Ezra Koenig
Ezra Koenig

Some people say video games rot your brain, but I think they work different muscles that maybe you don't normally use.

Ezra Koenig
Ezra Koenig

I went to Columbia University because I knew I wanted to go to a school that was academically rigorous. I prided myself on getting good grades, but I also hated it.

Ezra Koenig
Ezra Koenig

Growing up listening to rap music, you almost feel like you should have haters. That's an important part of being a successful musician. It's a good thing, I guess.

Ezra Koenig
Ezra Koenig

Well, growing up in the '90s, my first true love was ska music.

Ezra Koenig
Ezra Koenig

I remember the first pangs of stress arriving at the end of school. Once I graduated I had to get a full-time job, worry about health insurance, saving money, paying rent - things I'd never thought about before.

Ezra Koenig
Ezra Koenig

I still think that if you're excited about something, you have to work at it.

Ezra Koenig
Ezra Koenig

I like how Ralph Lauren creates a mystical world through his clothing.

Ezra Koenig
Ezra Koenig

There aren't that many people walking about who are a total class stereotype.

Ezra Koenig
Ezra Koenig

I'm a huge fan of the Bay Area so I always love coming to San Francisco.

Ezra Koenig
Ezra Koenig

My dad grew up in a working-class Jewish neighbourhood, and I got a scholarship from my dad's union to go to college. I went there to get an education, not as an extension of privilege.

Ezra Koenig
Ezra Koenig

If kids and teenagers can get into a band, it's probably not because they think it's brainy.

Ezra Koenig
Ezra Koenig

Sometimes you want to dress a certain way... that doesn't always reflect your pedigree.

Ezra Koenig
Ezra Koenig

I grew up listening to Jay-Z, and I think the first time I really became obsessed with learning and thinking about lyrics was when I started listening to rap; I was 11, 12, and started becoming aware of music beyond the familiar.

Ezra Koenig
Ezra Koenig

I do think sometimes there's danger in guest appearance mania. I've seen too many examples that sound cool on paper, like 'Oh, get that guy to sing the hook on that guy's song,' and then that's all it is. It's a cool idea that sounds good on paper.

Ezra Koenig
Ezra Koenig

It's pretty cool that people will pay for something even though they don't have to. It's totally different now to back in the day. Now you're paying for a record because you believe in the band. In the future that will be the only time people will pay for albums, because there's some kind of connection.

Ezra Koenig
Ezra Koenig

Rapping and singing are not two polar opposites. There's so much middle ground. And I think there's a lot of people who find that middle ground.

Ezra Koenig
Ezra Koenig

I'm pretty sure that the Walkmen are the band that I've paid to see the most in my life.

Ezra Koenig
Ezra Koenig

It's so easy for anyone to deal with their own guilt of being a middle-class white music fan by pointing to other people who they perceive to be richer than them, whiter than them.

Ezra Koenig
Ezra Koenig

My dad has a really great record collection that basically went up to the year I was born: 1984.

Ezra Koenig
Ezra Koenig

In Europe, I always have fun bike riding in Amsterdam.