MGMT

Music group

Andrew VanWyngarden

Ben Goldwasser

• Andrew VanWyngarden
• Guitarist and singer

• Ben Goldwasser
• Keyboardist and singer

Contribution: MGMT is an American rock band. The band was nominated for best new artist at the 2010 Grammy Awards after the release of its sophomore album, Congratulations.

Background

MGMT founding members Andrew VanWyngarden and Ben Goldwasser met as freshman at Wesleyan University in central Connecticut in 2001. The duo's first recordings took place in Goldwasser's dorm room. Dubbing themselves the Management, VanWyngarden and Goldwasser began writing songs primarily using a laptop, keyboards, and looping software.

The band's eclectic sound was mirrored by still more eccentric live performances at regional clubs and open-mike showcases. The Management's early shows grew to include the pair singing vocal tracks to their prerecorded loops and the incorporation of a variety of onstage antics, from inflatable stage props to prearranged costumes.

The band's evolution from an art-noise and performance-art group to pop songwriting duo was initially an inside joke between the two, but it ultimately began to garner appeal amid the underground music community because of the peculiar catchiness of its songs. The band also garnered attention for its lengthy, layered, and chaotic cover songs that would sometimes comprise an entire set.

By their senior year at college, the duo had cut back on the antics of their live performance to focus more on songwriting. After graduation the pair began to record in New York City's Park Slope neighborhood, where they independently released their first EP, Time to Pretend.

The release caught the attention of the A&R staff at Columbia Records, which offered the pair a record deal. The two worked on their major-label debut at Tarbox Road Studios, in Cassadaga, New York. Shortening their moniker to Management, the pair ultimately adopted the stylized abbreviation MGMT.

Career

MGMT's major-label debut, Oracular Spectacular, enlisted producer Dave Fridmann, who had previously worked with venerated psychedelic-rock and experimental-rock acts such as Flaming Lips, Mercury Rev, and Mogwai. The album was recorded and mixed in three weeks, utilizing a large amount of instrumental and rhythm tracks compiled by VanWyngarden and Goldwasser during several years of self-recording. The album was released in the United States in October 2007 to favorable reviews. The album also earned considerable critical and commercial success in Europe, where it was lauded as one of the best albums of 2008.

The band supported the release with a schedule of live performances in support of major acts, including Of Montreal and Radiohead, throughout North America and the United Kingdom. The band was also asked to open for Paul McCartney during his two-night showcase at Boston's Fenway Park in 2008, a somewhat unusual pairing that further increased the band's fame.

MGMT's evolution continued with its 2010 sophomore release, Congratulations, as the band abandoned much of the synth-pop styling that had been a hallmark of its earlier work. Fans and critics alike embraced the album for its broad melodic landscapes and layers of acoustic guitar. That year MGMT received two nominations at the Grammy Awards in 2010. The single "Kids," from the pair's debut album, was nominated for best pop performance by a duo or group with vocals, while the band received a nomination for best new artist.

In April 2013 MGMT released the single "Alien Days," a precursor to its third studio album, a self-titled LP released in September 2013. Another extensive tour supporting that record followed. MGMT reached the top twenty on the Billboard album chart, although reviews were considerably more mixed than for their previous two albums. Goldwasser and VanWyngarden subsequently decided the band would go on hiatus.

By 2016 the duo had begun working together again, teasing an upcoming new MGMT album. The first singles appeared in 2017, although the full album, titled Little Dark Age, was not released until early 2018. VanWyngarden and Goldwasser noted the music was largely inspired by social and political currents, especially the results of the 2016 US presidential election. Although the group once again toured in support of the album and reviews were mainly positive, the release generated somewhat less attention than their earlier efforts.

The band released several songs in 2019, including "In the Afternoon" and "As You Move Through the World." Their next album release was a recording of their live performance at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in New York. The November 11, 2022, release coincided with the eleventh anniversary of the band's original performance at the Guggenheim. In late 2023, they released their next studio album, Loss of Life, which featured the singles "Mother Nature", "Bubblegum Dog", "Nothing to Declare", and "Dancing in Babylon".

Impact

MGMT rose from experimental college band to internationally acclaimed indie-pop darling in a matter of less than a decade. The group's acclaim came so fast, in fact, that it preceded the band's ability to even recognize its own identity, which is an amalgam of several genres from different eras of pop and rock music.

MGMT began as a humorous, even sardonic, group, but it harnessed its talent for producing fun, genre-bending pop music, along the way becoming symbolic of the internet-bred overnight success that can make artists in the digital era. The band also showed an independent streak with their refusal to fully conform to pop expectations and their determination to create on their own terms.

Personal Life

MGMT's music was brought to Columbia's A&R staff through a close friend of the band who was interning at the label's New York offices. Many articles on the band noted the unconventional relationship between primary members VanWyngarden and Goldwasser. Especially once MGMT had found success, the two often had little contact with each other aside from writing sessions. By the time they recorded Little Dark Age they were living on opposite sides of the United States and their sporadic collaborations were mostly online. They considered their shared sense of humor and appreciation of the surreal to be their main points of connection.

Bibliography

Browne, David. "MGMT's Space Odyssey." Rolling Stone 14 Feb. 2013: 15–16. Print.

Brydson, Nicole. "'Psychic Pilgrims' MGMT Make It All Look So Easy." New York Observer. Observer.com, 11 Feb. 2008. Web. 6 Sept. 2013.

Grigoriadis, Vanessa. "MGMT." Rolling Stone 29 Apr. 2010: 66–72. Print.

Haynes, Gavin. "The Surreal Success of MGMT: 'I Assumed It Would All Go Away. Like It Was All a Dream.'" The Guardian, 10 Feb. 2018, www.theguardian.com/culture/2018/feb/10/the-surreal-success-of-mgmt-i-assumed-it-would-all-go-away-like-it-was-all-a-dream. Accessed 19 Sept. 2024.

Medina, Jeremy. "MGMT to Open for Paul McCartney: Is This the Weirdest Concert Pairing . . . Ever?" Entertainment Weekly. Entertainment Weekly, 26 June 2009. Web. 6 Sept. 2013.

Petridis, Alexis. "MGMT: 'We got a glimpse of fame and shrunk back.'" Guardian 8 Apr. 2010, Film & music sec.: 3. Print.

Ruiz, Matthew Ismael. "MGMT Announce New Album Loss of Life, Share Video for New Song: Watch." Pitchfork, 31 Oct. 2023, pitchfork.com/news/mgmt-announce-new-album-loss-of-life-share-video-for-new-song-watch/. Accessed 19 Sept. 2024.