The National is made up of vocalist Matt Berninger and two sets of siblings: the Dessners (Aaron and Bryce, who are twins) and the Devendorfs (Bryan and Scott, who are not). The Dessners and the Devendorfs were childhood friends who played on the same high-school sports teams, while Berninger met Scott Devendorf at the University of Cincinnati.
Bryce Dessner has a masters in classical guitar from Yale and his brother, Aaron, achieved a modern European history and cultural anthropology degree from Columbia.
The band took shape in Brooklyn in 1999. At first, they continued to work day jobs, Berninger and Scott Devendorf in graphic design and Bryan Devendorf as a copy editor. Meanwhile, Aaron Dessner earned what he could as personal assistant, sound guy etc. Bryce Dessner who had been assisting the group, became a permanent member a couple of years later in 2001.
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