No matter how successful your band is, there must always be a whiff of awkwardness about playing your music to your father-in-law, leaving yourself open to vaguely cold inquiries such as “is that the chorus?”, “not my sort of thing but not bad” and “and this is your full-time job, this ‘band’?”. Now imagine being Vampire Weekend’s Ezra Koenig, whose father-in-law is none other than mega-successful super-producer and songwriter Quincy Jones. Gulp!
Speaking to this writer back in 2019, ahead of the release of Vampire Weekend’s fourth album Father Of The Bride, Koenig said he hadn’t yet plucked up the courage to have a listen-along with the dad of his wife, the actress Rashida Jones. “I saw him last week and he was like, ‘When are you gonna come play me stuff?” Koenig said. “I really should cos I’d like to… he’s such a sweet guy and it’s so amazing to spend time with him, but it’s also one of those things where I say to Rashida, “Does he really want me to come play him the album or is he just being nice to me, like some son-in-law type thing?” She’s like, “No, you should!” and I’m always like ‘…Alright’. It’s that funny mix of fear and whatever.”
