MGMT
Ben Goldwasser and Andrew VanWyngarden formed the band while attending Wesleyan University during their freshman year. "We weren't trying to start a band," remarked Goldwasser. "We were just hanging out and showing each other music that we liked." VanWyngarden named Talking Heads and Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark (OMD) as artists who are "definitely in [their] blood". They experimented with noise rock and electronica before settling on what Paco Alvarez of Spin calls "their current brand of shape-shifting psychedelic pop." In 2002, the duo attended the inaugural Bonnaroo together as fans. The band formed under the name The Management and released two demo albums, We (Don't) Care and Climbing to New Lows, under that name; but since the name was already being used by another band, they later changed it to MGMT, a disemvowelment of the original band name. While at Wesleyan, they were schoolmates of Francis and the Lights, with whom they have since toured. VanWyngarden and Goldwasser graduated in 2005 and toured extensively in support of the Time to Pretend EP released in the same year, opening for indie pop band of Montreal.