The record industry is in a state of flux, and it’s running scared. The standard precedents and operating systems are history, and like a dazed fighter in the tenth, the industry has no idea which way is up or down and are just hoping to make it through. In this panicked state, they have resorted to offering huge advances to entice the acts spawned by this new wave to create a reciprocal process of ‘re-branding.’ The acts get cash they need to create, and the established labels gain the kudos and potential success of a credible act with artistic merit and integrity. Of course, for every great band who have made the transition to major label money worth their salt (Klaxons, Hot Chip) there are many who have gotten it horribly wrong (Hard Fi, Razorlight, and many more).

MGMT fall safely into the first bracket. This duo of bright, young, talented and savvy New Yorkers' melodic indie pop references the sonic adventures of Elephant 6 acts such as Olivia Tremor Control, the manic joy shared by Of Montreal or Architecture in Helsinki, the wry bittersweet observation of Stephen Merrit’s Magnetic Fields and the warm orchestrated melody of ‘Canadian Invasion’ acts like Broken Social Scene, Wolf Parade, or Sunset Rubdown. The band was signed by Columbia straight from demo after CMJ last year and their David Fridman (Flaming Lips)-produced debut album Oracular Spectacular is due later this year. psychoPEDIA spoke with the band, Andrew VanWyngarden and Ben Goldwasser, only days before their sold-out Valentine's Day performance at the Music Hall of Williamsburg:

You guys went straight from demo to Columbia. Isn’t that a little like going from the potting shed to the presidential suite?
AV: Nah, not really, their offices are surprisingly boring. We thought that they would be all plush, with fountains and stuff, but they are pretty regular.
BG: Yeah, we were hoping for marble tables and sushi buffets but it was all real standard.

What made you decide to sign for a major when you are such good friends with bands like Of Montreal and Yeasayer who are all signed to resolutely independent labels?
BG: I know this is probably the answer that every band in the history of the world gives to this question, but it’s the truth, so whatever: We just felt that Columbia offered us the greatest artistic freedom.
AV: We walked in there and just said, 'Look, we wanna do this, this and this,' and they were like 'Sure, whatever you like.' We even tried to test them by throwing really outlandish song title and art ideas at them but whatever we suggested they would always be cool with so we decided to just go with it.
BG: People can put way too much store in that whole ‘indie’ credibility thing. I get it, and I respect it, and I love a lot of those bands you mention– we are good friends with some of them– but music should be judged purely on what comes out of the speakers when you put the record on. If we can tour and play music and make music without having to worry about paying the rent, what’s wrong with that? In an ideal world money wouldn’t matter and anyone that wants to should be able to play unrestricted, but that is just not how it goes.
AV: Also, it was never really a big decision to try and sign to a major, it just sort of happened and made sense to us.

Where did the name come from?
AV: It was just a stupid idea we had to try and make Googling us really hard. It is the abbreviation for management, which obviously comes up a lot on the Internet. It worked for a while when no one knew who we were but now if you type in ‘MGMT band’ or whatever it comes straight up– so we kinda failed there.

How long have the two of you been playing together?
AV: God, way too long. Since college. We have played with lots of different people, but to make what we make it now it really has settled as just the two of us.
BG: We have been friends for years and we have played together in various bands doing different kinds of stuff but it was only when we moved to New York from Connecticut that MGMT turned into what it has become.

After a fallow few years New York seems to be kicking out some good young bands again: Yeasayer, Apache Beat, Telepathe, Effi Briest, Vampire Weekend and so on. Do you feel part of any scene?
BG: Well, we are friends with a bunch of those bands and we have played with them all, but what makes New York interesting at the moment is that everyone is really doing their own thing. Everyone digs on each other's bands but no one is watching and ripping stuff off, you know? There are a lot of people doing a bunch of different stuff. No two bands really sound alike. So I guess we are part of a scene in terms of newish bands coming through– but a scene in terms of sound? No, not really.
AV: It is good right now because you can play on a bill and each band will sound totally different. That’s healthy.

Similarly, your sound is pretty wide ranging. How would you describe what you play?
AV: Along with the label thing, I can only really give you the answer you will have heard a million times before, and that is that above anything else we aim to make great pop music. Making a pop song that is both interesting and well-produced is a challenge in itself.
BG: ‘The Perfect Pop Song’: a worthy quest.

Who has influenced you on your pop path?
BG: So many things, but the one that always comes up and that we both agree on heavily is Bowie.

Who would win in a big fight between all of Bowie’s incarnations?
AV: ‘Low’-era Bowie, for sure.
BG: He was a dark motherfucker in those days.

~James Knight

Second photo by qlsap143 via Flickr
Third photo by James Parker via Flickr
Fourth photo by Chess Club via Flickr
Fifth photo by VJ Kim
Sixth photo by Ed Thorn