Duo Zachary Okun and Raj Gadhia met during the more or less scholastic (depending on who you talk to) portion of their young careers as cheeky boys in a private university. Raj had actually suspected their paths had crossed quietly many times before Zach ever played his home attic recordings for Raj in the quiet doldrums of a particular summer of (un)employment.

Raj, of course, suspected right, and it was later revealed that Zach indeed was the quiet kid in the back of the dusty anthropology lab, sleeping diligently through monkey documentaries, angrily protesting any discernable differences in the skull specimens forced upon them week after week, until things came to a head and they mysteriously finished school, just as they began.

Soon playing in bands around the city’s ubiquitous West End, with motley crews including Nathan Jones of later Mantissa fame and Andy Moody of ‘Fame’ fame, the two kept on the downbeat for some time. After the breakup of Raj’s group Academy, with Zach growing tired of playing on drum sets from Sears, the two began wondering and wandering.

One of these -- particularly, wondering -- fanned into a furious light bulb of an idea. Impressed with the notion of impressions, Zach went to India, and returned with a harmonium to impress Raj. To one up both Zach and Wallace Stevens, Raj promptly acquired a drum machine to impress Zach, who was trying a flailing hand or two at drums. Thoroughly impressed with themselves, and wondering if they could get away with some ‘foot-tapping music,’ the two began recording in Zach’s basement.

Zach’s basement was haunted. Nevertheless, the two split time between nights here and playing with a group of friends as Awkward (where they would lust after Nick’s synthesizer). Often fighting over who switched the Tortoise album with the Galaxie 500, VU with Emmylou, and why T-Rex could, but AC/DC would, fists would fly.

However, minimal work and maximal fun soon led to Awkward shows in the city and occasional desert towns of west Texas. In the midst of all this, and while Raj muddled quietly through grad school, someone noticed them and heard a basement tape. This someone had seen them in their fledgeling years playing warehouse parties for warehouse kids, and wanted to hear more pop in the existing snap and crackle of Atlanta. One thing led to another in the basement, and soon the two found themselves recording their debut full-length as The Fairline Parkway on Lazyline Records. And the rest, they say, is mystery.

[Update] Raj is now living in Washington D.C. playing music with Pagoda, writing music for other projects, and Zach is in Portland with a brand new band and a whole host of possibilities.