in 2006, tyler randall and rob keenan became friends while both attending turpin high school. after graduating, keenan spent three years at indiana university while randall finished high school. during their time apart, randall and keenan would collaborate on music over the weekends. after randall graduated from high school, he attended berklee college of music in boston, ma. keenan soon joined randall as a student at berklee, although both eventually dropped out to focus on their musical careers. while attending berklee, randall was the first student to have sitar as their principal instrument.