Peter Francis McPoland was born on November 3, 2000, in Burlington, Vermont. He moved to Texas when he was seven years old. After picking up the guitar at age fourteen, he taught himself how to play the instrument. Growing up, he was exposed to music from an early age, especially country and folk music. In a 2019 interview, he stated, "both of my parents are very into music, and my father – a lot of my influences come from my father." He has also stated that his major influences include John Prine, Bruce Springsteen, Gregory Alan Isakov, and Dire Straits. He has also cited Tyler Joseph of Twenty One Pilots as an influence as well. When McPoland was younger, he planned to be a folk singer, and even asked for a banjo for Christmas, but his parents got him an electric guitar instead. After turning 9 years old, McPoland became involved in various musical theatre productions, which is where he stated that passion for music started.