10 minutes backstage with Rostam at the Ford

Rostam brought his beauteous and inquisitive caller album, “American Stories,” to the Ford successful Los Angeles connected Saturday night. After the amusement — during which Fleet Foxes’ Robin Pecknold joined Rostam to sing Bob Dylan’s “Don’t Think Twice, It’s All Right” — I caught up with the instrumentalist and erstwhile Vampire Weekend subordinate for a chat astir immoderate of his LP’s themes and inspirations (and besides Coldplay).

One of my favourite songs connected this caller grounds is “Back of a Truck.” Your past medium had —
“From the Back of a Cab,” yes.

Also “4Runner.” And your archetypal grounds had “Bike Dream.” My antheral loves a opus astir a vehicle.
I’m transportationally minded.

Why?
You know, erstwhile I was a kid, I utilized to emotion racing games: Crazy Taxi, F-Zero for SNES. I similar experiencing clip arsenic beingness passes earlier your eyes connected a bike, connected a train, successful a cab, driving, a roadworthy trip. I deliberation I’m idiosyncratic who loves a journey.

What was your archetypal car?
A Mercedes-Benz presumption wagon that was astir 11 years aged erstwhile I got my hands connected it. One unthinkable happening astir it, which was precise utile successful precocious school, was that the way-back had 2 seats that flipped, truthful you could question with 7 comfortably. It was amusive to bash carpools with that car.

Your erstwhile album, “Changephobia,” was built, to my ears, astir the saxophone.
True.

This grounds seems built astir pedal alloy and the saz. Are you a feline who likes to physique a grounds astir 1 sound?
Sometimes I spell successful with a imaginativeness of 1 thought being a portion of each song. One thought I had for this record, adjacent earlier I had the connection “stories” successful the title, was that each opus would beryllium a communicative song. The last merchandise is not that — determination are stories that I archer connected the record, but each opus is not a communicative song. Another thought was that determination had to beryllium Persian euphony connected each song. Ultimately, I’m blessed with however the last merchandise came out, wherever I wasn’t truthful devoted to immoderate 1 sound. I similar making albums that are divers — I don’t deliberation I ever privation to marque a strict conception album.

The medium closes with “The Weight,” which is acceptable connected a assemblage campus. You graduated from Columbia astir precisely 20 years agone successful May 2006. John McCain was a commencement speaker, and helium defended the Iraq war.
I retrieve this present — it’s each coming backmost to me, successful the words of Celine Dion.

Now you’ve got a grounds to immoderate grade astir your Iranian practice successful the midst of a warfare with Iran.
That’s reductive — the cooky doesn’t crumble rather so.

Speak connected it.
I emotion the acquisition that I get to person successful penning songs, wherever I get to accidental everything I privation to accidental and however I privation to accidental it successful the song. I’m ne'er gonna springiness you the fable — I’m ne'er gonna springiness you the cardinal to the buried treasure. I made choices erstwhile I wrote these lyrics, and I did it with thought and care. I don’t privation the opus to lone person 1 meaning. I’d similar to constitute different things — a memoir, abbreviated stories, a caller 1 time maybe. And successful those cases, you don’t get the aforesaid gift.

The acquisition of songwriting is ambiguity?
You get to take your words, and past you ne'er person to accidental precisely what you were thinking.

Nevertheless, the archetypal verse of “The Weight” talks astir a commencement connected a rainy day. If my net probe is correct, it was raining connected your 2006 graduation.
It was drizzling. I retrieve going retired to luncheon with my parents and a person and his parents, and it wasn’t raining truthful hard that we couldn’t person lunch. But, see, this is wherefore —

You get a small tetchy erstwhile it comes to laying retired the meanings.
Having written songs since astir 2006, I deliberation astir what the opus volition beryllium similar oregon however it volition beryllium heard 20 years from now. I conscionable privation it to unrecorded successful this unfastened space.

Let maine deed you with an power that I picked up connected this record: Coldplay’s “Viva La Vida.”
[Silence]

The album, not the song.
Rick Rubin erstwhile said to maine — helium has a mentation astir medium way lists wherever helium thinks that the archetypal 4 songs are wholly crucial. He’ll say, “When person you ever loved an medium that you didn’t emotion the archetypal 4 songs?”

An insane reply to my question.
“Viva La Vida” is an medium that I love, and I don’t emotion the archetypal 4 songs.

You’ve lived for the past agelong successful L.A., but you’ve much precocious been spending clip successful New York. Is “American Stories” a merchandise of Los Angeles oregon of New York City?
I was benignant of finishing the grounds portion I was splitting clip betwixt New York and L.A., but I had beauteous overmuch written astir of it here. But 1 of the songs, “Hardy,” I retrieve that started successful 2012 successful the past flat that I lived successful in New York earlier I near for L.A.

Is L.A. oregon New York a amended euphony town? You person to take — there’s nary squirreling retired of it.
I’m mounting up a workplace abstraction successful New York, truthful fto maine reply you aft that’s up and running.

You benignant of squirreled retired of it.
I’m waiting connected the soft — it’s coming from England.

Rostam successful Los Angeles successful 2021.

(Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times)

Your ma is simply a well-known student of Persian food. What’s the champion happening you tin cook?
Tahdig, which is simply a peculiar mode of making atom wherever you get the bottommost of the cookware to make a crust.

The archetypal photograph that comes up connected Google erstwhile idiosyncratic searches up Rostam —
I don’t privation to know, but sure.

It’s a representation from an L.A. Times profile that I wrote successful 2021. You’re wearing a Metallica “And Justice for All” T-shirt. If you knew past what you cognize present — that that would beryllium the representation that radical find of you — bash you basal by Metallica “And Justice for All”?
I deliberation the things that I emotion astir Metallica are astir apt not needfully what everyone loves astir Metallica. There’s a definite loftiness, I think, to Metallica.

You get heavy into the doctrine of Metallica.
I get heavy into the doctrine of a batch of things successful music. I deliberation it’s portion of the fun.