Ezra Koenig of Vampire Weekend explains how the band have rejected their self-consciously preppy image, in the new issue of Uncut (dated November 2013), out now.

Koenig says the collegiate lifestyle and imagery was something the band were fascinated by, rather than their actual identity.

“We were interested in things that were preppy in an emotional, visceral and intellectual way,” he explains. “I don’t know if people just thought we were being ourselves. It’s not who we were, but it’s something we were fascinated with.

“On every album, we’ve made an ecosystem of the things we’re interested in and set out to involve listeners in that world. Obviously, being interested in preppy things as 29 year-olds would be weird. It would make people think we were a little… stunted.”

In the piece, Vampire Weekend reflect on their impressive trilogy of albums, and wonder whether success has been quite what they imagined it would be.

The November 2013 issue of Uncut is out now.