New York, 2009 to 2012

Between 2009 and 2012, MNDR went from a MySpace page to the Late Show with David Letterman, and she did it inside the New York scene that later got called bloghouse and indie sleaze. This page traces the run.

Arriving from the Bay

Amanda Warner came to New York from the Oakland experimental scene, where she had played the East Bay warehouse circuit. In 2009 she toured as bassist for Yeah Yeah Yeahs on It’s Blitz!, the band that defined downtown New York rock for a decade. The same year she and producer Peter Wade started MNDR, releasing “C.L.U.B.” on March 24, 2009 and posting songs online as the blogs that ran the era picked them up.

The Brooklyn circuit

By fall 2009 she was playing the Levi’s/FADER Fort at CMJ, then two nights at Mercury Lounge with Neon Indian, which The New York Times reviewed. Early 2010 was a run through the rooms where the scene happened: a FADER party at Brooklyn Bowl, Southpaw with Ebony Bones, Brooklyn Bowl again with Wavves, and These Are Powers’ release party at CoCo 66. She then opened for YACHT across North America, including a sold-out Bowery Ballroom, and played six showcases at SXSW. E.P.E. came out April 6, 2010 on WonderSound Records.

Bang Bang Bang

Mark Ronson heard her on East Village Radio and brought her onto “Bang Bang Bang” with Q-Tip. The single reached No. 6 in the UK in July 2010, and she joined Ronson’s live band, The Business Intl, from the Hackney Empire launch of Record Collection to Letterman on October 11, 2010. Between Ronson dates she headlined Santos Party House and opened Chromeo’s Business Casual tour, including Terminal 5.

Feed Me Diamonds

The blog era’s sound was growing up, and so was hers. The Ting Tings took her on a 26-date tour in spring 2012, with two nights at Webster Hall, and Duran Duran brought her on five US dates that August. Feed Me Diamonds came out August 14, 2012 on Ultra and WonderSound, with a video for “#1 In Heaven” by SSION. Spin ranked it No. 8 on its 20 Best Pop Albums of 2012, and on December 17 she played the title track on Letterman with a drummer and a string quintet. Gossip Girl’s final season used three of her songs.

Why it matters

Most histories of bloghouse and indie sleaze stop at the DJs and the party photos. MNDR was there as a writer, producer and live act, and the songs she made in New York, from “Bang Bang Bang” to Feed Me Diamonds, carried that era’s synth-pop into the pop and hyperpop that followed. See the full live history and the timeline.