Andrew VanWyngarden

Last updated
Andrew VanWyngarden
Andrew VanWyngarden 2010.jpg
VanWyngarden performing in 2010
Background information
Birth nameAndrew Wells VanWyngarden
Also known asGentle Dom
Born (1983-02-01) February 1, 1983 (age 41)
Columbia, Missouri, U.S.
Genres Psychedelic rock, neo-psychedelia, indie pop, progressive rock, synth-pop
Occupation(s)Singer-songwriter, musician
Instrument(s) Vocals, guitar, keyboards, bass guitar, drums, percussion
Years active2002–present
Labels Columbia, Red Ink, Cantora Records, MGMT Records

Andrew Wells VanWyngarden (born February 1, 1983) is an American musician. He is the lead vocalist, guitar player and songwriter for the band MGMT, praised for (according to Interview Magazine ) "an uncanny knack for producing pop music that sounds as if it were filtered through a kaleidoscope." [1] One of his (and MGMT cofounder Benjamin Goldwasser's) songs, "Kids" (from the Oracular Spectacular album), received a nomination for the Grammy Award for Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals, while the duo was nominated in the Best New Artist category. [2] [3]

Contents

Biography

VanWyngarden was born in Columbia, Missouri on February 1, 1983, and was raised in Memphis, Tennessee. His father, Bruce VanWyngarden, is the editor-at-large of the alternative newspaper Memphis Flyer . [4] Andrew fondly remembers his childhood years in Memphis, especially fishing and camping with his father. "I've always really liked nature and the ocean. My friends and I would go out with nets and make little aquariums with the creatures we'd find," he said. [5] He was active in YMCA outdoors programs, and the family frequently went canoeing, camping, and fishing. [6]

One of his first experiences with music was listening to his father play The Who song "Pinball Wizard" on his electric guitar with a Fender Twin Reverb amp. [6] In seventh grade, he received a Les Paul guitar and immediately started playing. That same year, he won a contest at Lausanne, playing "Under the Bridge" by the Red Hot Chili Peppers. He was influenced by the music he listened to with his sister, Nirvana and Ween in particular, and often went through his parents' record collection in the attic where he found Neil Young, Bob Dylan, The Rolling Stones, etc. "From then on, all he ever wanted for Christmas was musical instruments; future seasons saw a drum set, a banjo, and a mandolin." [6]

While in high school, he formed a band with Dan Treharne called Glitter Penis, where it was the two of them playing around on the computer "just making songs," VanWyngarden says. They created and recorded parody songs but did not perform live. [7] Later on, VanWyngarden was in a band called Accidental Mersh with future MGMT guitarist Hank Sullivant who would later introduce him to James Richardson, MGMT's future live guitarist. The band achieved local success and fame in and around the Memphis area, and released two albums: The self-titled Accidental Mersh and Mirror Israeli.[ citation needed ] The first album reached the #2 spot on Napster's "Unsigned Bands" chart. The band went on hiatus when most of its members went to college. Andrew invited Ben Goldwasser to play the keyboard for Mersh during the summer of 2002. The band had a weekly gig at Newby's, but the shows were sparsely attended and the band dissolved. [8] In college, he wrote and performed a song called "Super Volcano" for a class. [9]

VanWyngarden attended and graduated in music from Wesleyan University, where he met fellow band member Ben Goldwasser in his freshman year. He said he planned to study the natural sciences of astronomy, but meeting Goldwasser changed his whole life course. He also mentioned studying entomology while in college. It was Andrew who initiated the formation of the group: "[Ben] wasn't really into it. I remember him saying he wanted to do some sort of social work, something noble for a good cause. I was like: 'C'mon, man! Where's your selfish ambition?'" [10] Andrew (according to Q) remembered his University years as something "almost sickeningly idyllic: lots of doing mushrooms in the woods, not a hard graft in the library." [5]

VanWyngarden was on NME's Cool List in 2008 at number 3, just below Jay-Z and Alice Glass. [11]

Andrew came up with the title of MGMT's 2010 album Congratulations while making Oracular Spectacular. He writes a lot of the lyrics for MGMT, he has described the process, "I'd sit down for a few hours and try to do them. Usually, the ideas for the lyrics have been in my head for a while, and that's how I go over them again and again." His favorite song from the album is "Siberian Breaks." [12] In a 2010 interview, speaking of fame and its effects on him, Andrew conceded that to some extent he's turned into a kind of character he was poking fun at in the debut album. "I didn't realize it until now, but it's kind of funny, because the first song on our first album was 'Time to Pretend', which was about the imagined rock star scenario. So, [the song] 'It's Working' is like, "Yeah, we went out there and we did a lot of drugs, and it's not that great". [13]

Side projects

Andrew VanWyngarden is in a project with Kevin Barnes from Of Montreal called Blikk Fang. [14] In October 2014, it was announced that two songs would be released by Blikk Fang in Polyvinyl Records' 4 Track Singles Series for 2015. [15] He appeared in The Heart is a Drum Machine , a documentary film about the nature of contemporary music. [16]

In 2014, he released a solo track entitled "I Just Knew" for the surfing film Spirit of Akasha . He also released a cover of "I'm Alive", a song originally by Peter Howe. [17] [18]

In October 2020, VanWyngarden began hosting a radio show on WYXR called Time Passage. [19]

VanWyngarden mentions Werner Herzog, David Lynch, and Federico Fellini as his favorite directors. [12]

Personal life

VanWyngarden is of partial Dutch descent. [20] He has previously dated models Camille Rowe, Nasrin Leahy, and Andreea Diaconu. [21] [22] VanWyngarden resides in Rockaway Beach, Queens, New York. [23] [24]

In March 2020, VanWyngarden endorsed Senator Bernie Sanders's second presidential bid. [25]

On November 30, 2020, VanWyngarden released the Fanta Se EP under the DJ name Gentle Dom. [26] In January 2021, Gentle Dom released a remix of "All About You" by The Knocks featuring Foster the People. [27]

Discography

With MGMT

Solo as Gentle Dom

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">MGMT</span> American rock band

MGMT is an American rock band formed in 2002 in Middletown, Connecticut. It was founded by singers and multi-instrumentalists Andrew VanWyngarden and Ben Goldwasser.

<i>Oracular Spectacular</i> 2007 studio album by MGMT

Oracular Spectacular is the debut studio album by the American band MGMT, released on October 2, 2007, by RED Ink and physically on January 22, 2008, by Columbia. It was produced by Dave Fridmann and is the band's first release of new content, being recorded from March to April 2007. Promotion for the album started as early as June 2007, when the song "Weekend Wars" was given away in summer issues of free monthly magazine Nöjesguiden in Stockholm, Sweden. Matching CDs could be picked up for free in all stores in three different shopping malls around Stockholm from June 26 to July 31. The album was also promoted with three singles: "Time to Pretend", "Electric Feel" and "Kids". Both "Time to Pretend" and "Kids" were re-recorded for the album; they were originally included on the band's previous release Time to Pretend (2005), with the opening track serving as a "mission statement" and the theme continuing through the album's subsequent tracks.

<i>Time to Pretend</i> (EP) 2005 EP by The Management

Time to Pretend is the second EP by the American rock band MGMT, released on August 30, 2005 by Cantora Records and made available on iTunes. New versions of the tracks "Time to Pretend" and "Kids" were later released on MGMT's debut album Oracular Spectacular (2007–2008). At the time this was recorded they were still known as "The Management".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kids (MGMT song)</span> 2008 single by MGMT

"Kids" is a song by American rock band MGMT. It was released as the third and final single from their debut studio album Oracular Spectacular (2007) on October 13, 2008. The version of the song that appears on Oracular Spectacular is updated from earlier versions that appear on the band's EPs Time to Pretend (2005) and We (Don't) Care (2004). A track entitled "Kids " appears on the album Climbing to New Lows (2005). On December 1, 2009, the track was announced as a nominee at the 52nd Grammy Awards in the category Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals.

<i>Congratulations</i> (album) 2010 studio album by MGMT

Congratulations is the second studio album by American rock band MGMT. It was initially made available for free streaming through the band's website on March 20, 2010, prior to its official release on April 13 through Columbia Records. The album marks a departure from the synth-pop style that brought MGMT acclaim on their debut, Oracular Spectacular, released three years prior, and features a more psychedelic, progressive and guitar-driven sound.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Flash Delirium</span> 2010 single by MGMT

"Flash Delirium" is a song released by the American psychedelic rock band MGMT on their second album Congratulations. It was the first single to be released from the album and was originally referred to as a "taster" before the band abandoned their original plan to not release any singles from Congratulations in order to solidify its existence as a singular body of work. A free digital download of the song was given away on the band's official website. "Flash Delirium" was made available as a digital download from iTunes on March 24, 2010.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Siberian Breaks</span> 2010 single by MGMT

"Siberian Breaks" is a song by the American rock band MGMT, released as the second single from their second studio album Congratulations (2010) as an exclusive release part of Record Store Day on April 17, 2010. It is the longest track on the album and MGMT's second longest song to date, clocking in a minute and a half behind "Metanoia." Andrew VanWyngarden has said that Siberian Breaks is his favorite song on the album.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">It's Working</span> 2010 single by MGMT

"It's Working" is the third single released from the album Congratulations by MGMT. The album covers were made by So Me.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Congratulations (MGMT song)</span> 2010 single by MGMT

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Hank Sullivant is an American rock musician and record producer, who is known for his work as a co-founder of the Athens-based pop rock band The Whigs, his stint as touring guitarist for MGMT, and as leader of the rock band Kuroma.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Benjamin Goldwasser</span> American singer-songwriter (born 1982)

Benjamin Nicholas Hunter Goldwasser is an American songwriter and musician in the psychedelic rock band MGMT, for which he primarily plays keyboards and sings. In 2009, his song "Electric Feel", remixed by Justice, won a Grammy Award in the Grammy Award for Best Remixed Recording, Non-Classical category. 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.

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<i>Late Night Tales: MGMT</i> 2011 compilation album by MGMT

Late Night Tales: MGMT is a mix album compiled by the band MGMT's members Andrew VanWyngarden and Ben Goldwasser and released on October 3, 2011. The album is the 25th in the Late Night Tales series.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alien Days</span> 2013 single by MGMT

"Alien Days" is the first single released from MGMT, the third album by MGMT, which was released as a cassette single on April 20, 2013. VanWyngarden explains the song as the feeling when "a parasitic alien is in your head, controlling things". The music video of this song was filmed by indie director Sam Fleischner, which was the second video released for the promotion of the album.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Little Dark Age (song)</span> 2017 song by MGMT

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">When You Die</span> 2017 single by MGMT

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Me and Michael</span> 2018 single by MGMT

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  25. @awvanwyngarden (March 2, 2020). "Not that I have much influence or anything , BUT I just want to officially endorse Bernie here on this little social media platform. Bernie is the ONLY candidate that can unite the people and start changing the system from the inside out. Biden is a continuation of the status quo" (Tweet) via Twitter.
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