To some, Vampire Weekend is solely recognizable for being at the top of their music library, but for others, the band is known for the fact that it was formed in the Ivy League at a school that some might call our city–slicking, but less fun friend, Columbia. So we took to the deep dark web to find out what other bands had Ivy League blood (read: elitism) pulsating through their beats. Here’s what we found:
Dirty Projectors
This American indie–rock band was started at Yale, where its lead singer David Longstreth dropped out during his sophomore year to start pursuing his music dreams instead of his music major. He then went on to become one of the most influential and unique indie singer/songwriters of the 2000s. Their latest album gives an upbeat, pop vibe to broken heartedness. It was written after his breakup with long–term girlfriend and former bandmate, Amber Coffman.
Chromeo
This Canadian electro–funk duo was founded at a non–Ivy college in Montreal, BUT their lead singer, David Macklovitch, is currently a PhD candidate in French Literature at Columbia. His other half, P–Thugg was born in Lebanon and moved to Canada at age eight. The two call themselves “the only successful Arab/Jewish partnership since the dawn of human culture.”
Weezer
Aside from having a really cool name and being part of a really cool band, Rivers Cuomo, Weezer’s lead vocalist and guitarist, attended Harvard University. You might be thinking “Say It Ain’t So,” but it is, it really is. In the end, who cares about Boston, because it’s all about “Beverly Hills”...that’s where we want to be.
Discovery
Founded by a former member of Vampire Weekend and a former member of Ra Ra Riot, this electric soul recording duo features Ivy League–r Rostam Batmanglij. Batmanglij was happy to join Vampire Weekend during his time at Columbia, but after their first few albums he found that he’d rather work alone and pursue solo projects. Batmanglij later joined forces with Wesley Miles and the two have been creating ever since. Songs on their album have been critiqued for sounding like "kids playing dress up Justin Timberlake," but we think it sounds more like an eager, doe–eyed mashup of Passion Pit and M.I.A.
Rage Against The Machine
Tom Morello, the guitarist from this American rock band, attended Harvard University, graduated with a Bachelor’s degree in history, moved to LA, started stripping, and soon after joined this band. If that’s not what everyone ends up doing with a Harvard degree, then they’re definitely not doing it right. Shortly after forming Rage Against the Machine, Morello started a new band called Audioslave and later toured with Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band. As of 2016, he's been a part of Prophets of Rage, an American rap–rock supergroup who released a new album last year.
