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 Indie pop (also typeset as indie-pop or indiepop) is a music genre and subculture that combines guitar pop with a DIY ethic in opposition to the style and tone of mainstream pop music. It originated from British post-punk in the late 1970s and s ...

duo

Capital Cities A capital city, or just capital, is the municipality holding primary status in a country, state, province, department, or other subnational division, usually as its seat of the government. A capital is typically a city that physically encomp ...

Early life

Simonian was born in 1978 in

Aleppo Aleppo is a city in Syria, which serves as the capital of the Aleppo Governorate, the most populous Governorates of Syria, governorate of Syria. With an estimated population of 2,098,000 residents it is Syria's largest city by urban area, and ...

Syria Syria, officially the Syrian Arab Republic, is a country in West Asia located in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Levant. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the west, Turkey to Syria–Turkey border, the north, Iraq to Iraq–Syria border, t ...

to Armenian parents from Lebanon, whose ancestors were survivors of the

Armenian genocide The Armenian genocide was the systematic destruction of the Armenians, Armenian people and identity in the Ottoman Empire during World War I. Spearheaded by the ruling Committee of Union and Progress (CUP), it was implemented primarily t ...

. His paternal grandfather was from the region of

Cilicia Cilicia () is a geographical region in southern Anatolia, extending inland from the northeastern coasts of the Mediterranean Sea. Cilicia has a population ranging over six million, concentrated mostly at the Cilician plain (). The region inclu ...

(in present-day Turkey's

Çukurova Çukurova (), or the Cilician Plain (''Cilicia Pedias'' in antiquity), is a large fertile plain in the Cilicia region of southern Anatolia. The plain covers the easternmost areas of Mersin Province, southern and central Adana Province, western Os ...

region). Simonian's parents were from

Beirut Beirut ( ; ) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Lebanon. , Greater Beirut has a population of 2.5 million, just under half of Lebanon's population, which makes it the List of largest cities in the Levant region by populatio ...

Lebanon Lebanon, officially the Republic of Lebanon, is a country in the Levant region of West Asia. Situated at the crossroads of the Mediterranean Basin and the Arabian Peninsula, it is bordered by Syria to the north and east, Israel to the south ...

, but "because of a

civil war A civil war is a war between organized groups within the same Sovereign state, state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies.J ...

ismum had to flee and ehappened 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 Los Angeles County, officially the County of Los Angeles and sometimes abbreviated as LA County, is the most populous county in the United States, with 9,663,345 residents estimated in 2023. Its population is greater than that of 40 individua ...

. His family is involved in the Armenian community, while Simonian himself was an editorial assistant at the English Section of the Armenian daily ''

Asbarez ''Asbarez'' ( "Arena") is an Armenian-American bilingual daily newspaper published in Armenian and English in Los Angeles, California. It was the official newspaper Armenian Revolutionary Federation newspaper for the Western United States un ...

'' in the late 1990s. He graduated from Glendale High School. He is an alumnus of the

California State University, Northridge California State University, Northridge (CSUN or Cal State Northridge), is a public university in the Northridge neighborhood of Los Angeles, California, United States. With a total enrollment of 36,848 students (as of Fall 2024), it has the ...

, 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 Craigslist (stylized as craigslist) is a privately held American company operating a classified advertisements website with sections devoted to jobs, housing, for sale, items wanted, services, community service, gigs, résumés, and discussi ...

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

in 2010. Simonian was featured on

Brian Wilson Brian Douglas Wilson (June 20, 1942 – June 11, 2025) was an American musician, songwriter, singer and record producer who co-founded the Beach Boys. Often Brian Wilson is a genius, called a genius for his novel approaches to pop compositio ...

's 2015 album

No Pier Pressure ''No Pier Pressure'' is the tenth studio album by American musician Brian Wilson, released April 7, 2015 on Capitol Records. Originally planned as a follow-up to the Beach Boys' 2012 reunion album ''That's Why God Made the Radio'', ''No Pier Pr ...

, performing and producing the track "Runaway Dancer". In 2017, Simonian was featured on Armenian singer

Sirusho Siranush Hrachyayi Harutyunyan (; born 7 January 1987), known professionally as Sirusho (), is an Armenian singer and songwriter. She received her first award when she was nine years old for her song "Lusabats". Sirusho's first studio album, ''Si ...

'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 ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. The magazine was first known fo ...

'' magazine named his beard the best at the 2014

Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival Coachella (officially called the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival and sometimes known as Coachella Festival) is an annual music and arts festival held at the Empire Polo Club in Indio, California, in the Coachella Valley in the Colora ...

and described it as "luxuriant nd

Rasputin Grigori Yefimovich Rasputin ( – ) was a Russian mystic and faith healer. He is best known for having befriended the imperial family of Nicholas II, the last Emperor of Russia, through whom he gained considerable influence in the final ye ...

-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

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Simonian, Sebu 1978 births American keyboardists American people of Armenian descent Musicians from Aleppo American people of Lebanese descent Lebanese people of Armenian descent Singers from Los Angeles Living people 21st-century American singer-songwriters Singer-songwriters from California California State University, Northridge alumni