Passion Pit isn't really a band. Not in the way we think of The Beatles or Radiohead, at least. If you’ve ever scrolled through the liner notes of Manners or Gossamer looking for a steady lineup, you probably walked away more confused than when you started. Honestly, the story of the members of Passion Pit is mostly the story of one guy—Michael Angelakos—and a revolving door of incredibly talented touring musicians who helped him translate a bedroom project into a stadium-sized wall of sound.
It started as a Valentine's Day gift.
Angelakos was a student at Emerson College in Boston when he wrote a few tracks for his then-girlfriend. He wasn't trying to start a movement. He was just a guy with a laptop and a really high falsetto. But then "Sleepyhead" happened. The song exploded on the Hype Machine-era blogs, and suddenly, he needed a band to actually play the stuff live. That’s where the concept of "members" gets tricky.
The OG Boston Crew and the Birth of the Sound
When Passion Pit first hit the road in the late 2000s, it felt like a collective. The early members of Passion Pit were essentially Angelakos’s friends and peers from the Boston music scene. We’re talking about Ian Hultquist, Ayad Al Adhamy, Jeff Apruzzese, and Nate Donmoyer.
For a few years, this was the definitive lineup.
Ian Hultquist was a massive part of the early DNA, handling guitars and synthesizers. He eventually left in 2014 to pursue film scoring, which makes total sense if you listen to the cinematic swells in early Passion Pit tracks. Then you had Ayad Al Adhamy on the keys—he stayed through the Manners era before departing to run his own label, Black Bell Records. Jeff Apruzzese (bass) and Nate Donmoyer (drums) were the backbone. They were the ones who turned those glitchy, sampled beats into something that felt physical and heavy in a live setting.
But here is the thing: Angelakos has always been the sole songwriter.
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He’s the architect. In interviews, he’s been pretty candid about the fact that Passion Pit is his alias. It’s his vision. The other guys were vital for the tour, but they weren't necessarily sitting in the studio debating chord progressions with him. By the time Kindred rolled around in 2015, most of that original "band" had moved on to other projects.
Why the lineup kept shifting
Music is a grind. Touring the world for two years straight on the back of a hit record like Gossamer drains people. Plus, Michael Angelakos has been incredibly open about his struggles with bipolar disorder. That kind of honesty is rare, but it also means the project has often had to pause or pivot based on his health.
When you look at the members of Passion Pit today, or even during the Tremendous Sea of Love era, it’s basically a session musician setup.
- Chris Hartz: A frequent collaborator on drums.
- Aaron Gantz: Another touring veteran.
- Giuliano Pizzulo: Handled keys and guitar during later tours.
They are all phenomenal players. They have to be. Passion Pit songs are notoriously difficult to play because the arrangements are so dense. There are layers of synths on top of layers of samples. If one person misses a cue, the whole thing can sound like a chaotic mess instead of a pop masterpiece.
The Genius (and Stress) of Michael Angelakos
You can't talk about the band members without centering on Michael. He’s the nucleus.
Everything about the Passion Pit sound—the chipmunk-soul samples, the maximalist production, the lyrics that are way more depressing than the upbeat music suggests—comes from his brain. He once described the process of making Gossamer as a total breakdown. He was obsessed with perfection. When you have a leader who is that singular in his vision, it’s hard to maintain a traditional "four guys in a garage" band dynamic.
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People often wonder if the original guys are still friends. Most signs point to yes. They’ve grown up. They’ve got kids, scoring careers, and production credits. The shift from a set lineup to a solo-led project is just the natural evolution of an indie act that got way bigger than anyone expected.
The Touring Evolution
If you saw Passion Pit in 2009 at a tiny club, you saw a scrappy synth-pop band. If you saw them at Madison Square Garden in 2013, you saw a professional powerhouse. The members of Passion Pit during that peak period had to be tight. Jeff Apruzzese once mentioned in an interview how much work went into making the live show sound like the record without just playing a backing track. They wanted it to be live.
They used a lot of triggers. They had to balance the organic feel of drums with the synthetic pulse of the studio recordings. It was a massive technical undertaking every single night.
Where are the original members now?
It's actually pretty cool to see where the alumni ended up.
- Ian Hultquist: He’s a legit film composer now. He’s worked on scores for Assassination Nation and various documentaries. His ear for atmosphere was always his biggest strength.
- Ayad Al Adhamy: He moved into the business side and production. He’s been a champion for indie bands through his label work.
- Nate Donmoyer: He’s stayed in the production world, working with artists like Kimbra. He was always the "musician's musician" of the group.
It feels like Passion Pit was a finishing school for high-level indie talent.
The "Tremendous Sea of Love" Era
By 2017, the idea of "members" was almost entirely gone. Michael released Tremendous Sea of Love for free to fans who shared stories about mental health. It was a raw, lo-fi, and deeply personal project. At that point, the "band" was really just whoever Michael needed in the room to get the sound out of his head.
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Does it matter that it’s not a static group? Probably not.
Most fans are there for the voice. They’re there for that specific feeling of euphoria mixed with anxiety that only Angelakos can produce. Whether there are four people on stage or just Michael behind a desk, the soul of the project remains the same.
What to expect if they tour again
If Passion Pit announces a 20th-anniversary tour for Manners (which is wild to think about), don't expect the 2009 lineup to just walk back out. It’ll likely be a hand-picked group of elite session players. That’s just how the project functions now. It’s a vehicle for Michael’s songwriting.
The "members" are the stewards of the sound for a specific moment in time.
Actionable insights for fans and collectors
If you're trying to track the history or get deeper into the discography, here’s how to navigate the messy reality of the band's lineup:
- Check the credits on "Gossamer": This is the peak of the "collaborative" feel, even if Michael was steering the ship. You’ll see how many people it actually takes to make a "solo" record sound that huge.
- Follow the alumni: If you like the textures of early Passion Pit, listen to Ian Hultquist’s scores. It’s the "adult" version of that synth-pop magic.
- Don't get hung up on the "band" label: Treat Passion Pit like Tame Impala or Nine Inch Nails. It’s one person’s vision, and the live band is a separate, rotating entity designed to bring that vision to life.
- Watch old live sessions: Look for the 2010-2012 KEXP or Glastonbury sets. That’s the original crew at their absolute height, and it captures a specific energy that defined that era of indie rock.
The members of Passion Pit might change, but the emotional core hasn't shifted since that first Valentine's Day EP. It's still about high notes, heavy hearts, and enough synthesizers to power a small city. Understanding that it's a project rather than a static band actually makes the music more impressive—it's a massive, shifting effort to keep Michael's very specific, very beautiful world spinning.