Beirut (band)

Beirut
Beirut frontman Zach Condon live at the Fonda Theatre in Los Angeles in 2013.
Background information
Origin	Santa Fe, New Mexico, United States
Genres	Balkan folk world indie folk electronica baroque pop
Years active	2006–present
Labels	Ba Da Bing Pompeii Arts & Crafts México 4AD
Associated acts	Alaska in Winter Soft Landing A Hawk and a Hacksaw Beirutando Kidcrash Kocani Orkestar LNZNDRF Owen Pallett The Silent League Sharon Van Etten
Website	www.beirutband.com
Members	Zach Condon Nick Petree Paul Collins Kyle Resnick Ben Lanz Aaron Arntz
Past members	Jeremy Barnes Heather Trost Jason Poranski Kristin Ferebee Jon Natchez Tracy Pratt Greg Paulus Jared van Fleet Kelly Pratt Perrin Cloutier

Beirut is an American band which was originally the solo musical project of Santa Fe native Zach Condon, and later expanded into a band. Beirut's music combines elements of indie-rock and world music. The band's first performances were in New York, in May 2006, to support the release of their debut album, Gulag Orkestar. Despite their name, Beirut had never performed in Lebanon until they appeared at the Byblos International Festival in August 2014.

Here is an explanation of band's name by Condon: “One of the reasons I named the band after that city was the fact that it’s seen a lot of conflict. It’s not a political position. I worried about that from the beginning. But it was such a catchy name. I mean, if things go down that are truly horrible, I’ll change it. But not now. It’s still a good analogy for my music. I haven’t been to Beirut, but I imagine it as this chic urban city surrounded by the ancient Christian and Muslim worlds. The place where things collide”.

Zach Condon was born in Albuquerque, New Mexico on February 13, 1986. He grew up partly in Newport News, Virginia and partly in Santa Fe. Condon played trumpet in a jazz band as a teenager and cites jazz as a major influence.

Condon attended Santa Fe High School, where he was a student until he dropped out at the age of 17. According to a 2011 interview with David Dye on NPR, growing up in Santa Fe meant that Condon was exposed to Mexican music such as mariachi. He also worked at a cinema showing international films and this piqued his interest in Fellini arias and Sicilian funeral brass as well as providing his first experience of Balkan music.

He later enrolled in community college, but only attended for a short period before traveling to Europe at the age of 17 with his older brother, Ryan. This discovery and Condon's subsequent exploration of world music proved to be instrumental in the development of Beirut's melodic sound. Zach's younger brother Ross Condon has also made a name in music, having played in the Brooklyn-based band Total Slacker.