Artists to Watch: Seven Acts Who Are Defining Rock, Soul and Hip-Hop in 2008

Click above for exclusive video of the band's trip to South by Southwest 2008, including their adventures on a stolen rowboat.

Job prospects for Ivy league grads being what they are, Harvard alums Maxwell Drummey and D.A. Wallach decided to choose a solid career with a future. "Rock star" sounded promising.

While their classmates were busy interviewing with Goldman Sachs, singer Wallach and multi-instrumentalist Drummey camped out in their dorm's basement studio, recording their demo, Love the Future — a collection of pop songs with Brian Wilson melodies, early-Beck humor and synth beats. "People" celebrates romance with suburban cougars over digital-crisp surf pop; another sunny ode is titled simply "The Jimmy Choo's." "We tried to bring the visceral production elements you find in hip-hop and inject those into really white music," says Wallach.

PLAY THIS "She Loves Everybody"

Confident they'd achieved this fusion, the duo sent their demo to "anyone in the music industry I could find contact info for," says Wallach. It found its way to Kanye West and later to Pharrell Williams, who signed Chester French to his Star Trak imprint last year. When the duo moved to L.A. after graduation, Pharrell advised them to stay focused. "He said, 'Don't get in the scene, don't be Lindsay Lohan. Making music: That's your job right now.' "

As they finish the studio version of their demo for a summer release, the new hirees are touring with N.E.R.D, meeting Busta Rhymes and hanging out with their gym-toned new fans. "Out here, from a physical standpoint, the women are pretty amazing," says Wallach. So far, the company perks aren't bad. ELLEN CARPENTER

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Photograph by Ture Lillegraven

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