LOCAL
BEAT
“THERE’S A UNIVERSAL HUMAN FEELING OF NOT LIVING UP TO OUR FULL POTENTIAL.”
{BY ANDY MULKERIN}
INTO THE FIRE Matthew Firek and Andrew Wilds took the long way around to get to their new project, Fire K Studios, a full-service recording studio in Baldwin. The South Hills natives and lifelong friends spent some time in State College — where they began to experiment with recording — and Wilds took a job as a firefighter (which he still holds). “It’s actually an ideal job,” says Wilds. “A firefighter’s shift — we’re on for 24 hours, then off for 72 hours, so that creates a lot of free time to be at the studio if need be. They actually work really well together.” Wilds and Firek played in bands together during high school and college, then went their separate ways for a bit, only to reunite in State College in 2007, when Wilds moved there. They built a home recording setup, and things began to grow from there. When Wilds got a job offer from the Pittsburgh Bureau of Fire, the pair’s plan began to come together. “In a way it worked out; it was then that we decided we’d open a commercial studio here in Pittsburgh,” Firek says. “We took all the equipment we’d gathered over those years and put it together in one place here.” Fire K doesn’t specialize in one genre, says Wilds — “We were primarily a rock band, and worked with rock and metal, but we’ve grown to handle anything. Matt’s pretty good with hip hop and electronic music. The studio is big enough [that] we can work with anything, even classical; we both have a classical background.” They also offer recording for voiceovers and podcasts, and can accommodate bands that want to rent practice space. On Thu., Dec. 5, Firek and Wilds open Fire K to the public for an open house — an opportunity to check out the facilities and chat with the engineers. In addition to demonstrations and food and drink, Christopher Hannigan will perform.
“A FIREFIGHTER’S SHIFT CREATES A LOT OF FREE TIME TO BE AT THE STUDIO.”
AMULKERIN@PGHCITYPAPER.COM
FIRE K STUDIOS OPEN HOUSE. 6-9 p.m. Thu., Dec. 5. 5001 Curry Road, Suite 3. Free. 412-655-3030 or www.firekstudios.com
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{BY STOSH JONJAK}
“W
E ARE trying to process the feeling of being confused and overwhelmed,” says MGMT’s Andrew VanWyngarden. “And not overwhelmed by band experiences, but by life experiences. The themes of the [new] songs get into existential problems and bigger issues that affect everyone, and not just us.” As these themes suggest, VanWyngarden just like you and me. In fact, he spent some of his formative years growing up in Wilkinsburg, went to McEwen Elementary (a now-defunct school in Shadyside), and even almost lost his prized Pirates hat when it slipped out of his hand and into centerfield during an early-’90s Pirates game. “I had to convince the usher it was mine instead of Andy Van Slyke’s,” he says. “But I got it back.” Unlike you and me, VanWyngarden is the frontman of a popular, successful band — making the existential musings intriguing, a thematic departure from the humor-and-irony-driven ascent of the band’s initial surge to stardom. On MGMT’s new self-titled full-length,
PITTSBURGH CITY PAPER 11.27/12.04.2013
G N I D N R R A U T INW {PHOTO COURTESY OF MIGUEL VILLALOBOS}
Ground rule: MGMT
gone are the days of sunnier psychedelic dance pop, that earlier, broadly popular era punctuated by ironic and humorous gold singles “Time to Pretend” and “Electric Feel,” and the platinum, world-breaking ode to the comforting longings of nostalgia, “Kids.” Founding members VanWyngarden and Benjamin Goldwasser have chosen to descend toward creating structure-defying, gauzily-produced and heavily layered songs
MGMT
WITH KUROMA 7 p.m. Mon., Dec. 2. Stage AE, 400 North Shore Drive, North Side. $32.50-35. All ages. 412-229-5483 or www.stageae.com
with existential themes: the end of civilization (“Mystery Disease”), alien invasion (“Alien Days”), self-examination (“Your Life Is a Lie”, “Introspection”). There is an integrity behind this inward turn and continued experimentation: Instead of shamelessly attempting to re-create the past’s ironic success, MGMT chose to get serious. In the early 2000s, Van Wyngarden and
Goldwasser were slumming in the dorms of Wesleyan University, making funny sounds with old synthesizers, hosting “concerts” consisting of friends sitting in a circle and being weird. An EP of jokey pop songs released on the small indie Cantora Records seemed to serve as the peak for another obscure college act only their friends would remember. But in fact — that EP found its way to the ears of Columbia Records, who declared the group worthy of a record deal. Next came collaborating with star producer Dave Fridmann and recording an album, Oracular Spectacular, that, on the strength of its ironic and humorous songs sold 900,000 copies in an era where albums don’t sell 900,000 copies. The band’s first hit single, “Time to Pretend,” comically trumpets: “Let’s make some music, make some money, find some models for wives.” The ultimate irony is how prescient the song turned out to be. But success was overwhelming. MGMT’s second album, 2010’s Congratulations, was a personal reaction to being thrust into stardom. Humor and irony are replaced by an intimate sensitivity. CONTINUES ON PG. 26