Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros | |
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Background information | |
Origin | Los Angeles, California, United States |
Genres | Indie folk, psychedelic folk, folk rock, indie rock, gospel, neo-psychedelia |
Years active | 2007–present |
Labels | Rough Trade Records, Communion, Community Music |
Associated acts | Ima Robot, We Are Each Other, Sugarcult, Alexander, Fool's Gold |
Website | edwardsharpeandthemagneticzeros |
Members |
Alex Ebert Stewart Cole Josh Collazo Orpheo McCord Christian Letts Seth Ford-Young Mark Noseworthy Christopher Richard Mitchell Yoshida Nico Aglietti |
Past members | Jade Castrinos (Lemons) Aaron Embry Nora Kirkpatrick Aaron Older Tay Strathairn |
Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros is an American indie folk band formed in Los Angeles, California in 2007. The group is led by lead singer Alex Ebert. The band's name is based on a story Ebert wrote in his youth, about 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". The group released their second full-length album, Here, on May 29, 2012, and third album, Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros, on July 23, 2013. Their fourth studio album, PersonA, was released in April 2016.
Since its founding, the band has undergone several iterations. Most notably, singer Jade Castrinos left the band in 2014. The band's current members are Mark Noseworthy, Orpheo McCord, Josh Collazo, Christian Letts, Nico Aglietti, Seth Ford-Young, Mitchell Yoshida, Christopher Richard, Stewart Cole, and Alex Ebert. The band also operates Big Sun, a non-profit focused on funding and developing co-ops and land trusts in urban areas around the world. Their first large-scale project, "Avalon Village," is in Highland Park (within Detroit), Michigan.
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."