described his childhood as "grindingly painful" and said he kept "mostly independent of family things" into his adulthood. While he was an adolescent, his father rose to prominence as a corporate lobbyist representing firearms, alcohol, and other industries. Berman came to dislike his father at an early age. He was compelled to live with his father after 1979, despite his wishes to the contrary, because of concern he was "growing up to be a wimp". He attended high school at Greenhill School in Addison, Texas. During his teenage years, his father sent him to see a psychiatrist. Berman suffered from depression throughout his life and later said the condition had become resistant to treatment. By the age of 15, he said he began taking "every drug in every way", and claimed to have smoked PCP on a daily basis during his second year of college. For Berman, the burgeoning new wave scene in Dallas served as an early source of musical inspiration. He took an interest in a friend's rare Fairlight keyboard, and in the music of bands like Art of Noise, Prefab Sprout, X, the Replacements, the Cure, New Order, and Echo and the Bunnymen. In high school, he began experimenting with poetry by writing to girlfriends, considering the line "A cartoon lake. Wolf on skates" to be his first true foray into poetry. Berman hoped that his poetry would resemble the lyrics of punk singers Jello Biafra and Exene Cervenka. He read Henry Miller's The Rosy Crucifixion when he was 14: "It gave me permission to enjoy life". Reading significantly in his life, Berman said, reinforced his empathy, especially for those also troubled; he cited William Faulkner as an influence of his. Berman went to the University of Virginia in 1985. He had been—by his own admission—"too lazy" to apply for college, so his father's secretary completed and submitted applications on his behalf. At university, Berman met fellow students Stephen Malkmus, Bob Nastanovich, and James McNew. He frequently attended concerts, shared records, and discussed obscure bands with Malkmus and Nastanovich, having first encountered the former in a carpool to a show. The quartet formed the band Ectoslavia. He graduated in 1989 with a bachelor's degree in English literature. Origin of Silver Jews: 1989–1994 Upon graduation, Berman, Malkmus, and Nastanovich moved to Hoboken, New Jersey, where they shared an apartment. In 1989, they adopted the band name Silver Jews