Sebu Simonian

Sebu Simonian (born October 15, 1978; ) is an Armenian-American keyboardist, singer, and songwriter, one-half of the Los Angeles-based indie pop duo Capital Cities.

Early life Simonian was born in 1978 in Aleppo, whose ancestors were survivors of the Armenian genocide. 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 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, 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 and has 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.

Filmography