Episode 126 with Zach Condon, skateboarder and musician, leader of the band Beirut.

Together we discussed his life and career, from growing up in Santa Fe, New Mexico where he picked up his first board in the late 90’s; from the ages of 9 til 16 years old skating every day and obsessively watching skate videos; around the same time music becoming another very strong interest, so much so that it eventually became his main focus and skateboarding took a backseat; starting the band “Beirut” in the mid 2000’s as a tribute to the Lebanese capital where the east and west meet and cultures collide, a symbol of his very eclectic music inspirations; putting out numerous amazing albums throughout the last 20 years, gaining international and critical acclaim, some of their songs even appearing in skate videos, most famously in Mark Suciu’s masterpiece part “Verso” in 2019; to keeping an eye on everything skate related despite not really skating anymore since music became his profession.

(00:13) – Intro
(01:25) – Starting skateboarding
(05:44) – Baker 2G/Pixies
(08:00) – Developing an interest for music
(11:51) – Being introduced to new music via skate videos
(13:42) – When did music “surpass” skateboarding in your life?
(26:14) – Why do you think skateboarding “clicked” for you in your teen years?
(28:40) – Creating an album vs. a video part
(31:24) – Working on “A study of losses”
(42:59) – Scoring films
(47:32) – “Crunch time” wrapping up an album
(50:42) – Unusual instruments
(56:28) – The “window”
(01:02:46) – Favorite skater-musicians?
(01:07:04) – Favorite skater-song pairings
(01:12:18) – Getting to know Mark Suciu
(01:15:29) – Other skate videos his music is featured in
(01:17:00) – Skate media consumption these days
(01:21:50) – The “necessity” of having an Instagram account
(01:27:51) – Mental health issues while touring
(01:34:40) – Living between Berlin and Norway
(01:41:32) – Surprise questions from friends
(01:41:38) – Patrik Wallner
(01:53:31) – Casper Clausen from Efterklang
(02:00:50) – Rasmus Stolberg from Efterklang
(02:02:37) – Nicholas Petree
(02:09:10) – Mouse on Mars
(02:11:43) – Chris Stein from Blondie
(02:14:22) – Alma Har'El
(02:17:03) – Jan Pivoňka
(02:24:51) – Viktoria Dalborg
(02:33:19) – Conclusion

For more information and resources: https://linktr.ee/beyondboards

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