Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros is an American indie folk band formed in Los Angeles,
California in 2007.
Led by lead vocalist Alex Ebert, the group features a revolving lineup of up to 12 people.
It began as a collaboration between Ebert and singer Jade Castrinos as part of a musical
collective.
Ebert's live persona and the band's name are based on the protagonist of a story he wrote,
a messianic figure named Edward Sharpe.
Drawing from roots rock, folk, gospel, and psychedelic music, the band's image and sound
evoke the hippie movement of the 1960s and 1970s.
The group's first show was played July 18, 2007 at The Troubadour in West Hollywood,
California.
Their first studio album, Up from Below, was released on July 7, 2009 on Community Records
and featured the popular single "Home".
Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros released their second full-length album, Here, on May
29, 2012.
Their third album, Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros, was released on July 23, 2013.
History Origin and first studio album
After years of the Los Angeles party life and subsequent drug addiction, Ima Robot frontman
Alex Ebert broke up with his then-girlfriend, moved out of his house, and spent time in
rehab.
During this time, Ebert began to write a book about a messianic figure named Edward Sharpe
that was "sent down to Earth to kinda heal and save mankind, but he kept getting distracted
by girls and falling in love."
Ebert adopted the Sharpe persona as his alter ego.
He said, "I don't want to put too much weight on it, because in some ways it's just a name
that I came up with.
But I guess if I look deeper, I do feel like I had lost my identity in general.
I really didn't know what was going on or who I was anymore.
Adopting another name helped me open up an avenue to get back."
After meeting singer Jade Castrinos outside a Los Angeles cafe, Ebert and Castrinos started
writing music together, and became a part of the art and music collective The Masses,
which was partially started by some seed money from actor Heath Ledger.
While the two had a romantic relationship that did not last, their fledgling group eventually
swelled to more than 10 members, some of whom had been Alex's friends since he was young.
In mid 2009, Ebert, Castrinos, and a group of musicians toured the country by bus as
Edward Sharpe & the Magnetic Zeros.
Their first show in 2009 was at the Marfa Film Festival in Marfa, Texas.
The band recorded their debut album, Up From Below, in Laurel Canyon.
Produced by Aaron Older and Nico Aglietti, it was released on July 14, 2009.
On April 12, 2009, the band released "Desert Song", a music video and the first of a 12-part
feature-length musical called SALVO!.
Part 2, "Kisses Over Babylon", was released November 24, 2009 through Spinner.com.
Part 3, "40 Day Dream", was uploaded to YouTube by the band on May 19, 2011.
Big Easy Express and second studio album In April 2011, the band joined Mumford & Sons
and Old Crow Medicine Show on the Railroad Revival Tour.
According to American Songwriter, the tour stopped in six cities, playing alternative
venues such as an Austin, Texas high school where Mumford & Sons taught the marching band
how to play their hit "The Cave".
The tour was also the subject of Grammy-nominated director Emmett Malloy's latest documentary
Big Easy Express, which strove to capture "the pure joy of music" through Americana
folk imagery.
The documentary went on to win in the category for Best Long Form Music Video at the 2013
Grammy Awards.
The group's second album, Here, was released on May 29, 2012.
Third studio album The band's third studio album, Edward Sharpe
and the Magnetic Zeros, was released in 2013.
This was followed by tours of North America, UK, Europe, & Australia which included headlining
dates as well as major festivals.
Members
Alex Ebert – vocals, guitar, percussion, piano
Stewart Cole – trumpet, percussion, keyboards, tenor ukulele, vocals
Josh Collazo – drums, percussion, saxophone, vocals
Orpheo McCord – drums, percussion, marimba, didgeridoo, vocals
Christian Letts – guitar, vocals, mandolin Seth Ford-Young – bass, vocals
Mark Noseworthy – guitar, vocals, banjo, mandolin, charango, ronroco
Christopher "Crash" Richard– vocals, percussion As of marketing on the band's Facebook page
in 2013: Mitchell Yoshida – piano, clavinet, vocals
Additional, touring and/or recording personnel As listed in the iTunes LP for the most recent
album, Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros, 2013, or present tour:
Nico Aglietti– guitar and co-producer; previously synthesizer, keyboards, vocals, and a main
band member Aaron Arntz– piano; previously also clavinet,
vocals as a main band member Aaron Embry– piano, organs; previously keyboards,
piano, vocals, harmonica as a main band member Roger Joseph Manning Jr – piano
Nathaniel Markman– fiddler Fred Bows – violin
Susie Bows – violin Hippos August - humming, moaning, Surbahar
Joy Cantor - public relations Ryan Messick – tour manager
Bryan Ling – manager Former personnel
In addition to Aglietti, Arntz and Embry: Aaron Older – bass, vocals, banjo, percussion
Tay Strathairn – piano, harmonica, vocals Jade Castrinos – vocals, guitar, percussion,
keyboard Nora Kirkpatrick – accordion, keyboard,
vocals Past touring/ additional personnel
Odessa Jorgensen – fiddle, vocals during 2012-2013 tour
Anna Bulbrook – viola, vocals Tyler James – piano, vocals
Felix Bloxsom – drums Adam Privitera – whistler
Ryan Richter – guitar, lap steel Michael Farfel – manager/announcer
Discography Studio albums
EPs Here Comes EP
Singles References
External links Official website