Biography

MGMT is an American electronic/psychedelic rock band founded by Benjamin 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.” On November 14, 2007, Rolling Stone pegged MGMT as a top ten “Artist to Watch” in 2008. The band was named ninth in the BBC’s Sound of 2008 Top Ten Poll. They were also named as Last.fm’s most played new artist of 2008 in their Best of 2008 list.

MGMT’s first album, Oracular Spectacular, debuted at No. 12 on the UK album chart, No. 13 after 34 weeks in the New Zealand RIANZ charts, 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 2000s by Rolling Stone magazine. It was named the best album of 2008 by NME. 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”.