Robert David Hauldren was born on September 7, 1996, to David and Julia Hauldren. He attended one academic year at the
University of Southern California, where he joined the Beta-Sigma chapter of
Tau Kappa Epsilon fraternity before opting to take a leave and further pursue music. Hauldren primarily
DJed and made mashups under the alias Haul Pass throughout 2011.
Frederic Judson Kennett was born on October 19, 1997, to Jon and Anne Kennett. He focused on musical production under the alias Fatboy, while completing high school. Though both musicians were students at
New Trier High School in Winnetka, IL (Hauldren in the class of 2015 and Kennett in the class of 2016), the two met at a
Madeon concert in 2012. In 2012, Hauldren entered a local DJ competition connected to Chicago's
Spring Awakening Music Festival, which offered finalists the opprotunity to perform a short set at The Mid, a nightclub in Chicago. Kennett heard of this and reached out to Hauldren via
Facebook, hoping to collaborate by teaching each other their respective skills; production and DJing. The two met at Kennett's home, where they recorded their first song together. After deciding to release the track, they chose the name
Louis The Child using Wikipedia's "random article" feature. The meeting marked the official formation of the duo. Louis the Child started playing at small venues through 2013 and 2014. In 2015, the band rose in popularity with the release of their single "It's Strange". Freddy Kennett was 17 at the time and still in high school. Robby Hauldren was beginning his freshman year at the University of Southern California. The single garnered praise from artists such as
Taylor Swift, who added "It's Strange" as one of her "Songs that Will Make Life Awesome" and was featured on the
FIFA 16 soundtrack. "It's Strange" was later featured in a commercial for the 2019
Nissan Kicks. They later opened for artists such as Madeon and
The Chainsmokers. In December 2016, Louis the Child joined forces with Pell and created the band
Pellican Child, whose first single, "Turn Me Down", was released ahead of a six-track EP due for early 2017. Louis the Child was the opening act for the European leg of the
Shelter Live Tour. In 2017, the duo headlined a 32 show tour with support from
Joey Purp,
Lauv, Louis Futon, Prince Fox, Ashe, Party Pupils, Point Point, and Win & Woo, during which they made various contributions including playing a sold-out Thanksgiving show at the
Aragon Ballroom. In late 2017, Louis the Child's song "Go" was featured in a TV commercial for the Apple iPad Pro. In early 2018 they made an appearance at
Lollapalooza South America. The festival took place in Chile, Argentina and Brazil. On April 10, 2018, the duo announced the release of their new single, "Better Not" featuring Australian singer, Wafia. As of April 2019, the track has garnered over 100 million streams on Spotify. The duo's emergence continued in 2019 when it announced a performance at the
Red Rocks Amphitheatre and a concert coinciding with the
X Games. The duo have repeatedly attributed their decision to name themselves
Louis the Child after landing on the historic figure while seeking out inspiration through use of the "Random Article" button on Wikipedia. ==Musical influences==