Born in Montclair, New Jersey, and raised in Hilton Head, South Carolina, Duncan Sheik spent his teen years immersed in the music of the Beach Boys, the Smiths, and the Blue Nile. Sheik attended Brown University, where he spent a year playing in Liz & Lisa, a band whose membership included singer/songwriter Lisa Loeb. After heading out on his own, Sheik eventually inked with Atlantic.