Santa Fe NM, United States (2006 – present)
The EPs and the albums by Beirut are largely the work of Zach Condon, a young Santa Fe, New Mexico native.
Condon has recorded before: 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 16 to travel Europe 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), blasting from the upstairs apartment.
