Andrew VanWyngarden

From HitStory, the pop encyclopedia of School of Rock · Artist

Andrew VanWyngarden is an American singer, guitarist and songwriter, born on 1 February 1983 in Columbia, Missouri, and raised in Memphis, Tennessee. His father was editor-in-chief of the alternative newspaper the Memphis Flyer. As a child he heard him play The Who on an electric guitar. In seventh grade he got a Les Paul of his own. He loved Nirvana and Ween, and at secondary school made parody songs on the computer with Dan Treharne.

Music and breakthrough

At Wesleyan University he studied music and met Ben Goldwasser. Together they formed MGMT, of which VanWyngarden is the singer, guitarist and one of the founders. He writes many of the lyrics. The album Oracular Spectacular from 2008 brought the band fame, partly thanks to the song Kids, which received a Grammy nomination. The band was also nominated for Best New Artist. In 2010 came the album Congratulations, and in 2023 the album Cosmic Dawn.

Influence

Besides MGMT, VanWyngarden worked with Kevin Barnes of Of Montreal in the project Blikk Fang. In 2014 he released a solo track for the surf film Spirit of Akasha, and since 2020 he has hosted a radio programme on WYXR. He is an example of a new generation of pop musicians who combine psychedelia and electronic pop.

Listening

Discography

Studio albums

• 2023Cosmic Dawn (soundtrack)

Mentioned in other articles

• Oracular Spectacular AlbumMGMT became a duo of Andrew VanWyngarden and Ben Goldwasser, who in March and April 2007 were in the studio with producer Dave Fridmann for their major-label debut.