Description: Zach Condon was born in Santa Fe, New Mexico on February 13, 1986.[3] He was brought up in Virginia before moving back to New Mexico. Condon attended Santa Fe High School, where he was a student until he dropped out at the age of 16. He later enrolled in community college, which he attended for a short period before traveling to Europe at the age of 17.[4] He became aware of Balkan folk music. This discovery and Condon's subsequent exploration of world music proved to be instrumental in the development of Beirut's sound.[1] On his return from Europe, Condon enrolled at the University of New Mexico, where he studied Portuguese and Photography.[5] Condon recorded the bulk of the material used for Gulag Orkestar by himself in his bedroom, going into the studio to finish the album with the assistance of Jeremy Barnes (Neutral Milk Hotel, A Hawk and a Hacksaw) and Heather Trost (A Hawk and a Hacksaw), who became early members of the band Beirut. On the strength of the recordings, Condon was signed under the name of Beirut to Ba Da Bing! records, and Gulag Orkestar was given a May 2006 release. Condon recruited some friends to play the music live and Beirut was born. Beirut's first official music video was for the song "Elephant Gun". The video was directed by Alma Har'el. The second video, which was for the song "Postcards from Italy", was also directed by Alma Har'el, and was released later. Lauren Tafuri was the costume designer for both of these videos. Beirut's second ...