Goldwasser was born in Mishawaka, Indiana,[4] the son of Rachel Hunter and David Goldwasser.[5][6] He was raised in Westport, New York.[2][7] Goldwasser is Jewish on his father's side.[8] When he was age 11, he saw Adrian Belew live in concert and met guitarist Rob Fetters backstage.[7] 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.[7] One of his musical influences in high school was the electronicprotopunk band Suicide.[9]
Goldwasser (left) in 2008 with bandmate Andrew VanWyngarden
MGMT: 2004–present
Goldwasser met Andrew VanWyngarden, the other half of MGMT, in his freshman year at Wesleyan University.[10] Goldwasser was studying Music at the time.[11] While in college, he was a member of the Eclectic Society.[12] He helped run the society's music venue (a room in the house).[12] Goldwasser, already a keyboardist, took experimental music classes from composer Ron Kuivila with VanWyngarden which exposed them to progressive musical ideas.[13] They made their debut as MGMT at a party in a college dormitory (playing the theme to the movie Ghostbusters over and over for hours).[14] The duo would email one another and sign the emails "The MGMT" as a way of satirizing corporate culture.[10][15] They chose this email signature line as the name of their new band.[15]
After graduating from college in 2005,[4] Goldwasser and VanWyngarden moved to New York City, experimenting with music and building a band.[13] They immediately went on tour, opening for Of Montreal.[4] But no record deal came, and the band was on hiatus by 2006.[16] Goldwasser began working on a farm and was intending to move to California when the duo was signed by Columbia Records.[15] The band's 2008 release for the label Oracular Spectacular was a major success.[17] However, the band's sudden success, Goldwasser says, put a serious strain on his friendship with VanWyngarden for a time.[18] The band released its album Congratulations in April 2010 to generally positive reviews.[19] Additionally, in 2013, they released their third studio album, self-titled MGMT. In 2014, Ben, along with psychedelic band Foxygen was featured on The Flaming Lips cover album With a Little Help from My Fwends on track 12. In 2021, Goldwasser and Karen O composed the music for the animated film Where Is Anne Frank.
^ ab"What's News." Burlington Free Press. February 10, 2009.
^Sisario, Ben. "Grammys' Weight Is Now Measured In Face Time." New York Times. January 29, 2010; Peerless, Beth. "Neo-Psychedelic/Alternative Pop Band MGMT Plays Santa Cruz on May 29." Monterey County Herald. April 22, 2010.
^ abcCouch, Rachel. "MGMT Brings the Quirks on 'Oracular'." Daily Cavalier. January 31, 2008.