Brian Burton, the man better known as DJ and producer Danger Mouse, was born in White Plains, NY, to a schoolteacher father and a social worker mother, but spent much of his childhood upstate in Spring Valley. When he was 13, his family moved to Stone Mountain, a suburb of Atlanta, where he was introduced to the hip-hop sounds of the South and Midwest. Though while growing up Burton had always wanted to be a cartoonist, the opportunity to attend college on a full scholarship appealed to the 18-year-old, and he went to pursue a degree in telecommunications at the University of Georgia. While in school, he was introduced to Nirvana, Pink Floyd, and Portishead, as well as the burgeoning indie rock scene in Athens (he even remixed songs from local band Neutral Milk Hotel) and also began making his own electronica music under the name Pelican City, releasing The Chilling Effect (1999) and Rhode Island (2000) on the December First label while still a student.
