MGMT

MGMT
Background information
Origin	Brooklyn, New York, U.S.
Genres	Psychedelic pop Neo-psychedelia Alternative rock Psychedelic rock Experimental Rock
Years active	2005–present
Labels	Columbia, Red Ink, Cantora Records
Website	http://www.whoismgmt.com/
Members
Andrew Wells VanWyngarden Ben Goldwasser James Richardson Matt Asti Will Berman

MGMT is an American band based in Brooklyn, New York, consisting of founding members Ben Goldwasser and Andrew VanWyngarden. After the release of their first album, the members of their live band, Matthew Asti, James Richardson and WIll Berman joined the core band in the studio. Formed at Wesleyan University and originally with Cantora Records, they signed with Columbia Records and Red Ink in 2006.

On October 5 2007 Spin.com named MGMT "Artist of the Day".^[1] On November 14, 2007, Rolling Stone pegged MGMT as a top 10 "Artist to Watch" in 2008.^[2] The band was named 9th in the BBC's Sound of 2008 top 10 poll.^[3] They were also named as Last.fm's most played new artist of 2008 in their Best of 2008 lists.^[4]

Their first album as MGMT, Oracular Spectacular, debuted at number 12 on the UK album chart and number six on the Australian ARIA Charts, and hit number one on the Billboard Top Heatseekers chart. It has also been named the 18th best album of the decade by Rolling Stone magazine.^[5] It was named the best album of 2008 by NME.^[6] MGMT also appeared prominently in Australia's Triple J Hottest 100 2008, coming in 2nd with "Electric Feel", 5th with "Kids" and 18th with "Time to Pretend".^[7]

MGMT was nominated for the 2010 Grammy Award for Best New Artist, and their track "Kids" was nominated for Best Pop Performance By a Duo or Group with Vocals.^[8] These are the first Grammy nominations for the band. At the 2009 Grammy Awards, the Justice remix of "Electric Feel" won the Grammy for Best Remixed Recording, Non-Classical^[9]

Their second album, Congratulations, was released on April 13, 2010. MGMT performed at Lollapalooza 2010 in Chicago's Grant Park. They have just been added to the lineup for the well-known Voodoo Experience 2010 taking place over Halloween weekend in New Orleans, LA. It has been announced that MGMT will perform at Fun Fun Fun Fest in Austin, Texas taking place November 5, 6, & 7, 2010.

History

Formation (2005–2006)

Ben Goldwasser and Andrew VanWyngarden formed the band while attending Wesleyan University during their freshman year.^[10] "We weren't trying to start a band", remarked Goldwasser. "We were just hanging out, showing each other music that we liked." They experimented with noise rock and electronica before settling on what Paco Alvarez of Spin calls "their current brand of shape-shifting psychedelic pop."^[11] They graduated in 2005 and toured extensively in support of the Time to Pretend EP, opening for indie rock band Of Montreal.^[12]

The band first started with the name "The Management", but since this name was already being used by another band, they later changed it to MGMT.

Oracular Spectacular (2007–2009)

MGMT performing at Higher Ground in Burlington, Vermont, late 2005

In the autumn of 2006 Maureen Kenny signed the band to Columbia Records.^[13][14] The duo recorded with Flaming Lips/Sleater-Kinney music producer Dave Fridmann in 2007 for their major label debut, Oracular Spectacular.^[15] MGMT opened for Of Montreal on tour in autumn 2007 as a five piece touring band including Matthew Asti (bass), James Richardson (drums), and Hank Sullivant (guitar).^[16] In November 2007 they performed for the first time in Europe supporting Samantha and The Courteeners at Koko in London.^[17] After March 2008, Hank Sullivant left the band to pursue his own band Kuroma. Will Berman joined as the new drummer, James Richardson switched from drums to guitar, and Matthew Asti remained on bass.

The band supported Radiohead on the Manchester date of their world tour^[18] and went on a headline tour of the UK during November 2008, playing at venues such as Manchester Academy and Shepherd's Bush Empire.

MGMT opened for M.I.A. on the Vassar College date of her 2008 tour,^[19] and also played several shows with Beck while he toured in 2008. They appeared at the 2008 & 2009 editions of the Bonnaroo Music Festival.They also toured Australia with a headlining spot on the Meredith Music Festival line-up. They played a show at the Virgin Vestival on Toronto Island on September 6, 2008, playing nine songs off their Oracular Spectacular album. They also played the 2008 Street Scene festival in San Diego. On February 27, 2009 MGMT performed alongside Spectrum at "The Dome" in Finsbury Park. MGMT also added another tour date in Australia at the Splendour in the Grass festival. MGMT is somewhat headlining this music festival with other well known bands, Bloc Party, The Flaming Lips, The Happy Mondays and Jane's Addiction.

MGMT played their first show of 2009 on June 9 in Little Rock, Arkansas. The band Chairlift opened the show. Caroline Polachek joined them for their encore for a cover of the Til Tuesday song "Voices Carry".

On June 11, 2009, MGMT played at Minglewood Hall in VanWyngarden's hometown of Memphis, Tennessee where the band played three songs from their forthcoming album, including the title track, "Congratulations". Later in the week, the band played a late-night gig at Bonnaroo, where they were once again joined by members of Chairlift.

On July 1, 2009, MGMT returned "home" to Brooklyn to play another show at Prospect Park. They played "Congratulations", "It's Working", and "Song for Dan Treacy" from their upcoming album.

On August 2, 2009, MGMT played at the third day of the All Points West Festival, an alternative-rock festival held in Liberty State Park.

MGMT opened for Paul McCartney, an admitted fan,^[20] at Fenway Park in Boston August 5–6, 2009.

On August 15, 2009, MGMT played in Hamburg, Germany at the Dockville Festival and performed several songs from their upcoming album.

MGMT was one of the headlining bands for the Treasure Island Music Festival on Treasure Island in San Francisco, California on October 17, 2009.

MGMT was one of the headlining bands for the 2010 Coachella Festival in Southern California. The event draws nearly 120,000 attendees annually.

Legal proceedings

In May 2009, MGMT settled a legal dispute with the Union for a Popular Movement party headed by President of France, Nicolas Sarkozy. The band received a settlement payment that they plan to donate to a charity to help musicians with similar legal battles. The song "Kids" was used on several occasions without permission (in 2008), at a party conference and in two online videos. The party paid a standard fee of €53 to the French music licensing party, but this license did not cover all uses of the song. The UMP, Sarkozy's political party, admitted that the song had been used without permission and offered a symbolic compensation of €1. The band rejected the offer, claiming it was "insulting".^[21] The band's lawyer commented that "we are dealing with acts of counterfeiting, with infringements of intellectual property."^[22][23]

Congratulations (2010–present)

MGMT's Congratulations was released on April 13, 2010. The band, including Matthew Asti, James Richardson and Will Berman from the live band, spent the summer of 2009 in Malibu recording the album with Pete Kember aka Sonic Boom, ex-Spacemen 3 and Spectrum, serving as producer/guru, and long-time friend, Billy Bennett as engineer. MGMT debuted three new songs titled "Congratulations", "It's Working", and "Song for Dan Treacy" at recent shows.

MGMT performing live at Sasquatch! Music Festival at The Gorge Amphitheatre in Washington in 2010

MGMT originally suggested that they might not release any singles from the album.^[24] By July 2010, however, four single releases from the album have been confirmed. The album cover art for Congratulations was created for MGMT by Anthony Ausgang and the overall design of the packaging is by Josh Cheuse of Sony Entertainment. On Tuesday March 9, 2010 MGMT released the song "Flash Delirium" for free download on their official website. On Saturday, March 20, the band allowed users to stream their new album from their website.

The band stated that they weren't trying to make an album about fame and success but realized it was inevitable as that's all they've been doing for over a year.^[25] The album is expected to be much more commercially successful than the band's first album, having reached number 1 on the iTunes top 10 albums in the UK as well as the USA.

MGMT started their latest tour on April 12, 2010, in San Francisco, California, at the Fillmore theater. They performed on April 23, 2010 at Brown University's Spring Weekend, on April 27, 2010 at Yale University's Spring Fling, on April 30, 2010 at the University of New Hampshire's Spring Climax, and on May 1, 2010 at Fordham University's Spring Weekend. They performed on Saturday Night Live on April 24, 2010 and on the Late Show With David Letterman on May 11, 2010 to promote their new album, and on June 11, 2010, MGMT played their largest headlining show anywhere in the world with a sold-out, 9,500 capacity gig at Morrison, Colorado's famed Red Rocks Amphitheatre.^[26] On June 25, 2010 MGMT performed on "Late Night with Jimmy Fallon", and on July 23, 2010, they were the musical guests on the "Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson".

On August 25, 2010 MGMT released "Congratulations" the 3rd and last music video for their album Congratulations.

Discography

Albums

• Climbing to New Lows (2005)
• Oracular Spectacular (2008)
• Congratulations (2010)

EPs

• We (Don't) Care (2004) (as The Management)
• Time to Pretend (2005)

Singles

• "Time to Pretend" (2008)
• "Electric Feel" (2008)
• "Metanoia" (2008)
• "Kids" (2008)
• "Flash Delirium" (2010)
• "Siberian Breaks" (2010)
• "It's Working" (2010)
• "Congratulations" (2010)

Collaborations

• Kid Cudi  – Pursuit of Happiness (2009)
• Flaming Lips  – Embryonic ("Worm Mountain") (2009)

Media appearances

All across with the Internet Movie Database.^[27]

Television

"Flash Delirium"
"Destrokk"
"The Youth"
"Electric Feel"
"It's Working"
"The Handshake"
"Song For Dan Tracey"
"Time to Pretend"
"Congratulations"
"Brian Eno"

Movies

Video games

Collaborations

They have recently collaborated with up-and-coming rapper Kid Cudi, and are featured on one track – "Pursuit of Happiness" from his album Man on the Moon: The End of Day. For the 2010 MTV VMA's Kid Cudi was nominated for Best Hip-Hop video for "Pursuit of Happiness" a track which features MGMT and Ratatat. They also collaborated on the track "Worm Mountain" on The Flaming Lips' Embryonic.

On September 4, 2009, Beck announced his second Record Club covers album, Songs of Leonard Cohen. MGMT contributed, alongside Devendra Banhart, Andrew Stockdale of Wolfmother and Binki Shapiro of Little Joy. Andrew VanWyngarden chose the album.^[29]

Band members

• Andrew VanWyngarden – lead vocals, guitar, keyboards, bass, drums (2002–present)
• Ben Goldwasser – vocals, keyboards, synthesizers, drums (2002–present)
• Matthew Asti – bass, backing vocals (2008–present)
• James Richardson – lead guitar, backing vocals, keyboard, drums (2008–present)
• Will Berman – drums, backing vocals (2005, 2009–present)

Former live members

• Hank Sullivant – guitar, backing vocals (2006–2008)

Awards and nominations

References

External links

• Official website
• MGMT's Congratulations Website
• MGMT, "Congratulations" by Billboard