Songs such as Edward Sharpe And The Magnetic Zeros’ ‘Better Days’ seem to capture time, space and ambience in a jar. It must be something to travel to far-flung corners of the world and witness how four minutes of sound can speak so compellingly to so many.
“The fact that you’re just even able to do that is just really rewarding,” Christopher ‘Crash’ Richard says. “With ‘Better Days’ you could just take that around and for anyone who’s heard the new record and has grown attached to that song or any song, it’s a very rich experience for us to see them move about and sing it as if it’s the anthem they have been carrying with themselves throughout the day.
“It sort of translates to us as, ‘Wow, this is more than a song, it’s bigger than us.’ That’s always moving for us to realise.”
Crash was a contributor to The Magnetic Zeros before becoming a fully-fledged member. He justbelonged.
“I was finishing a record with a band I was in at the time called The Deadly Syndrome,” he recalls. “We had finished the record in Laurel Canyon on Woodrow Wilson Drive, and as that happened Alex [Ebert, bandleader] came in with some Edward Sharpe stuff because Nico and Aaron [Aglietti and Arntz, former members] produced out of that space.
“So I met people once Alex came through the studio and of course those were the early days and my time was split, but I would sing with them and go on the road here and there. I guess within two or three years I’d jumped on board full-time. I think now we’re up to 11 of us onstage,” he laughs.
Ebert is an enigma, albeit a friendly one, who has high expectations of his collaborators – yet allows plenty of creative freedom. “All of us, I’d say, have pretty high expectations for how we want this to come across to our audience and how we want this to sound in a given space,” Crash explains.
“Of course, leading that march, or that high standard, would be Alex. He has a real drive to see those things through – to bring the show and the songs and the material to the height that could be the highest for what it is. Like I said, it’s a pretty mutual standard amongst all of us, but very appreciated too, from one member to the next. It’s really great to have that kind of help and be a part of this type of team.”
The DIY video for the band’s latest single, ‘Let’s Get High’, was directed by a fan who won a competition via an online call-out. Social media has certainly opened up the dialogue between fans and bands, but something like this goes into a further artistic conversation.
“These are tools that are here for us for that reason,” Crash says. “Especially for a band like ourselves today, we are perfectly positioned for that kind of interaction. I think it’s imperative for what we do.
“Maybe there was a time when artists and musicians – and perhaps it still happens – would have this great divide between them and their audience. It feels like with every opportunity we get we try to eliminate that boundary.”
Speaking of boundaries, in a special poll announced recently for each state in the US, The Magnetic Zeros were identified as the favourite band of Pennsylvania. Congrats! “It’s flattering and silly all at the same time, I guess,” Crash laughs. “But yeah, apparently there was this study and someone got this data that Pennsylvania wasourstate. The funny part is my brother lives there, so I immediately sent that to him.”
And he concurred? “Of course! He got a good laugh out of it.”
Following The Magnetic Zeros’ Australian tour, Crash is readying himself for the release of his debut solo album,Hardly Criminal, later in the year.
“It’s been a fun opportunity for me to stretch my wings, if you will, in this manner. Having so many lovely bandmates along the way, and even with The Magnetic Zeros and the creative pool that it is, sometimes you just write songs that aren’t so fit for everything that’s going on.
“These songs came about mostly from being on the road with Edward Sharpe. It was really fun to be able to put some of my independent works down on an LP and share it. I’m really excited about it.”
And Crash isn’t alone in this regard, with plenty of outside creative pursuits coming up from The Magnetic Zeros camp in 2014. “The cool part this year is that there is a lot of material being born, in that Alex is doing a lot of production, working on film composition and scoring and whatnot. There’s myHardly Criminaldebut as I said. Christian [Letts, guitar] will make a record and Jade [Castrinos, vocals/guitar], I believe, is working on a record, as well as Josh [Collazo, drums/saxophone]. So it’s gonna be cool, we’ll have a nice balance of Edward Sharpe, as well as our independent ventures blended with it.”
Edward Sharpe And The Magnetic Zeros play atEnmore Theatre onThursday April 10.
Also appearing alongside John Mayer, Dave Matthews Band, Devendra Banhart, India.Arie, Erykah Badu, Jake Bugg, Passenger and many more at Byron Bay Bluesfest, Thursday April 17 to Monday April 21.
Edward Sharpe And The Magnetic Zerosout now through Create/Control.
