Education
He graduated from Phillips Exeter Academy in 2001, where he lived in Abbot Hall, and subsequently attended Northwestern University, majoring in Poetry and Slavic studies.
He graduated from Phillips Exeter Academy in 2001, where he lived in Abbot Hall, and subsequently attended Northwestern University, majoring in Poetry and Slavic studies.
Will plays synthesizer, bass, guitar and percussion. He is known for his spontaneity and antics during performances. He is the brother of Arcade Fire frontman Win Butler.
Born in northern California and raised in The Woodlands, Texas, Will is the son of Liza Rey, a classical musician, and Edwin Farnham Butler II, a geologist.
While at (Phillips Exeter Academy), he dated author Katie Farris. While at Northwestern he worked as a DJ for the WNUR Rock Show, where he also hired Nathan Amundson of Rivulets to be a substitute DJ at WNUR. He also served as the poetry editor of Northwestern"s literary magazine, Helicon.
An excerpt of a poem from his senior thesis is quoted in Brian Bouldrey"s book, "Honorable Bandit: A Walk Across Corsica." In January 2008 Butler married dancer Jenny Shore. In January 2014, Butler and Owen Pallett were nominated for Best Original Score at the 86th Academy Awards for their work on Her.
On March 3, 2015, Butler"s debut solo album Policy was released under Merge Records, accompanied by an international tour alongside Arcade Fire drummer Jeremy Gara.
According to Butler, Policy is intended to reflect his omnivorous musical taste. Butler wrote five songs for the Guardian, based on news headlines, with each song created and shared within a day each. They were mixed properly and released on Policy Deluxe in May 2015.
Arcade Fire.