Princeton (band)
Encyclopedia
Princeton is an indie pop
band from Los Angeles
, United States
. The band consists of twin brothers Jesse (guitar
, vocals
) and Matt Kivel (bass
, vocals), Ben Usen (keyboard
) and David Kitz (drums). Princeton has gained notoriety for their live performances, usually supporting high-profile indie
acts such as Vampire Weekend
, The Ruby Suns
and Ra Ra Riot
.
, California
. Jesse and Matt Kivel, along with childhood friend Ben Usen, started playing music together in the late 1990s
but officially formed the band in 2005, during a year long academic stay in London, which found the three reunited for the first time since parting ways for college.
Due to the steep costs of shipping their instruments overseas, the group was forced to perform live with a very limited musical setup, but the often-harrowing conditions of their London shows forced them to develop a finely tuned live act. The members of the band were each influenced by London in different ways; Jesse found interest in Virginia Woolf
, Matt discovered John Cale’s
Paris 1919
and the writings of John Maynard Keynes
, and Ben briefly pursued a career in international finance
. Despite having limited musical resources, the band recorded and self-released a record entitled A Case of the Emperor’s Clothes in 2006.
Bloomsbury, a conceptual record
about the group of British intellectuals
.
Princeton has received numerous positive reviews for their music, earning mentions from Spin
, Stereogum
and The New York Times
among others. They have also gained popularity from supporting a number of popular acts, including Au Revoir Simone
, Vampire Weekend
, Saturday Looks Good to Me
, Le Loup
, The Ruby Suns
, My Brightest Diamond
, Grand Ole Party
, Joan As Policewoman, Cryptacize
, Phoenix
, and Ra Ra Riot
.
, Princeton's debut album, was released September 29, 2009, on Kanine Records
. The first single to be lifted from the album, Shout it Out, was released August 25, 2009. The band now reside in the Eagle Rock
district of LA, where the album was recorded and produced. They are currently on tour with Camera Obscura.
Indie pop
Indie pop is a genre of alternative rock music that originated in the United Kingdom in the mid 1980s, with its roots in the Scottish post-punk bands on the Postcard Records label in the early '80s, such as Orange Juice, Josef K and Aztec Camera, and the dominant UK independent band of the mid...
band from Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
, United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. The band consists of twin brothers Jesse (guitar
Electric guitar
An electric guitar is a guitar that uses the principle of direct electromagnetic induction to convert vibrations of its metal strings into electric audio signals. The signal generated by an electric guitar is too weak to drive a loudspeaker, so it is amplified before sending it to a loudspeaker...
, vocals
Singing
Singing is the act of producing musical sounds with the voice, and augments regular speech by the use of both tonality and rhythm. One who sings is called a singer or vocalist. Singers perform music known as songs that can be sung either with or without accompaniment by musical instruments...
) and Matt Kivel (bass
Electric Bass
Electric bass can mean:*Electric upright bass, the electric version of a double bass*Electric bass guitar*Bass synthesizer*Big Mouth Billy Bass, a battery-powered singing fish...
, vocals), Ben Usen (keyboard
Musical keyboard
A musical keyboard is the set of adjacent depressible levers or keys on a musical instrument, particularly the piano. Keyboards typically contain keys for playing the twelve notes of the Western musical scale, with a combination of larger, longer keys and smaller, shorter keys that repeats at the...
) and David Kitz (drums). Princeton has gained notoriety for their live performances, usually supporting high-profile indie
Indie rock
Indie rock is a genre of alternative rock that originated in the United Kingdom and the United States in the 1980s. Indie rock is extremely diverse, with sub-genres that include lo-fi, post-rock, math rock, indie pop, dream pop, noise rock, space rock, sadcore, riot grrrl and emo, among others...
acts such as Vampire Weekend
Vampire Weekend
Vampire Weekend is an American indie rock band from New York City that formed in 2006 and signed to XL Recordings. The Band has four members: Ezra Koenig, Rostam Batmanglij, Chris Tomson, and Chris Baio. The band released its first album Vampire Weekend in 2008, which produced the singles "Mansard...
, The Ruby Suns
The Ruby Suns
The Ruby Suns are an indie/pop group from New Zealand. They formed in 2004 when Californian Ryan McPhun moved to Auckland and started playing in several bands such as The Brunettes and The Tokey Tones.-Biography:...
and Ra Ra Riot
Ra Ra Riot
Ra Ra Riot is an American indie rock band from Syracuse, New York, consisting of vocalist Wes Miles, bassist Mathieu Santos, guitarist Milo Bonacci, cellist Alexandra Lawn , violinist Rebecca Zeller, and drummer Kenny Bernard.-History:...
.
Formation and early releases (2005–2007)
The name of the band, Princeton, originated from band members growing up on Princeton Street in Santa MonicaSanta Mônica
Santa Mônica is a town and municipality in the state of Paraná in the Southern Region of Brazil.-References:...
, California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
. Jesse and Matt Kivel, along with childhood friend Ben Usen, started playing music together in the late 1990s
1990s
File:1990s decade montage.png|From left, clockwise: The Hubble Space Telescope floats in space after it was taken up in 1990; American F-16s and F-15s fly over burning oil fields and the USA Lexie in Operation Desert Storm, also known as the 1991 Gulf War; The signing of the Oslo Accords on...
but officially formed the band in 2005, during a year long academic stay in London, which found the three reunited for the first time since parting ways for college.
Due to the steep costs of shipping their instruments overseas, the group was forced to perform live with a very limited musical setup, but the often-harrowing conditions of their London shows forced them to develop a finely tuned live act. The members of the band were each influenced by London in different ways; Jesse found interest in Virginia Woolf
Virginia Woolf
Adeline Virginia Woolf was an English author, essayist, publisher, and writer of short stories, regarded as one of the foremost modernist literary figures of the twentieth century....
, Matt discovered John Cale’s
John Cale
John Davies Cale, OBE is a Welsh musician, composer, singer-songwriter and record producer who was a founding member of the experimental rock band The Velvet Underground....
Paris 1919
Paris 1919 (album)
Paris 1919 is a 1973 album by former Velvet Underground member John Cale. It was produced by Chris Thomas and features a backing band consisting largely of members of Little Feat. It is the most accessible and traditional of Cale's albums, and the most well-known of his work as a solo artist.A...
and the writings of John Maynard Keynes
John Maynard Keynes
John Maynard Keynes, Baron Keynes of Tilton, CB FBA , was a British economist whose ideas have profoundly affected the theory and practice of modern macroeconomics, as well as the economic policies of governments...
, and Ben briefly pursued a career in international finance
International finance
International finance is the branch of economics that studies the dynamics of exchange rates, foreign investment, global financial system, and how these affect international trade. It also studies international projects, international investments and capital flows, and trade deficits. It includes...
. Despite having limited musical resources, the band recorded and self-released a record entitled A Case of the Emperor’s Clothes in 2006.
Move to Los Angeles (2007–2009)
After graduating from college in the summer of 2007, the three original band members moved to Los Angeles. The permanent settlement of the band allowed them to resume recording and performing full time. With the addition of drummer David Kitz, Princeton first gained attention in 2008 with their four-song EPExtended play
An EP is a musical recording which contains more music than a single, but is too short to qualify as a full album or LP. The term EP originally referred only to specific types of vinyl records other than 78 rpm standard play records and LP records, but it is now applied to mid-length Compact...
Bloomsbury, a conceptual record
Concept album
In music, a concept album is an album that is "unified by a theme, which can be instrumental, compositional, narrative, or lyrical." Commonly, concept albums tend to incorporate preconceived musical or lyrical ideas rather than being improvised or composed in the studio, with all songs contributing...
about the group of British intellectuals
Bloomsbury Group
The Bloomsbury Group or Bloomsbury Set was a group of writers, intellectuals, philosophers and artists who held informal discussions in Bloomsbury throughout the 20th century. This English collective of friends and relatives lived, worked or studied near Bloomsbury in London during the first half...
.
Princeton has received numerous positive reviews for their music, earning mentions from Spin
Spin (magazine)
Spin is a music magazine founded in 1985 by publisher Bob Guccione Jr.-History:In its early years, the magazine was noted for its broad music coverage with an emphasis on college-oriented rock music and on the ongoing emergence of hip-hop. The magazine was eclectic and bold, if sometimes haphazard...
, Stereogum
Stereogum
Stereogum was one of the first MP3 blogs. It was created by Scott Lapatine in January 2002 with a focus on independent and alternative music news, downloads, videos, and gossip. Stereogum has received several awards and citations, including the 2008 Plug Award for best music blog, Blender's...
and The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
among others. They have also gained popularity from supporting a number of popular acts, including Au Revoir Simone
Au Revoir Simone
Au Revoir Simone is an electronic dream pop band from Williamsburg, Brooklyn, New York, formed in late 2003. The group is composed of Erika Forster , Annie Hart , and Heather D'Angelo...
, Vampire Weekend
Vampire Weekend
Vampire Weekend is an American indie rock band from New York City that formed in 2006 and signed to XL Recordings. The Band has four members: Ezra Koenig, Rostam Batmanglij, Chris Tomson, and Chris Baio. The band released its first album Vampire Weekend in 2008, which produced the singles "Mansard...
, Saturday Looks Good to Me
Saturday Looks Good to Me
Saturday Looks Good to Me was an experimental indie pop band. The group was led by singer-songwriter, producer, and multi-instrumentalist Fred Thomas...
, Le Loup
Le Loup
Le Loup is an American indie band founded in September, 2006, in Washington, D.C. by Sam Simkoff . The band also includes Christian Ervin , Michael Ferguson , Dan Ryan , Robert Sahm and Jim Thomson . Their name is French for "The Wolf"...
, The Ruby Suns
The Ruby Suns
The Ruby Suns are an indie/pop group from New Zealand. They formed in 2004 when Californian Ryan McPhun moved to Auckland and started playing in several bands such as The Brunettes and The Tokey Tones.-Biography:...
, My Brightest Diamond
My Brightest Diamond
My Brightest Diamond is the project of singer–songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Shara Worden. The band has released two studio albums, 2006's Bring Me the Workhorse and 2008's A Thousand Shark's Teeth, along with a remix album Tear It Down and a download-only release through iTunes...
, Grand Ole Party
Grand Ole Party
Grand Ole Party was a three-piece band from San Diego, California consisting of singer-drummer Kristin Gundred, guitarist John Paul Labno and bassist Michael Krechnyak. They started playing in San Diego in mid-2006, having moved from the San Francisco area...
, Joan As Policewoman, Cryptacize
Cryptacize
Cryptacize is a California pop band founded by Nedelle Torrisi and Chris Cohen in 2006. Cryptacize, along with Cohen's other project The Curtains, records for the Asthmatic Kitty label. Nedelle has released two cds on the Kill Rock Stars label, one as a solo performer and one as a member of the...
, Phoenix
Phoenix (band)
Phoenix is a Grammy Award winning French indie rock band from Versailles, founded by Thomas Mars, Deck d'Arcy, Christian Mazzalai and Laurent Brancowitz.-Formation and early years:...
, and Ra Ra Riot
Ra Ra Riot
Ra Ra Riot is an American indie rock band from Syracuse, New York, consisting of vocalist Wes Miles, bassist Mathieu Santos, guitarist Milo Bonacci, cellist Alexandra Lawn , violinist Rebecca Zeller, and drummer Kenny Bernard.-History:...
.
Debut album (2009–present)
Cocoon of LoveCocoon of Love
Cocoon of Love is the debut album of Los Angeles indie pop outfit Princeton.- Track listing :# "Sadie and Andy" – 3:36# "Show Some Love, When Your Man Gets Home" - 3:51# "Calypso Gold" - 3:44# "Korean War Memorial" - 4:02...
, Princeton's debut album, was released September 29, 2009, on Kanine Records
Kanine Records
Kanine Records is an independent record label based in the Williamsburg section of Brooklyn, New York started at the end of 2002 by Lio and Kay Kanine. Their first release, NY: The Next Wave, was a 20 track compilation featuring mostly unsigned and emerging acts from the area...
. The first single to be lifted from the album, Shout it Out, was released August 25, 2009. The band now reside in the Eagle Rock
Eagle Rock, Los Angeles, California
In 1909, Hill Avenue, now Hill Drive, was one of Eagle Rock's most beautiful streets. Other streets were Royal Drive , Acacia Street , Kenilworth Avenue , Highland Avenue , and Fairmont Avenue...
district of LA, where the album was recorded and produced. They are currently on tour with Camera Obscura.