Nantes - Music

Beirut Is An American Indie-Rock And World Music Band Which Was Originally The Solo Musical Project Of Zach Condon Born Zachary Francis Condon In Santa Fe New Mexico And Later Expanded Into A Band. The Band's First Performances Were In New York In May 2006 To Support The Release Of Their Debut Album Gulag Orkestar. Condon Recorded Before Beirut Was Established When He Was Fifteen And Under The Name Of Realpeople He Made An Electronic Record Fashioned After His Love For The Magnetic Fields. Condon Was A Straight-A Student Until He Dropped Out At The Age Of 17 To Travel Europe With His Cousin In A Drunken Haze Cavorting And Partying With The Locals Wherever He Ended Up. It Was During One Of These Evenings That He Was First Exposed To Balkan Music Notably Including The Boban Marković Orkestar And Goran Bregović Blasting From The Upstairs Apartment. Condon Ended Up With The Serbian Artists All Night Going Through Albums Country By Country Note For Note. The First Album Under The Beirut Moniker Gulag Orkestar 2006 Was The Direct Result Of What He Learned That Night. While It May Sound Like An Entire Balkan Orchestra Playing Modern Songs As Mournful Ballads And Upbeat Marches The Album Was Performed And Recorded Almost Entirely By Condon Alone. He Did So On Pro Tools While Skipping School In Albuquerque And At Sea Side Studios In Park Slope Brooklyn. Jeremy Barnes Added Percussion And Some Violin Overlays. After Recording Condon Formed A Full Band Which At Times Varies In The Number Of Members From Six To Ten. Live He Is Accompanied By Perrin Cloutier Cello/accordion Jason Poranski Guitar/mandolin/ukulele Nick Petree Drums Kristin Ferebee Violin Paul Collins Organ/keys/tambourine/ukulele Jon Natchez Baritone Sax/mandolin/glockenspiel And Kelly Pratt Trumpet/euphonium . In November 2006 Condon Was "briefly Hospitalized For Extreme Exhaustion" The Band's Website Said And As A Consequence The Band Cancelled The Rest Of The Tour. They Resumed Performing In March 2007 And Released Their Second Album The Flying Club Cup The Same Year On October 9th. Parts Of The Album Were Performed And Recorded By Condon In His Bedroom Again But Others Were Recorded With The Live Band Which Resulted In A More Organic Live Sound. While Writing Condon Said He Was Inspired By French Music Like Jacques Brel Whose Song Le Moribond He Covered On His Elephant Gun EP And He Moved To Paris For A While. During The Extensive Tour In Support Of The Flying Club Cup Condon And The Band More Or Less Fell Apart From Exhaustion Once Again And Disappeared From The Radar In April 2008. Condon Took A Long Break And Returned In 2009 With A Double EP March Of The Zapotec & Realpeople Holland. The First Was Partly Recorded In Mexico With The Mexican Band Jimenez And Had A More South-American Flavour To It Than Condon's Previous Efforts. The Second EP 'Holland' Was Credited To Condon's Old Name Realpeople And Consisted Of Five Electrotracks Once More In The Vein Of The Magnetic Fields. The Band's Album "The Rip Tide" Was Released In 2011. Albums * Gulag Orkestar May 9 2006 * The Flying Club Cup October 9 2007 * The Rip Tide August 2 2011 * No No No September 11 2015 * Gallipoli February 1 2019 * Artifacts January 28 2022 EPs * Lon Gisland EP January 30 2007 * Pompeii February 28 2007 * Elephant Gun June 25 2007 * March Of The Zapotec & Realpeople Holland February 17 2009 * East Harlem June 7 2011 * The Berlin-Albuquerque Sessions November 22 2022 Official Website Www.Beirutband.Com read less