like getting mad at the weather', despite the fact that he felt that press were underestimating the band.
"You can't read it all, or dwell on it," he explained. "It's part of nature. It would be like getting mad at the weather. A lot of people wanted to talk about us; they just didn't figure out what they wanted to say. If you read a lot of that press, it was meaningless and hollow."
Way back in 2010: Check out Vampire Weekend impressing fans at Brixton Academy
