With their brooding arrangements and signature baritone vocals, the National have secured cult status in indie music circles. Behind the voice and lyrics is frontman Matt Berninger, who co-founded the now-beloved Brooklyn rock band in his 30s after deciding to quit his career in advertising.
Berninger teamed up with bassist Scott Devendorf, who he had met at university, his brother Bryan Devendorf, and twins Aaron and Bryce Dessner in 1999, and the group released their eponymous debut album two years later. Their success grew steadily over the following years, and by 2005 they had all quit their day jobs, signed with Beggars Banquet and put out Alligator, their third album – and first to meet with mass critical acclaim. Now 24 years into their career, the band have eight albums, two EPs and a Grammy award to their name, and are one of the indie world’s biggest live draws.
Over the last decade, Berninger has also pursued other creative endeavours beyond the band. He has worked with Booker T Jones, Phoebe Bridgers and Fiona Apple, and written lyrics for the soundtrack of the musical film Cyrano alongside his wife, Carin Besser, a former New Yorker fiction editor. In 2020, he released his debut solo album, Serpentine Prison. But his connection to the National remains strong: later this month, the band will release their ninth album, First Two Pages of Frankenstein, written after he experienced a period of depression and writer’s block. It is, my National-obsessed colleague swears, their best since 2010’s High Violet – or even possibly, whisper it, 2007’s fan-favourite, Boxer.
Berninger will answer your questions when he sits for the Guardian’s Reader Interview next week. Maybe you’re curious about his struggles with the new record – which features guest appearances from Sufjan Stevens, Bridgers and Taylor Swift. (Swift might as well be the sixth member of the band at this point, following her acclaimed collaborations with Aaron Dessner.) It contains a song called New Order T-Shirt, about your partner wearing your beloved band shirt: is he a Movement guy or more of a Power, Corruption & Lies man? Was it being surrounded by siblings in his band that drove him to forge a co-writing partnership with his wife? Maybe you’re intrigued about his experiences singing the National song Sorrow for six hours straight as part of an artwork by Icelandic mischief-maker Ragnar Kjartansson.
Post your questions in the comments below by noon BST on Monday 17 April. Berninger’s answers will be published online and in our Film & Music section on 21 April.
