Watch James Corden Crash Vampire Weekend Singer’s Beats 1 Radio Show
James Corden embarked on a one-man mission to humiliate the Beats 1 staff – including Vampire Weekend frontman Ezra Koenig – in a hilarious “Take a Break” remote segment for Tuesday’s Late Late Show.
The host fumbled his way into a live recording of the indie-rock songwriter’s Time Crisis show, where he tested out the censor’s bleeping skills, initiated an awkward “dead air” challenge and tested out a kooky DJ impression. Seemingly unfamiliar with the concept of Koenig’s program, Corden insisted he play his audience Bobby Pickett’s 1962 novelty song “Monster Mash.” (“How is the lead singer of Vampire Weekend not doing a Halloween special with the Monster Mash?,” he asked – a fair question.)
Corden also badgered Beats 1 host/Apple Music Creative Director Zane Lowe throughout the piece – first with his fake traffic reports, later by interrupting his in-progress interview with DJ Khaled. At one point, he recruited a reluctant and embarrassed Lowe to form an on-air duo, “JC and the Z-Wolf,” complete with goofy wild animal howling in their intro.
Koenig recently spoke to Rolling Stone about his numerous ongoing projects, including Time Crisis, new animated Netflix series Neo Yokio and the next Vampire Weekend LP.
“After this period of smoking weed and making cartoons, I came back fresh,” Koenig said of the upcoming album. “Back to chapter four, feeling renewed. I don’t want to say too much about the sound, but this is the first album I’ll be making in my thirties, and when a band gets to their fourth album, it’s a lot like hitting your thirties and figuring out how to dress: You might love seeing the newest sweatshirt collabs from some brands you like, but at some point you pull it over your head and look in the mirror, like, “Hm. This doesn’t make sense anymore.”