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INTERVIEW: Christian Letts (Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros)

28 September 2012 | 12:00 pm | Cheryl Billman

Christian Letts (lead guitarist in Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros) sat down for a chat with our Cheryl...

Christian Letts, lead guitarist of EDWARD SHARPE AND THE MAGNETIC ZEROS, is not an easy man to get a hold of.

But, once you do get a hold of him, you’ll find that he’s a humble, earnest artist with an inspiring passion for what he’s doing.

Here, he talks to me about Edward Sharpe’s upcoming Australian tour, ‘Big Easy Express’ [Emmett Malloy’s richly-realised tour documentary], and the frequency with which ‘Home’ features in weddings.

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Purple Sneakers: Was there a difference in the process of writing, recording and releasing ‘Here’ as compared to ‘Up From Below’?

Christian: I think this album was a lot more collaborative than the first album. We’d been touring together, writing on the tour bus, you know, whereas with the first album, Alex [Ebert, frontman of the Magnetic Zeros] had been working on that for a long time and sort of almost... kept it to himself, you know? So for this album, we got a house in Ohio, and everyone had something they’d been working on, so we all brought that to the table and we ended up recording about forty songs.

Purple Sneakers: What’s happening with the songs that didn’t make it onto the album?

Christian: Oh, they’ll be on the next album. We just recorded as much as we could, you know, while we had the time.

Purple Sneakers: There was a lot of buzz and high expectations following Up From Below. Did that ever cross your mind while you were making the album?

Christian: Um... no, actually. I didn’t even think of that until my mum mentioned it the other day. She was like, “oh, the first album was so great, you’ll have to make this one even better!”

Purple Sneakers: You’re going to be touring Australia [with Mumford and Sons] next month for what is, I think, the second time?

Christian: [counting] One, two - actually, it’s our third Australian tour.

Purple Sneakers: Right. It’s the third time you’re touring Australia. Is there anything on your “to do” list?

Christian: Not really... We’ve spent a lot of time there, actually... I’m looking forward to meeting up with friends; catching up.

Purple Sneakers: And you’re all going to be a part of the first ever Australian ‘Gentleman of the Road Stopover’ event [in Dungog, NSW] - which sold out completely in two days! What should the people who were lucky enough to score tickets be expecting?

Christian: A good time. It’s going to be great.

Purple Sneakers: And from the rest of the tour?

Christian: More of the same, I guess... The guys from Mumford and Sons are great, and we love touring with them.

Purple Sneakers: Speaking of, actually: I saw ‘Big Easy Express’ about a month ago now and it was fantastic!

Christian: Yeah... that tour was great. It was amazing. I... I wish I had the words that would describe it properly, but I don’t. I can’t even tell you what it was like. It was a fantastic tour, the artists were fantastic.

Purple Sneakers: Watching [‘Big Easy Express’], you could definitely tell that it was a really amazing experience. I think what I was most taken by was how incredibly inspiring it was to watch a group of such passionate, creative people go about their art. Was it an inspiring experience for you, creatively, to physically be on the tour?

Christian: It was, of course. Willie [Watson, former member of Old Crow Medicine Show], especially, inspired me to want to play the banjo, actually. I just wanted to learn the instrument; its history.

Purple Sneakers: I wanted to ask you about this paradox I’ve noticed. Your music has a theme of freedom and liberation throughout. And, I assume, it’s freeing for [the band] when you make music with that end goal. But when you’re putting out albums and touring and doing press, there’s a certain amount of your freedom - creative and otherwise - that you’re giving up for that, isn’t there?

Christian: I mean, in one way you’re right. It never feels like a burden from a creative perspective. Creatively, there’s no sacrifice whatsoever. But there are things in your personal life that you miss. I’ve missed my mum’s birthday; my sister’s... but they’re incredibly loving and supportive, and they understand, and so I guess that’s all you can hope for.

Purple Sneakers: Edward Sharpe is a very big, communal collaborative effort. What are the pro’s and con’s of having a group so large to work within?

Christian: You know, from my perspective I don’t think there are any con’s. I love it. But, you know, I don’t know any different. This is sort of my one frame of reference that I’m working within.

Purple Sneakers: I think it’s safe to say that ‘Home’, at the very least, was huge in Australia. Which was surprising because, at the time, it was so different from the other songs that were getting airplay. Are you ever surprised by how much the world has embraced your music?

Christian: Australia was the first place where I was really blown away by how people reacted to our music. I’m humbled by it, you know. It felt like everyone knew every word to every song, and they were singing every word with us. And I just remember being struck by how far we’d come from making music in Alex [Ebert]’s studio apartment in L.A.

Purple Sneakers: I always think it’s interesting to hear people talk about the moment they were hit by how much people loved their music. Because as an artist, I think, you have artists that you admire so much, and then you become an artist who’s revered in your own right. I think it’s so funny, because so few artists in this sort of ‘indie’ niche are aware that they’re in the same light as their idols.

Christian: Yeah... you’re right. I’ve never actually thought about it like that before. [laughs] You know, not so long ago a friend’s dad died - he was probably more of a “friend of a friend”, actually. But they had, I think... three? Three of our songs that they played during the funeral. And I was just so honored, that someone would allow our music to be a part of something so significant. I know a lot of friends have had ‘Home’ play at their wedding.

Purple Sneakers: I know of at least three weddings where ‘Home’ has accompanied the wedding waltz.

Christian: It’s very humbling.

Words by Cheryl Billman, check out her street on POSSE.COM