Princeton is an American

indie pop Indie pop (also typeset as indie-pop or indiepop) is a music genre and subculture that combines guitar pop with a DIY ethic in opposition to the style and tone of mainstream pop music. It originated from British post-punk in the late 1970s and s ...

band Band or BAND may refer to: Places *Bánd, a village in Hungary * Band, Iran, a village in Urmia County, West Azerbaijan Province, Iran * Band, Mureș, a commune in Romania * Band-e Majid Khan, a village in Bukan County, West Azerbaijan Province, ...

from

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

, United States. The band consists of twin brothers Jesse (

guitar The guitar is a stringed musical instrument that is usually fretted (with Fretless guitar, some exceptions) and typically has six or Twelve-string guitar, twelve strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming ...

vocals Singing is the art of creating music with the voice. It is the oldest form of musical expression, and the human voice can be considered the first musical instrument. The definition of singing varies across sources. Some sources define sing ...

) and Matt Kivel (

bass Bass or Basses may refer to: Fish * Bass (fish), various saltwater and freshwater species Wood * Bass or basswood, the wood of the tilia americana tree Music * Bass (sound), describing low-frequency sound or one of several instruments in th ...

, vocals), Ben Usen (

keyboard Keyboard may refer to: Text input * Keyboard, part of a typewriter * Computer keyboard ** Keyboard layout, the software control of computer keyboards and their mapping ** Keyboard technology, computer keyboard hardware and firmware Music * Mus ...

) and David Kitz (

drums The drum is a member of the percussion instrument, percussion group of musical instruments. In the Hornbostel–Sachs classification system, it is a membranophones, membranophone. Drums consist of at least one Acoustic membrane, membrane, c ...

). Princeton has received recognition for their live performances, often supporting high-profile

indie Indie is a short form of "independence" or "independent"; it may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media *Independent media, media free of influence by government or corporate interests *Indie art, fine arts made by artists independent of commer ...

acts such as

Vampire Weekend Vampire Weekend are an American Rock music, rock band formed in New York City in 2006 and currently signed to Columbia Records. The band was formed by lead vocalist and guitarist Ezra Koenig, multi-instrumentalist Rostam Batmanglij, drummer Chr ...

, The Ruby Suns and

Ra Ra Riot Ra Ra Riot is an American indie rock band consisting of vocalist Wes Miles, bassist Mathieu Santos, guitarist Milo Bonacci, violinist Rebecca Zeller and drummer Kenny Bernard. History Ra Ra Riot formed in January 2006, playing at houses and ve ...

, as well as headlining in their own right.

History

Formation and early releases (2005–2007)

The name of the band, Princeton, originated from band members growing up on Princeton Street in

Santa Monica Santa Monica (; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Santa Mónica'') is a city in Los Angeles County, California, Los Angeles County, situated along Santa Monica Bay on California's South Coast (California), South Coast. Santa Monica's 2020 United Sta ...

. 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 Adeline Virginia Woolf (; ; 25 January 1882 28 March 1941) was an English writer and one of the most influential 20th-century modernist authors. She helped to pioneer the use of stream of consciousness narration as a literary device. Vir ...

, Matt discovered John Cale’s '' Paris 1919'' and the writings of

John Maynard Keynes John Maynard Keynes, 1st Baron Keynes ( ; 5 June 1883 – 21 April 1946), was an English economist and philosopher whose ideas fundamentally changed the theory and practice of macroeconomics and the economic policies of governments. Originall ...

, and Ben briefly pursued a career in

international finance International finance (also referred to as international monetary economics or international macroeconomics) is the branch of monetary economics, monetary and macroeconomics, macroeconomic interrelations between two or more countries. Internation ...

. 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 EP ''

Bloomsbury Bloomsbury is a district in the West End of London, part of the London Borough of Camden in England. It is considered a fashionable residential area, and is the location of numerous cultural institution, cultural, intellectual, and educational ...

'', a conceptual record about the group of British intellectuals. Princeton has received numerous positive reviews for their music, earning mentions from ''

Spin Spin or spinning most often refers to: * Spin (physics) or particle spin, a fundamental property of elementary particles * Spin quantum number, a number which defines the value of a particle's spin * Spinning (textiles), the creation of yarn or thr ...

'',

Stereogum ''Stereogum'' is a daily Internet publication that focuses on music news, reviews, interviews, and commentary. The site was created in January 2002 by Scott Lapatine. ''Stereogum'' was one of the first MP3 blogs and has received several awar ...

and ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'' among others. They have also gained popularity from supporting a number of popular acts, including

Au Revoir Simone Au Revoir Simone is an American indie pop band from Williamsburg, Brooklyn, New York, formed in 2003. The group is composed of Erika Forster (vocals/keyboard), Annie Hart (vocals/keyboard/bass) and Heather D'Angelo (vocals/drum machine/keyboard ...

Saturday Looks Good to Me Saturday Looks Good to Me is an American experimental indie pop band that formed in 1999. The group is led by singer-songwriter, producer, and multi-instrumentalist Fred Thomas (rock musician), Fred Thomas (former member of His Name Is Alive). ...

Le Loup Le Loup was an American indie band founded in September 2006, in Washington, D.C. by Sam Simkoff (keyboard/banjo). The band also includes Christian Ervin (computer), Michael Ferguson (guitar), Dan Ryan (bass), Robert Sahm (drums) and Jim Thomson ...

, The Ruby Suns,

My Brightest Diamond My Brightest Diamond is the project of singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Shara Nova. The band has released five studio albums and a remix album, five studio EPs and four remix EPs, and made several tours across the United States. Hist ...

Grand Ole Party Grand Ole Party was a three-piece band formed in Santa Cruz, California consisting of singer-drummer Kristin Gundred, guitarist John Paul Labno and bassist Michael Krechnyak. They began recording their debut album shortly after moving to San Diego ...

Joan As Policewoman Joan Wasser (born July 26, 1970) is an American musician, singer-songwriter and producer who releases music as Joan As Police Woman. She began her career playing violin with the Dambuilders and played with Black Beetle, Anohni and the Johnsons, ...

Cryptacize Cryptacize is a California pop band founded by Nedelle Torrisi and Chris Cohen in 2006. They released two records on the Asthmatic Kitty label. After seeing percussionist Michael Carreira's solo cowbell videos on YouTube, Cohen and Torrisi aske ...

, Phoenix, and

Debut album (2009–present)

'' Cocoon of Love'', Princeton's debut album, was released September 29, 2009, on

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 unsign ...

. The first single to be lifted from the album, " Shout it Out", was released on August 25, 2009. The band now reside in the

Eagle Rock Eagle is the common name for the golden eagle, bald eagle, and other birds of prey in the family of the Accipitridae. Eagles belong to several groups of Genus, genera, some of which are closely related. True eagles comprise the genus ''Aquila ( ...

district of Los Angeles, where the album was recorded and produced. On February 21, 2012, the band released their second album called ''Remembrance of Things to Come''.

Discography

Studio albums

* '' Cocoon of Love'' (2009) * ''Remembrance of Things to Come'' (2012)

Extended plays

''A Case of the Emperor's Clothes'' (2006) * ''Bloomsbury'' (2008)

Singles

* "Shout It Out" (2009) * "Clamoring for Your Heart" (2011) * "To the Alps" (2011)

References

External links

Official site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Princeton (Band) Indie pop groups from Los Angeles Indie rock musical groups from California