After dropping out of full-time education in his late teens in Albuquerque, USA, Zach Condon (b. Zachary Francis Condon, 13 February 1986, Santa Fe, New Mexico, USA; trumpet, ukulele, vocals) made several trips to Europe that inspired him to began work on Gulag Orkestar, a unique album that used Balkan rhythms and melodies to embellish a Magnetic Fields and Smiths-influenced indie melancholia. While in Paris, Condon discovered that people of his own age were listening to acts such as the Macedonian Kocani Orkestar and Serbia's Boban Markovic Orkestar in addition to French acts uch as Air and Phoenix. On returning to the USA he began to lay down some ideas in his makeshift bedroom studio for the project that would become Beirut, before opening as a one-man act for Jeremy Barnes of Neutral Milk Hotel and A Hawk And A Hacksaw fame. Barnes was impressed by Condon's performance and subsequently played percussion and accordion on Gulag Orkestar, while his long-time collaborator, Heather Trost, contributed violin. No guitars were used for the sessions and it was Condon's ukulele that formed the skeleton of many of the tracks. Additional recording, mixing and mastering took place in Brooklyn and the album was completed by the end of 2005.
By the time Condon had made a permanent move to New York in 2006, the hyping of Beirut on many influential Internet blogs ensured that their early performances in the city were busy affairs. Following the release of Gulag Orkestar in summer 2006, Condon set out on an ambitious world tour and put together a core band that included Perrin Cloutier (b. 17 June 1984, North Carolina, USA; cello/accordion), Jason Poranski (b. 23 September 1978, New Jersey, USA; guitar, mandolin, keyboards), Kristin Ferebee (b. 4 March 1984, Texas, USA; violin/melodica), Jon Natchez (b. Jonathan Koheleth Natchez, 20 October 1976, Massachusetts, USA; mandolin, saxophone, clarinet, glockenspiel), Nick Petree (b. Nicholas Owen Petree, 14 June 1980, Oklahoma, USA; drums/percussion), Paul Collins (b. 15 October 1984, Washington, USA; organ, ukulele, percussion) and Kelly Pratt (b. 2 May 1978, Kentucky, USA; trumpet/baritone horn). The tour included prestigious support slots with Tucson, Arizona alt country pioneers Calexico, but by November Condon had been hospitalised for extreme exhaustion and a number of eagerly anticipated shows at the Bowery Ballroom, New York were cancelled.
