greenwald was born in los angeles, california, to a family of jewish descent. in 1994, greenwald formed phantom planet in his teens with four friends – guitarist darren robinson, bassist sam farrar, guitarist jacques brautbar, and drummer jason schwartzman. the band is best known for producing the song "california", which was used as the theme song of the teen drama "the o.c.", which lasted four seasons. phantom planet announced their hiatus on november 25, 2008.