Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros Head to Richmond
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Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros Head to Richmond
By Hays Davis | For Richmond.com
Published: July 16, 2010
Big Hassle Media
Edward Sharpe & the Magnetic Zeros play the National on Sat. July 17
Maybe they don’t quite match The Polyphonic Spree in terms of sheer head count, but the warmly inviting familial vibe of Edward Sharpe & The
Magnetic Zeros makes for a different kind of tribe. Their ten members all play and sing, with songs of rootlessness and relationships wrapped in an
organic sound that’s alternately intimate and epic.
While the group could probably make do instrumentally with fewer hands, guitarist/vocalist Christian Letts is adamant that it just wouldn’t be the
same. “We had one show where we had eight people there,” said Letts, speaking from Charleston, SC. “A couple had to fly home to take care of some
personal stuff, and that was weird.”
When singer/guitarist/songwriter Alex Ebert took time out from his role in the band Ima Robot roughly three years ago and began pulling friends into a
new outfit, the group’s musical and physical growth seemed natural to its members. “It just felt right, you know,” recalled Letts. “And everybody that
recorded on the album, we got to know each other, and it’s like a big family, so going out any other way without everybody wouldn’t feel right. There
wasn’t even a discussion, really.”
With Ebert assuming the alter-ego name Edward Sharpe, the band took a couple of years to record their debut album,”Up From Below,” which was released
in 2009. Driven by the well-received single “Home,” Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros has toured extensively, finding a particularly enthusiastic
following in Australia, where “Home” charted.
Even after walking onstage with his nine friends numerous times, Letts still regularly finds something magic in their interaction. “The shows are
always different. (At one show) for some reason the instruments jumped out, and a few of us were singing this really beautiful harmony that went on
and on for a while, and I thought, ‘God, this is really special.’”
“And we’re growing and growing. Stuff like that happens all the time. It’s hard to even tell you what the feeling is. I wish I had a better way to
describe it. And it’s not even one thing; it’s the whole show, the audience, the band. It feels different. It feels really, really good. And it feels
good all the time, but (such a moment) feels a little more heavenly somehow.”
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[Edited on 16-7-2010 by Phobiac]
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