Al van der Beek was born in Tokoroa, New Zealand to a Dutch father and a Samoan mother — Thus making him one of the first DutchSamoans in existence. His family moved to Salt Lake City, Utah when he was about six years old. His parents instilled a love and a passion for music in all of their children from a very young age, and despite his yearning desire to play the saxophone (because he thought it looked really cool), his parents eventually convinced him to play the violin.