Beirut is an American indie-rock and world music band which was originally the solo musical project of Santa Fe native Zach Condon and later expanded into a band.
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, 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. After recording, Condon formed a full band which at times varies in the number of members, from six to ten.
The Rip Tide is taken from the 2011 album The Rip Tide.
