The National

The National
Matt Berninger (2007)
Background information
Origin	Cincinnati, Ohio; Brooklyn, New York
Genres	Indie rock Post-punk revival
Years active	1999–present
Labels	4AD, Beggars Banquet, Brassland
Website	americanmary.com
Members
Matt Berninger Aaron Dessner Bryce Dessner Bryan Devendorf Scott Devendorf

The National are a Brooklyn-based indie rock band formed in 1999 in Cincinnati, Ohio. The band's lyrics are written and sung by Matt Berninger in a distinctive, deep baritone. The rest of the band is composed of two pairs of brothers: Aaron and Bryce Dessner and Scott and Bryan Devendorf. Aaron plays guitar, bass and piano, Bryce plays guitar, Scott plays bass and guitar, and Bryan is the drummer. Padma Newsome, from sister band Clogs, often contributes strings, keyboards, and other arrangements and instrumental flourishes. Influences range from Bruce Springsteen to Joy Division.

History

Beginnings

When the band was formed in 1999 by a group of Ohio friends, it was called The National (although the domain name of the band's website is americanmary.com because, according to an interview with Better Propaganda, "[i]t's a song off our first record. We never thought of changing the (website) name, although we should have."^[1] Several of the members continued to work day jobs throughout the early years, being involved in New York's dot-com boom in the late 1990s. Their first self-titled album The National was eventually released in 2001 on Brassland Records, a label founded by band members Aaron and Bryce Dessner, along with their friend Alec Hanley Bemis. Their debut album launched the band's career, as they had performed few live shows before its release.^{[citation needed]} The release was followed two years later by another album, Sad Songs for Dirty Lovers. In 2004, they released the Cherry Tree EP which included live favorite "About Today" and "All the Wine" which would also appear on their next record.

Signing to Beggars Banquet and breakout

In 2004 the band quit their jobs and moved to a new label, Beggars Banquet Records, because the process of running their own label was becoming "too complicated".^[2] Their first album on this label, Alligator, was met with much critical acclaim and featured highly in "Album of the Year" charts in the LA Times, Insound, Uncut, and many other publications.^[3] The album allowed the band increased exposure.

Their latest album, Boxer, was released on May 22, 2007, and has also received widespread critical praise.^[4] The album features contributions from various guest artists including Sufjan Stevens and Doveman (aka Thomas Bartlett). It received #2 best album of the year by stereogum.com and #1 album of the year by Paste Magazine.^[5] Their song "Fake Empire" from Boxer was featured on NBC's new series, Chuck, and Southland, the CW's One Tree Hill in its current fifth season and the 2008 film Battle in Seattle. In addition, their song "Start A War" was featured on the tenth episode of the international science fiction series "Defying Gravity".

In the summer of 2008, along with Modest Mouse, they opened for R.E.M. on the promotional tour for the new R.E.M. album Accelerate. That summer they also played many festivals in North America and Europe, including Coachella, Sasquatch, Glastonbury, Haldern Pop, Rock Werchter, Optimus Alive!, Oxegen, Benicàssim, Lowlands, O2 Wireless, T in the Park, All Points West, and Lollapalooza.

On December 17, 2008, The band released a letter to members of their mailing list letting it be known that they were in the beginning stages of recording a new album and it could be expected some time in late 2009 or early 2010. During a Pitchfork interview in late March of 2009, Aaron Dessner said the album was still unnamed though lightheartedly suggested it would start with a "C" in the tradition of their previous two albums ^[6] Tracks that have been performed live, to be featured on the album, are "Wake Up Your Saints," "England," "Blood Buzz, Ohio," "Vanderlylle Cry Baby," "Believe Me" (earlier called The Blue Sky and A Thousand Black Cities), and "Karamazov" (a reference to the novel by Fyodor Dostoyevsky called The Brothers Karamazov, a favorite of the band's members) which has also been known as "Runaway."

On February 17th, 2009, an album titled Dark Was the Night was released by 4AD, and was produced by Aaron & Bryce Dessner and is a 31-track compilation to benefit the Red Hot Organization. It also contains a new song by The National titled "So Far Around the Bend". In the same year, The National collaborated with St. Vincent to contribute a cover of Crooked Fingers' "Sleep All Summer" to the Merge Records compilation Score! 20 Years of Merge Records: The Covers!.

The National contributed a track to Ciao My Shining Star: The Songs of Mark Mulcahy, a forthcoming album in support of the former Polaris frontman, who lost his wife. They covered Polaris's track "Ashamed of the Story I Told", from their album Music from the Adventures of Pete & Pete.

Political and Social Support

The band threw their support behind Barack Obama's presidential candidacy in 2008. In July of that year, the band designed and sold a t-shirt featuring Obama's image above the words "Mr. November", a reference to both their song from Alligator and the month of the U.S. presidential election. All proceeds were donated to Obama's campaign.^[7]

Their song "Fake Empire" was used by the Obama campaign at many high-profile events during the election. On August 28, 2008 "Fake Empire" was used as the soundtrack for a video shown at Invesco Field during the Democratic National Convention.^[8] On November 4, 2008, "Fake Empire" was again used as part of a video shown in Grant Park prior to Barack Obama's victory speech on election night.^[8]

On October 16, 2008, The National played a rally for Barack Obama on Fountain Square in their hometown of Cincinnati. Buses for early voting were available before the show to take voters to the Hamilton County Board of Elections.

On February 3rd, 2009, The National played at a benefit show for Philip Glass' Tibet House at New York's Carnegie Hall.

On February 17th, 2009, Dark Was the Night, the twentieth Red Hot Organization compilation, was released. Curated by Aaron and Bryce Dessner, this album comprised songs by bands such as Yeasayer, The Dirty Projectors, Feist, The National, among others. All proceeds from album sales were donated to the Red Hot Organization which is an international organization dedicated to fighting AIDS.

On May 3rd, 2009, Aaron and Bryce Dessner curated a concert for Dark Was the Night at Radio City Music Hall in New York City. Performers included David Byrne, The Dirty Projectors, Feist, The National, among others.

On 26 October 2009, it was announced on 4AD's website that profits raised by the compilation for the benefit of AIDS/HIV awareness and prevention amounted to £423,212 ($668,358), a sum that represents all the profits from worldwide sales for the first half of 2009. John Carlin was quoted as saying "Dark Was the Night encapsulated the spirit and creativity of a new generation of musicians whose work struck a chord and got people to actually purchase the album and raise hundreds of thousands of dollars to fight AIDS."^[9]

Discography

Albums

• The National (October 30, 2001)
• Sad Songs for Dirty Lovers (September 2, 2003)
• Alligator (April 12, 2005)
• Boxer (May 22, 2007) U.S. #68^[10]
• Untitled Album To be released Spring 2010 ^[11]

EPs

• Cherry Tree EP (July 20, 2004)
• The Virginia EP (May 20, 2008)

Singles

• "Abel" (Beggars Banquet Records, March 14, 2005)
• "Secret Meeting" (Beggars Banquet Records, August 29, 2005)
• "Lit Up" (Beggars Banquet Records, November 14, 2005)
• "Mistaken for Strangers" (Beggars Banquet Records, April 30, 2007)
• "Apartment Story" (Beggars Banquet Records, November 5, 2007)
• "Fake Empire" (Beggars Banquet Records, June 23, 2008)

Film and home video

• A Skin, a Night (May 20, 2008) by Vincent Moon

References

External links

• Official band website
• The National at MySpace
• The National on 4AD
• The National on Brassland Records - Brooklyn, NY-based record label started by The National's Aaron & Bryce Dessner and writer Alec Hanley Bemis.
• Listen to Live Recordings of the National
• Podcast of The National's 2008 Lollapalooza performance

Interviews

• 2009 Interview with Matt Berninger - Sixeyes Interview w/ Matt B.
• 2008 The National Interview at Bandega.com
• Video Interview with Matt Berninger: "What is really important to you?"
• Cornell Daily Sun interview with lead singer Matt Berninger
• The National's Matt Berninger Interview w/ The Scenestar - June 2007
• Matt Berninger Interview 1 - *Sixeyes Interview w/ Matt Berninger
• Matt Berninger Interview 2 - 3:AM Interview w/ Matt Berninger
• Matt Berninger Interview 3 - *Sixeyes Interview w/ Matt Berninger - BOXER 2007
• The National article June 2007
• Interview with Gothamist
• Interview in Kruger Magazine
• Matt Berninger interview with The Pop Cop