Leff was born in San Francisco, California. He spent his early childhood in a suburb of Atlanta, Georgia, before his family relocated to a suburb of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. As a child, he was interested in music and took piano and viola lessons before learning how to play the guitar at the age of 11. He started writing songs in middle school, at around 14 years old. During his time in high school, he played in several bands and studied jazz before moving on to electronic music. He has said that his sister would drive him and his friends on tour, where they often played "to zero people."\n', '

Leff graduated from New York University, majoring in music technology, at the Steinhardt School, as he had decided to pursue a behind-the-scenes role in music. He also studied abroad in Prague and was a member of the Zeta Psi fraternity. While at NYU, he spent two years as a studio intern for Jungle City Studios, where artists such as Jay-Z, Justin Timberlake and Alicia Keys recorded.\n', '

During his college years, Leff strayed from his intensely personal song-writing style and focused on writing and producing for other artists. But during his sophomore year, he stumbled upon an illuminating interview with Paul Simon, in which Simon described his song-writing approach as a process of uncovering his innermost buried feelings. The interview helped Leff to get in touch with the way he used to write. Shortly thereafter, Leff adopted the stage name Lauv, Latvian for "lion" (lauva), in a nod to his mother\'s heritage. His first name, Ari, means "lion" in Hebrew, and his zodiac sign is Leo.\n', '

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