Andrew VanWyngarden

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Andrew Wells VanWyngarden (born February 1, 1983) is an American musician best known as the lead singer, guitarist, and co-founder of the band MGMT. The group burst onto the scene with indie and psychedelic sounds and earned a Grammy nomination for their song “Kids” and a Best New Artist nomination for MGMT.

He was born in Columbia, Missouri, and grew up in Memphis, Tennessee. His father, Bruce VanWyngarden, was the editor-at-large of the Memphis Flyer. Andrew loved nature and outdoor adventures and was inspired by listening to his father play guitar. He started playing in seventh grade after receiving a Les Paul guitar, and he soaked up music from Nirvana, Ween, Neil Young, Bob Dylan, and more.

In Memphis, he formed the duo Glitter Penis with Dan Treharne, making music on the computer. He later joined a band called Accidental Mersh with future MGMT guitarist Hank Sullivant. The group found local success and released two albums. VanWyngarden attended Wesleyan University, where he studied music and met Ben Goldwasser in his freshman year. He helped start MGMT, convincing Goldwasser to join.

MGMT released its breakthrough album Oracular Spectacular, and VanWyngarden wrote many of the lyrics. The duo’s creativity and unusual style helped them gain fans and industry attention. The band later released the album Congratulations in 2010. VanWyngarden has called some MGMT songs reflective of the singer’s own experiences with fame, noting how their early themes about rock stardom evolved as they grew.

Beyond MGMT, he has collaborated with Kevin Barnes of Of Montreal in the project Blikk Fang, and has appeared in the documentary The Heart Is a Drum Machine. He also released solo material, including the track I Just Knew for the surfing film Spirit of Akasha and a cover of I’m Alive by Peter Howe. In 2020, he started a radio show on WYXR called Time Passage.

VanWyngarden has Dutch ancestry, has dated several models, and in recent years has spoken about his personal life, including marriage and having a daughter. He lives in Rockaway Beach, Queens, New York. He also supported Bernie Sanders in the 2020 presidential race. In late 2020, under the DJ alias Gentle Dom, he released the Fanta Se EP, and in 2021 he released a remix of All About You by The Knocks featuring Foster the People.