Sebu Simonian

Simonian was born in 1978 in Aleppo,[1] Syria to Armenian-Lebanese parents,[7][8] whose ancestors were survivors of the Armenian Genocide.[1] His paternal grandfather was from the region of Cilicia (in present-day Turkey's Çukurova region).[1][9] 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."[10] Soon after his birth his family returned to Lebanon where they stayed until 1985[11] and moved to the United States due to the civil war there.[7]

Simonian grew up in Los Angeles County.[7] His family is involved in the Armenian community,[12] while Simonian himself was an editorial assistant at the English Section of the Armenian daily Asbarez in the late 1990s.[13] He graduated from Glendale High School.[1][14] He is an alumnus of the California State University, Northridge,[5] where he studied music.[14]

Simonian started his first band when he was 15.[11] In 2004,[15] Simonian (as lead singer and keyboardist) and Ryan Welker, guitarist and backing vocals, formed the rock[16] band Aviatic.[5]

Simonian met Ryan Merchant in 2008 through Craigslist while searching for a job as a music producer.[17] Initially, they worked as jingle writers and wrote songs for other bands.[18] They formed the indie pop duo Capital Cities in 2010.[11] In 2017, Simonian was featured on Armenian singer Sirusho's single "Vuy Aman".[19]

Simonian is married with two sons.

Simonian wears a long beard, which has gained significant media attention.[20][21] 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".[22] 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.