Benjamin Nicholas Hunter Goldwasser (born December 17, 1982) is an American songwriter and musician in the
psychedelic rock
Psychedelic rock is a rock music Music genre, genre that is inspired, influenced, or representative of psychedelia, psychedelic culture, which is centered on perception-altering hallucinogenic drugs. The music incorporated new electronic sound ...
band
MGMT
MGMT () is an American indie rock band formed in 2002 in Middletown, Connecticut. It was founded by multi-instrumentalists Andrew VanWyngarden and Ben Goldwasser. Alongside VanWyngarden and Goldwasser, MGMT's live lineup currently consists of ...
, for which he primarily plays keyboards and sings. In 2009, his song "
Electric Feel
"Electric Feel" is a song by the American rock band MGMT, released as the second single from their debut studio album ''Oracular Spectacular'' (2007) on June 23, 2008. The single was released as a 7" and CD single, and later on 12" vinyl. "Electri ...
" (co-written with bandmate
Andrew VanWyngarden
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 s ...
), remixed by
Justice
Justice, in its broadest sense, is the principle that people receive that which they deserve, with the interpretation of what then constitutes "deserving" being impacted upon by numerous fields, with many differing viewpoints and perspective ...
, won a
Grammy Award
The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pres ...
in the
Grammy Award for Best Remixed Recording, Non-Classical
The Grammy Award for Best Remixed Recording, Non-Classical is an honor presented to producers for quality remixed recordings at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony that was established in 1958 and originally called the Gramophone Awards. Honors in sever ...
category.
["What's News." ''Burlington Free Press.'' February 10, 2009.] In 2010, his band was nominated for a Grammy as
Best New Artist
The Grammy Award for Best New Artist has been awarded since 1959. Years reflect the year in which the Grammy Awards were handed out, for records released in the previous year. The award was not presented in 1967. The official guidelines are as ...
and
.
Life and career
Goldwasser was born in
Mishawaka, Indiana
Mishawaka is a city on the St. Joseph River, in Penn Township, St. Joseph County, in the U.S. state of Indiana. The population was 51,063 as of the 2020 census. Its nickname is "the Princess City". Mishawaka is a principal city of the South ...
,
[Couch, Rachel. "MGMT Brings the Quirks on 'Oracular'." ''Daily Cavalier.'' January 31, 2008.] the son of Rachel Hunter and David Goldwasser. He was raised in
Westport, New York
Westport is a town in Essex County, New York, United States overlooking Lake Champlain. The population was 1,312 at the 2010 census.
The town is on the eastern border of the county and is south of Plattsburgh and south of Montreal, Quebec, Canad ...
.
[Pollak, Sally. "A Spectacular Show." ''Burlington Free Press.'' April 12, 2008.] Goldwasser is
Jewish
Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...
on his father's side. When he was eleven years old, he saw
Adrian Belew
Robert Steven "Adrian" Belew (born December 23, 1949) is an American musician, singer, songwriter, and record producer. A multi-instrumentalist primarily known as a guitarist and singer, he is noted for his unusual and impressionistic approach to ...
live in concert, and met guitarist
Rob Fetters
Rob Fetters is an American musician, songwriter, and commercial music composer. He has performed as a guitarist and singer for power pop bands The Raisins, The Bears, psychodots, and has also released solo albums.
Early life
Fetters was born on S ...
backstage.
He began piano lessons with his grandmother and mother, played in his high school's jazz band, and attended a "rock and roll camp" in
Montpelier, Vermont
Montpelier () is the capital city of the U.S. state of Vermont and the seat of Washington County. The site of Vermont's state government, it is the least populous state capital in the United States. As of the 2020 census, the population w ...
.
One of his musical influences in high school was the
electronic
Electronic may refer to:
*Electronics, the science of how to control electric energy in semiconductor
* ''Electronics'' (magazine), a defunct American trade journal
*Electronic storage, the storage of data using an electronic device
*Electronic co ...
protopunk
Proto-punk (or protopunk) is rock music played mostly by garage bands from the 1960s to mid-1970s that foreshadowed the punk rock movement. The phrase is a retrospective label; the musicians involved were generally not originally associated wi ...
band
Suicide
Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Mental disorders (including depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, personality disorders, anxiety disorders), physical disorders (such as chronic fatigue syndrome), and s ...
.
MGMT: 2004–present
Goldwasser met Andrew VanWyngarden, the other half of
MGMT
MGMT () is an American indie rock band formed in 2002 in Middletown, Connecticut. It was founded by multi-instrumentalists Andrew VanWyngarden and Ben Goldwasser. Alongside VanWyngarden and Goldwasser, MGMT's live lineup currently consists of ...
, in his freshman year at
Wesleyan University
Wesleyan University ( ) is a Private university, private liberal arts college, liberal arts university in Middletown, Connecticut. Founded in 1831 as a Men's colleges in the United States, men's college under the auspices of the Methodist Epis ...
.
[Perry, Jonathan. "Year of the Brats." ''Boston Globe.'' February 8, 2008.] Goldwasser was studying Music at the time. While in college, he was a member of the
Eclectic Society, a college
society
A society is a group of individuals involved in persistent social interaction, or a large social group sharing the same spatial or social territory, typically subject to the same political authority and dominant cultural expectations. Socie ...
.
[Black, Cristina. "The Wesleyan Mafia: MGMT, Boy Crisis, Amazing Baby." ''Village Voice.'' August 4, 2009.] He helped run the society's music venue (a room in the house).
Goldwasser, already a keyboardist, took experimental music classes from composer
Ron Kuivila with VanWyngarden which exposed them to progressive musical ideas.
[Lanham, Tom. "MGMT Gets Down to Business at Bottom of the Hill." ''Inside Bay Area.'' January 25, 2008.] They made their debut as MGMT at a party in a college dormitory (playing the theme to the motion picture ''
Ghostbusters
''Ghostbusters'' is a 1984 American Supernatural fiction, supernatural comedy film directed and produced by Ivan Reitman, and written by Dan Aykroyd and Harold Ramis. It stars Bill Murray, Aykroyd, and Ramis as Peter Venkman, Ray Stantz, and ...
'' over and over for hours). The duo would email one another and sign the emails "The MGMT" as a way of satirizing corporate culture.
[Donahue, Michael. "Messin' With People's Heads." ''The Commercial Appeal.'' January 11, 2008.] They chose this email signature line as the name of their new band.
After graduating from college in 2005,
Goldwasser and VanWyngarden moved to
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
, experimenting with music and building a band.
They immediately went on tour, opening for
Of Montreal.
But no record deal came, and the band was on hiatus by 2006. Goldwasser began working on a farm and was intending to move to
California
California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...
when the duo was signed by
Columbia Records
Columbia Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music, Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America, the North American division of Japanese Conglomerate (company), conglomerate Sony. It was founded on Janua ...
.
The band's 2008 release for the label, ''
Oracular Spectacular
''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 ...
'', was a major success. However, the band's sudden success, Goldwasser says, put a serious strain on his friendship with VanWyngarden for a time. The band released its second album, ''
Congratulations
Congratulations may refer to:
Film and television
*'' Congratulations: 50 Years of the Eurovision Song Contest'', 2005 television programme to commemorate its fiftieth anniversary
Music Albums
* ''Congratulations'' (album), an album by ...
'', in April 2010 to generally positive reviews.
Additionally, in 2013, they released their third studio album, self-titled MGMT. In 2014, Ben, along with psychedelic band
Foxygen
Foxygen is an American indie rock duo from Westlake Village, California, formed in 2005. The band consists of multi-instrumentalist Jonathan Rado and vocalist Sam France. They have released six albums and a number of self-released EPs.
History
R ...
was featured on The
Flaming Lips
Flaming may refer to:
* Anything set aflame or on fire
* Flaming (Internet), the act of posting deliberately hostile messages on the Internet
* Flame maple, the striped figures in maple woodwork prized for their beauty
* Fläming, a region in G ...
cover album,
With a Little Help from My Fwends
''With a Little Help from My Fwends'' is the second main album of the "Fwends" series by American rock band the Flaming Lips. It is a track-for-track tribute to the Beatles album '' Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band'', with guest performers ...
, on track 12. In 2021, Goldwasser and
Karen O
Karen Lee Orzolek (born November 22, 1978) is a South Korean-born American singer, musician, and songwriter. She is the lead vocalist for the indie rock band Yeah Yeah Yeahs.
Early life
She was born in Seoul, South Korea, the daughter of a Ko ...
composed the music for the animated film
Where is Anne Frank.
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Goldwasser, Benjamin
1982 births
American rock keyboardists
American rock singers
American rock songwriters
American male singer-songwriters
Jewish American musicians
Living people
People from Westport, New York
People from New York City
People from Mishawaka, Indiana
Psychedelic rock musicians
Wesleyan University alumni
Jewish rock musicians
Singer-songwriters from New York (state)
21st-century American keyboardists
21st-century American singers
21st-century American male singers
MGMT members
21st-century American Jews
Singer-songwriters from Indiana