Sebu Simonian
Sebu Simonian (born October 15, 1978; ) is an Armenian-American musician, singer, songwriter, and record producer, one-half of the Los Angeles-based indie pop duo Capital Cities. Early life. Simonian was born in 1978 in Aleppo, Syria to Armenian-Lebanese parents, whose ancestors were survivors of the Armenian genocide. His paternal grandfather was from the region of Cilicia (in present-day Turkey's Çukurova region). Simonian's parents were from Beirut, Lebanon, but "because of a civil war [his] mum had to flee and [he] happened to be born in Syria." Soon after his birth his family  returned to Lebanon where they stayed until 1985 and moved to the United States due to the civil war there. Simonian grew up in Los Angeles County. His family is involved in the Armenian community, while Simonian himself was an editorial assistant at the English Section of the Armenian daily "Asbarez" in the late 1990s. He graduated from Glendale High School. He is an alumnus of the California State University, Northridge, where he studied music. Music career. Simonian started his first band when he was 15. In 2004, Simonian (as lead singer and keyboardist) and Ryan Welker, guitarist and backing  vocals, formed the rock band Aviatic. Simonian met Ryan Merchant in 2008 through Craigslist while searching for a job as a music producer. Initially, they worked as jingle writers and wrote songs for other bands. They formed the indie pop duo Capital Cities in 2010. In 2017, Simonian was featured on Armenian singer Sirusho's single "Vuy Aman". Personal life. Simonian is married with two sons. Simonian wears a long beard, which has gained significant media attention. "Rolling Stone" magazine named his beard the best at the 2014 Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival and described it as "luxuriant [and ] Rasputin-like" and rabbi-like. When asked why he doesn't shave, he responded "I'm just lazy" and added that he sees himself as "a little bit of" a hipster.