The National

Cincinnati to Brooklyn

Matt Berninger and Scott Devendorf met in 1991 in the University of Cincinnati design program, and formed a lo-fi band called Nancy with Mike Brewer, Casey Reas and Jeff Salem, which made one album. The National itself formed in Brooklyn in 1999 with Berninger, Aaron Dessner, Scott Devendorf and Bryan Devendorf; the Dessners and Devendorfs were childhood friends, and their earlier band Project Nim broke up in 1998. They played free Sunday-night shows at the Luna Lounge on the Lower East Side while holding day jobs.

Aaron and Bryce Dessner write the music and Berninger the lyrics; Berninger's wife Carin Besser has co-written lyrics since Boxer (2007). Bryce Dessner appears on the 2001 debut only as an additional musician and became a full member for Sad Songs for Dirty Lovers (2003), the first record by the five-piece. The band's website, americanmary.com, takes its name from a song on the debut.

Records

The National came out on Brassland, the label founded by the Dessners and Alec Hanley Bemis, on October 30, 2001. After the 2004 Cherry Tree EP and a tour with The Walkmen they signed to Beggars Banquet, which released Alligator (April 12, 2005) and Boxer (May 22, 2007); "Fake Empire" was used in a 2008 Obama campaign video. Alligator sold over 200,000 copies worldwide and Pitchfork placed it 40th among the albums of the 2000s. High Violet followed on May 10, 2010 on 4AD, then Trouble Will Find Me (2013), Sleep Well Beast (2017, which won the 2018 Grammy for Best Alternative Music Album), I Am Easy to Find (2019), First Two Pages of Frankenstein and Laugh Track (both 2023) and the live Rome (2024).

In May 2013 the band played "Sorrow" continuously for six hours at MoMA PS1 with the Icelandic artist Ragnar Kjartansson, a piece called A Lot of Sorrow. Aaron Dessner has produced Taylor Swift's folklore and is half of Big Red Machine with Justin Vernon; Berninger made EL VY with Brent Knopf and solo records, and Bryce Dessner works with composers including Philip Glass and Steve Reich. The Dessners curated the 2009 compilation Dark Was the Night, which raised over a million dollars. The documentary Mistaken for Strangers, directed by Berninger's brother Tom, premiered at Tribeca in April 2013.

Live

Setlist.fm logs about 140 pages of setlists, with the most-played songs "Fake Empire" (877), "Mr. November" (875), "Bloodbuzz Ohio" (730), "Terrible Love" (710) and "Slow Show" (600). They opened for R.E.M. in 2008 and played the Other Stage at Glastonbury and the Montreux Jazz Festival in 2024. The Vincent Moon film A Skin, a Night (2008) was shot during the Boxer sessions. Critics have compared them to Joy Division, Leonard Cohen, Interpol, Wilco and Nick Cave, and Bryan Devendorf names Steven Morris of Joy Division and New Order as his main influence.