Benjamin Goldwasser

Benjamin Goldwasser
Goldwasser playing keyboards in Denver, Colorado, in 2008.
Background information
Birth name	Benjamin Nicholas Hunter Goldwasser
Born	(1982-12-17) December 17, 1982 Mishawaka, Indiana, U.S.
Genres	Neo-psychedelia, new wave, synthpop, art rock
Occupations	Singer, songwriter
Instruments	Vocals, keyboard, synthesizer, guitar, drums, percussion, omnichord, organ, lute, computer
Years active	2002–present
Labels	Columbia Records, Red Ink Records (an imprint of Columbia Records), Cantora Records
Associated acts	MGMT

Benjamin Nicholas "Ben" Hunter Goldwasser^[1] (born December 17, 1982) is a lyricist and musician in the psychedelic rock band MGMT, for which he primarily plays keyboards and sings. In 2009, his song "Electric Feel" (co-written with bandmate Andrew VanWyngarden), remixed by Justice, won a Grammy Award in the Grammy Award for Best Remixed Recording, Non-Classical category.^[2] In 2010, his band was nominated for a Grammy as Best New Artist and Grammy Award for Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals.^[3]

Life and career

Goldwasser was born in Mishawaka, Indiana,^[4] the son of Rachel Hunter and David Goldwasser.^[5][6] He was raised in Westport, New York.^[2][7] Goldwasser is Jewish on his father's side.^[8] When he was eleven years old, he saw Adrian Belew live in concert, and met guitarist Rob Fetters backstage.^[7] He began piano lessons with his grandmother and mother, played in his high school's jazz band, and attended a "rock and roll camp" in Montpelier, Vermont.^[7] One of his musical influences in high school was the electronic protopunk band Suicide.^[9]

Goldwasser (Left) in 2008 with bandmate Andrew VanWyngarden

MGMT: 2004–present

Goldwasser met Andrew VanWyngarden, the other half of MGMT, in his freshman year at Wesleyan University.^[10] Goldwasser was studying Music at the time.^[11] While in college, he was a member of the Eclectic Society, a college fraternity.^[12] He helped run the fraternity's music venue (a room in the house).^[12] Goldwasser, already a keyboardist, took experimental music classes from composer Ron Kuivila with VanWyngarden which exposed them to progressive musical ideas.^[13] They made their debut as MGMT at a party in a college dormitory (playing the theme to the motion picture Ghostbusters over and over for hours).^[14] The duo would email one another and sign the emails "The MGMT" as a way of satirizing corporate culture.^[10][15] They chose this email signature line as the name of their new band.^[15]

After graduating from college in 2005,^[4] Goldwasser and VanWyngarden moved to New York City, experimenting with music and building a band.^[13] They immediately went on tour, starting out in Montreal.^[4] But no record deal came, and the band was on hiatus by 2006.^[16] Goldwasser began working on a farm and was intending to move to California when the duo was signed by Columbia Records.^[15] The band's 2008 release for the label, Oracular Spectacular, was a major success.^[17] However, the band's sudden success, Goldwasser says, put a serious strain on his friendship with VanWyngarden for a time.^[18] The band released its second album, Congratulations, in April 2010 to generally positive reviews.^[19]

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to MGMT.

• Ben Goldwasser at the Internet Movie Database