Longstreth was born in
Southbury, Connecticut. Longstreth attended
Yale University and majored in music shortly before dropping out halfway through his second year. He stated that "he rarely ventured out of his dorm room. He found himself completely absorbed in making his own music, though there wasn’t really anyone to play it for." After dropping out, he moved in with his brother in
Portland, Oregon and worked on his first album
The Graceful Fallen Mango, which he released in 2002. That same year, he composed a classical composition called "Michael Jordan". It was composed for New York group
Ensemble LPR. He also contributed to the orchestral
arrangement for the song "Time, As a Symptom" on the album
Divers by American musician
Joanna Newsom. In 2016, he produced the album
Azel by Nigerien musician
Bombino and collaborated on the
Solange release,
A Seat at the Table. In January 2025, he released a
David Berman covers EP. ==Personal life==