MGMT

iMGMT is an American indie rock band formed in 2002 in Middletown, Connecticut by Andrew VanWyngarden and Benjamin Goldwasser. MGMT's live lineup features drummer Will Berman, bassist Simon O'Connor, and guitarist and keyboard James Richardson. MGMT later signed with Columbia in 2006 and released their debut album Oracular Spectacular the next year. After the release of the debut, Richardson, Berman and Matthew Asti joined the core band in the studio for Congratulations, which was released on April 13, 2010. in February 2010 the band wrote worked recorded their 3rd album Untill March 2013 In 2011, they started to work on their self-titled album. It was released on September 17, 2013. The group's fourth studio album, Little Dark Age, was released in February 2018 and marked the end of their contract with Columbia. In late 2019, the band released a new song called "In The Afternoon" as their first fully self-produced single. On June 1 2014 the band worked on their 4th album mgmt relaxed their 1st 3 albums 2007-2014 September 29, 2009 the band was out breaking their 1st sold out tour for groundbreaking bands On March 12, 2010 the band unveiled shows fo their congratulations tour

### Genres

Indie rock, psychedelic rock, synth-pop, psychedelic pop, neo-psychedelia

## Band members

* Andrew VanWyngarden – lead vocals, lead and rhythm guitars, keyboards, bass guitar, drums, percussion (2004–present)
* Benjamin Goldwasser– vocals, keyboards, sampling, rhythm guitar, percussion (2004–present)

**Other members**

* James Richardson (born May 19, 1983) – lead guitar, keyboards, backing vocals (touring musician 2008–present) guitar, percussion, keyboards, additional vocals (studio musician 2009–2010, 2017–2018); drums (2007–2008)
* Simon O'Connor (born November 8, 1994) – bass guitar, backing vocals (touring musician 2017–present)
* Will Berman (born July 21, 1982) – drums, percussion, harmonica, backing vocals (touring musician 2005, 2008–present) drums, guitar, bass, additional vocals (studio musician 2009–2010)

**Former**

* Matthew Asti (born March 10, 1980) – bass guitar, backing vocals (touring musician 2007–2017), guitar, bass, piano, percussion, additional vocals (studio musician 2009–2010)
* Hank Sullivant – guitar, keyboards (touring musician 2007–2008; 2013–2014)

## History

The band first meet in early 2002 the band had release the first EP In 2005 release their smash hit album Oracular Spectular mgmt wrote songs down for their 2nd album In 2008 February 2010 the band recorded 3rd album In April 2010 the band released Congratulations the band March 2011 the band performed new songs the band ran The Congratulations Tour from 2010 - 2012 In 2012 band wanted to release all new songs In September 2013 other band released their Self Titled Album In Early 2018 the band released Little Dark Age in 2019 - 2023 the band took a break from concerts a little

### Formation (2002-2005)

the band first met In February 2002 Ben Goldwasser and Andrew VanWyngarden formed MGMT while attending Wesleyan University during their freshman year. "We weren't trying to start a band," remarked Goldwasser. "We were just hanging out and 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." The band formed under the name *The Management* and released two demo albums, *We (Don't) Care* and *Climbing to New Lows*, under that name. but since the name was already being used by another band, they later changed it to MGMT, a disemvowelment of the original band name. VanWyngarden and Goldwasser graduated in 2005 and toured extensively in support of the Time to Pretend EP released in the same year, opening for indie pop band, *Of Montreal*.

### Oracular Spectacular (2005 – 2009)

In 2006, Maureen Kenny signed the band to Columbia Records. When the band received a call from the A&R department of Columbia Records saying they were interested in their music, they thought it was a joke. The duo recorded with Flaming Lips/Sleater-Kinney music producer Dave Fridmann in 2007 for their major label debut, *Oracular Spectacular*. They performed for the first time in Europe, supporting the band Samantha and The Courteeners at Koko in London, England. 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. In 2005 the band released the first EP

In June 2008, the band supported Radiohead on the Manchester date of their world tour 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, and also played several shows with Beck during his 2008 tour. They also toured Australia with a headlining spot on the Meredith Music Festival line-up. The group played a show at the Virgin Music Festival on the Toronto Islands on September 6, 2008, playing nine songs. They also played the 2008 Street Scene festival in San Diego, California. On February 27, 2009, MGMT performed alongside Spectrum at The Dome in Finsbury Park. MGMT also played another show in Australia at the 2009 Splendour in the Grass Festival. They headlined this music festival along with other well known bands such as Bloc Party, The Flaming Lips, Happy Mondays, and Jane's Addiction. MGMT opened for Paul McCartney, an admitted fan, at Fenway Park in Boston, Massachusetts, on August 5 and 6, 2009. On August 15, 2009, MGMT played in Hamburg, Germany, at the Dockville Festival and performed several songs from their upcoming album, *Congratulations*. MGMT was one of the headlining bands for the Treasure Island Music Festival on Treasure Island in San Francisco, California, on October 17, 2009. The band wanted to last shows

### Congratulations (2009–2011)

the band released a David Bowie Cover of sound and vision In November 2009 ended the [[ The Oracular Spectacular Tour ]] The Band recording the songs for 3rd album that was set to release In September 2013 the band running form February 2010 - February 2013 The Band Began the [[ The Congraultions Tour]] That ran from April 2010 - August 2012 for band on tour forhte writing

*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, California, recording the album with Pete Kember (a.k.a. Sonic Boom), serving as producer/guru, and long-time friend Billy Bennett as engineer. MGMT originally suggested that they might not release any singles from the album. By July 2010, however, four single releases from the album had been confirmed. The album cover art was created by Anthony Ausgang. On March 9, 2010, MGMT released the song "Flash Delirium" for free download on their official website.

MGMT started their Congratulations Tour on April 12, 2010, in San Francisco, California, at The Fillmore. They performed on Saturday Night Live on April 24, 2010, and on the Late Show with David Letterman on May 12 to promote their new album, and on June 11, MGMT played their largest headlining show anywhere in the world with a sold-out, MGMT performed on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon, and on July 23, they were the musical guests on The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson.

On August 25, MGMT released a music video for "Congratulations", the third video of their second album. On October 31, 2010, the band performed for the Voodoo Experience in New Orleans, Louisiana. The band decided to dress as the main characters from Scooby-Doo for Halloween; Andrew dressed up as Daphne and Ben dressed up as Velma. They headlined at Fun Fun Fun Fest which was held at Waterloo Park in Austin, Texas on November 6, 2010. The performance was the last show in the US for MGMT in 2010. Their first 2011 gig was at Mar del Plata, Argentina, in front of a crowd of more than 40,000 on the beach in a free event which they headlined. MGMT began their first Asian tour on February 22, 2011. On September 22, 2011 MGMT performed the Pink Floyd song "Lucifer Sam" during Late Night with Jimmy Fallon's "Pink Floyd Week". October 31 2011 mgmt announced more watt turn songs

### MGMT (Late 2011–Early 2015)

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On April 20, 2013, the band released the studio version of "Alien Days". The band then embarked on a spring tour, followed by fall/autumn and winter tour dates for North America. Following VanWyngarden's shoulder surgery in mid-2013, former touring member Hank Sullivant rejoined the band to play live guitar for the remainder of 2013. The self-titled album was released September 17, 2013. An exclusive early release of the album, along with a full-length music video called "Optimizer", was available from the Rdio music service on September 9, 2013. In June 2013, the band performed at the FireFly Music Festival in Dover, Delaware. They performed at the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival in April 2014 before embarking on a European tour later in June 2014 and performing at the Glastonbury Festival in England. In July 2014, they were nominated for a VMA in the category "Best Editing" for their music video "Your Life is a Lie". After wrapping up touring behind their self-titled album September 26 2014 the band concert in Brazil for the band for their 3rd in old computers in 2006 - 2015 , Goldwasser relocated to LA. In an interview at Falls Festival Marion Bay in 2014, the band announced that they would take a short break and come back stronger with a new sound. the band finished the MGMT Tour ended date tour In November 2014 the band was eyeing that Glee was ending atfer 6 season In March 2015 the band was meeting glee for the final time In January 2015

### Little Dark Age ( April 2015–2019)

On february 15 2015 the band announced for a follow up album for the band wrote a few songa in february 2015Will Berman stated in an interview with *HitFix* in April 2015 that "We've been taking a little break I guess. We've been at it for years at this point. There's more to come." He didn't want to speak for either Ben or On December 20 2015 the band was having a first concert back in Hawaii for the band 1 yeat after they ended their 3rd Tour the band relased millons of new songs at HawaiiConcert In December 2015 Andrew on when there would be a new album from the group. On December 26, 2015, the band tweeted announcing that they would return in 2016. The band began working on an untitled new album in October 2016. On May 8, 2017, the band released a teaser video on Instagram alongside the title of the forthcoming album as Little Dark Age, following a series of cryptic tweets the week prior. The band performed On February 13 2019 in Hawaii at the talk show hosts campaign event for the band campaign event On June 21, the band revealed that their next album had been mastered. On October 17, the band released "Little Dark Age", the title track from their new album and their first single in four years. "When You Die" was released as the second single on December 12, 2017. The third single from the record, "Hand It Over", was released on January 5, 2018.
MGMT admitted that their two previous albums were so poorly received that they thought they could never have reached peak popularity as they had with the release of their first album. Since their separation, the two core members began working long distances on the album via e-mail. *Little Dark Age* was in part shaped by this unique, distanced relationship between the two musicians, who later decided to meet and jointly work together again.
The band has explained that Little Dark Age is both an expression of surprise and dismay to the current political and social climate—particularly the election of Donald Trump as President of the United States—with an occasional reference to their personal lives. Of the election, VanWyngarden stated, "We were like, 'Wow, is it actually possible for the most impossible thing to happen?' [...] Apparently, we were more inspired to write pop music after evil took over the world." Touring guitarist James Richardson also provided inspiration, which resulted in the song 'James' being dedicated to celebrating the band's friendship. The album was released on February 9, 2018, and followed with a North American tour, part of the Little Dark Age Tour. December 21 2017 the band performed for President on December 27 2017 the band performed for President September 15 2019 the band was having performance in Australia part of Little Dark Age Tour the band was sick October 21,2018 the band diced take 4 years off music

### Going independent (2019–present)

On November 22, 2019, the band performed a new song titled "In The Afternoon" in Las Vegas, Nevada. On December 10, a teaser for the studio version of the song was posted on the band's Instagram page. On December 11, "In The Afternoon" was officially released as a single alongside a music video created by the band. The release marks their first after departing from Columbia Records and the first on their independent label, MGMT Records. On March 20, 2020, the band released another new song, titled "As You Move Through The World".
January 18 2021 the band cancelled a Hawaii show due to late hurricane of January 2021 the band debuted 10 songs In January 2021 before going back on concert for 2021 , 2022 and 2023 the band performed for President in January 2021 In Cologne Germany In June 2021, the band released a statement on Twitter and Instagram hinting that they were working on new music. Mgmt had their first concert back On May 13 2023 On April 13 2020 the band had their first concert back in Hawail mgmt had the the concert back in Hawail In April 2020.

## Collaborations

They have collaborated with rapper Kid Cudi, and are featured on the single "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". 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. In 2010 - 2012 during the r production for heir 3rd albu.

During the production of *Congratulations* in 2009, VanWyngarden and Goldwasser met with Lou Reed, the former lead singer and guitarist of The Velvet Underground, about contributing vocals to "Lady Dada's Nightmare". VanWyngarden recalls, "he pretty much said it didn't need it. And then he also talked about how we didn't need managers."

In 2010, they provided guest vocals on "Call from the Bank" on rapper Nipsey Hussle's mixtape *The Marathon*, which would be their last collaborative effort for ten years until 2020, when they contributed vocals to "The Divine Chord" and "Solitary Ceremonies" alongside guitar work by Johnny Marr on electronic group The Avalanches' third studio album *We Will Always Love You*.

In 2012, the group covered "Future Games" by Fleetwood Mac on the tribute album *Just Tell Me That You Want Me: A Tribute to Fleetwood Mac*, produced by Randall Poster. The band had production with 3rd album 2010-2012