Edward Sharpe and The Magnetic Zeros are a 10-piece folk-rock band from Los Angeles that have garnered mainstream and critical attention with the release of their debut album Up from Below in July 2009. Up from Below is a strange mixture of folk jam, ’60s throwback, Old Testament imagery, and sweeping sing-a-long. The album features several percussionists, guitar, drums, bass, piano, trumpet, tenor ukulele, banjo, accordion, and fiddle. OffBeat spoke with guitarist Christian Letts about the album, tour, and the inspirational value of the homeless.

Photo By Erika Goldring

How do you express yourself as a musician in such a large group?

It’s one voice. Music is way bigger than any of us. When we record, people are voluntarily turning their volume down if need be. Sometimes people will bow out if they think it’s better without them. We’re all parts of one voice.

Do you ever write lyrics?

I write some lyrics on my own, but Up from Below is all Alex [Ebert, singer/bandleader]. He wrote them all.

Up from Below took two years to create. Tell me about that process.

There wasn’t a goal necessarily. It was a collection of people getting together, becoming a family, and writing music that they really loved. There were a lot of jams over the dinner table that 20 minutes later would become a song recording.

Has this band changed you?

This project is illumination to me. It woke me up spiritually and creatively. It was interesting, a friend put on a CD of my old band [L.A. electro-rock group Written House] and I couldn’t recognize myself. I was angry, and it was really weird looking back and not recognizing yourself. I had lost my way. It was so serious. I became down on myself. I stopped listening to my inner voice. I stopped smiling. This process has been with the purest of intentions, and it’s gotten into literally everything I do.

Are there any moments on tour that were particularly inspirational to you?

We met a lot of amazing people on the road and I try to remember them. We’ve had great run-ins with homeless people. Some really bad ones too, but a lot of really great ones. We have a list of great quotes that homeless people have said to us. It’s really interesting to read together. They’re awesome lyrics for something one day. Or just really beautiful.

You guys have been popping up in TV shows and in commercials for Ford and the NFL. How do you feel about your songs being used commercially?

We’ve talked about this before, and music is for everybody. As long as something doesn’t feel bad to you.

You were in a band before, but not with this much success. How is it to sell out shows and gain a certain amount of fame and success?

I never even think of the word “fame”. It’s a ridiculous word that doesn’t feel real. I’ve been playing music forever and I’m just going to travel now. I’m in a group I really love with some of my favorite people in the world.

The one thing I do think about is I remember being in my old band, which is what all bands go through. I would call people a month in advance, telling them when we were playing. It was a struggle getting a couple hundred people to our show. And now, the first show we ever had we sold out. Holy shit. Its an amazing feeling going from that to having purely word of mouth get people to our shows.

Are there any current bands that you really want to collaborate with?

There are so many. Old Crow Medicine Show, Mumford and Sons, those are ones that just come to me.

Have you ever been to New Orleans before?

New Orleans is one of my favorite places in the world. It’s somewhere I always wanted to visit and I finally got to go for the first time last year. You can step off the bus and get a feeling for a place, like “I like this place” or “I’m not sure about this place.” Alex and I stepped off the bus in New Orleans and we were both on our phones. I looked at him and asked, “What are you doing?” and he says, “Craigslisting apartments in New Orleans.” I was doing the exact same thing. I love the energy in New Orleans, I love that the light and dark are equally present. A lot of places, the dark side is swept under the rug. But New Orleans feels just real. It’s alive, and you can feel it through your feet. Just going at 2 in the morning and seeing 20 dudes blazing the most amazing hot jazz medley. Not just great musicians, but with incredible style to back it. And then people from all walks of life coming out of the woodworks to dance. That really hit me.

Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros play tonight at the Howlin’ Wolf.