James Richardson, lead guitarist for electric, eccentric, psych-pop sensation MGMT, took some time to chat with us about opening for Radiohead, jamming on the festival scene, and turning out the Paradise Rock Club next week.

“Andrew is sick,” says a voice in my phone over background noise and stifled giggles. “This is James. I’m filling his spot for the interview today.”

Initially, I was scheduled to interview Andrew VanWyngarden, one of the original, funky co-founders of MGMT, so I was surprised to be greeted by a replacement. But what a substitute to have.

Richardson, lead guitarist of the indie-psych-rock-pop group, chats like we’re in the back of a bar– not on an overseas phone call during his band’s world tour. MGMT had just touched down at Heathrow airport in London and were on their way to Scotland, where they would bounce between gigs at T in the Park and the Oxegen Festival a day later.

The band has been a main attraction at countless venues this summer, including Coachella, Boneroo and the holy grail of the UK music scene, Glastonbury. With the Paradise Rock Club in Boston slated as their next stop, how does a Rolling Stone “Top Ten Artist To Watch” feel about transitioning from festival crowds to the Commonwealth Avenue scene?

“It’s going to be really refreshing,” Richardson confesses. “I mean, playing the festivals is great and it’s been a lot of fun, but it will be really nice to get back to a familiar, kinda east-coast audience– play some smaller places, you know, that are more intimate and stuff like that. I’m actually really looking forward to getting back.”

MGMT are not Boston virgins; they’ve played The Great Scott a few times in the past. However, this time around, the Brooklyn-based fellas will be carrying much thicker resumes when they get into town for their two-night stand.

After signing with Columbia Records in 2006, MGMT recorded their debut album, Oracular Spectacular, with Flaming Lips producer Dave Fridmann. Since then, they’ve been hailed by critics and fans alike, and opened up for headline acts Of Montreal and Radiohead.

All of this buzz, combined with a refreshing and innovative sound, have transformed MGMT into a must-see band this year for faithful festival-goers around the world. With all of their success playing for large, mud-soaked, outdoor crowds, does the band prefer playing festivals over clubs?

“I have to say, personally—well, it’s kinda like apples and oranges,” Richardson says. “I guess I probably like playing clubs better just cause you’re guaranteed that everybody is there to go see your show, because at a festival, they’re just there to go see everybody and they don’t really know you that much. It’s nice to have a show at night where everybody is going to have a few drinks and they’re there to see you. So, I’d have to weigh on the side of playing the clubs.”

He admits, however, that there are some perks to performing at these huge venues rather than attending them like common festival folk. The biggest, Richardson says, is “being able to watch people from the side of the stage.”

“Festivals can be really, really crazy and hectic and overwhelming, so usually the only place not packed with people and mud is the artist area. It’s very nice, and everybody there is tired so we’re all on the same page about wanting to take it easy.”

Taking it easy? That wasn’t the rock ‘n roll response I had expected, but MGMT is in the middle of country hopping, so maybe they’re in need of some z’s.

But whether you listen to their album, watch clips of their live shows, or do a little background research into MGMT’s groovy existence, it’s obvious these guys know how to have a good time. When I ask if the band has developed any pre-show rituals, Richardson sums up the group’s ethos:

“I guess quite a few,” he giggles. “I think they kinda change from tour to tour, but they’re all pretty strange.”

“Come on, you gotta give me something,” I plead.

“I don’t know, they’re all kinda really inappropriate. But we don’t really have much of anything. We just kinda get together, have a couple of beers and sing stuff together I guess. Yeah, get into the mood.”

One subject that was neither inappropriate nor strange was the night MGMT opened for Radiohead in Manchester. When he talks about chilling with Thom Yorke and company, Richardson sounds more like an awestruck fan than the lead guitarist of a band whose debut album hit number one on the Billboard Top Heatseekers chart.

“It was awesome. They’re incredibly nice people, too, which was cool to discover,” he explains. “We got to hang out with them a little bit. And they were just really, really very sweet. I was mostly just being goofy and going over all these different shows I’ve seen them at and they were just like, ‘Oh yeah, we’ve been to that show,’ ya know? They’re really easy to talk to, so, I don’t know, I mostly talked about really nerdy stuff.”

MGMT’s growing popularity has given Richardson the opportunity to meet some of his other musical idols, too.

“We saw The Brian Jonestown Massacre. I got to meet Will Carruthers; he used to play bass in Spacemen 3 and Spiritualized and now he’s on tour with Brian Jones. He’s sort of a personal hero of mine, so that was cool.”

Despite an invitation to Boneroo and a scheduled tour with Beck in the fall, the musician remains charmingly humble. I ask him to choose an opening band for the Paradise gig and Richardson responds, “I really like The Black Angels a lot. It’d be cool to have them open for us. I don’t know, I feel like we should open up for them.”

With lead singer Andrew VanWyngarden and keyboardist Ben Goldwasser absent from the interview, I decide it’s a good time to get the scoop on some humiliating, behind-the-scenes information about the band. I ask him for the best and worst parts about touring with Andrew and Ben.

“I can definitely answer that! Alright, yeah, this is a good question,” he says.

Just as he starts spilling the juicy stuff, our phone connection dies and I am left with a blank screen and an undying curiosity. I replay the recording and try to squeeze out the beginning of his confession before his voice disappears. Was that something about wild groupies? Or a naked dance party? I can’t tell, dammit.

Truthfully, neither one of those things is mentioned. I just need to keep my distraction-prone mind entertained while I wait for James to be reconnected. A few minutes later, he recounts the ups and downs of touring with Ben.

“Okay, well, the best part of touring with Ben is just that he’s a very, very, very funny guy and he has a very funny taste in music. We kinda share an appreciation of really disturbing and strange music.”

“I know it’s kinda weird,” he says, protecting their bond over grotesque tunes. “We listen to it like dorks. And just his funny demeanor and positive outlook on everything.”

“The worst thing is probably he can get pretty finicky about traveling, like I said, and plans and airports, and when things go wrong, he gets flustered and it’s pretty funny.”

As he finishes the sentence, Richardson back-peddles about Ben’s travel anxiety.

“Actually, I wouldn’t call that a bad thing because it’s pretty entertaining.”

As for frontman VanWyngarden?

“Andrew is…he’s…I can’t think of anything bad about Andrew other than sometimes he smells kinda bad I think.”

Don’t let an occasional odor scare you, though. MGMT’s fan base is growing exponentially, and tracks from Oracular Spectacular, once the fodder of mp3 blogs and underground fan sites, have stormed onto international album charts.

James Richardson says he always wanted to be a character in a rock success story, but describes the recent praise as “a pleasant surprise.”

If all goes according to plan, MGMT will have pleasant surprises of their own in store for the Boston audience next week.

MGMT will play The Paradise Rock Club, 967 Commonwealth Ave., on July 23 and 24. Check in with That Hottness for photos and other goodies from Wednesday night’s show!