Biography
Alex Ebert built a reputation through indie pop marked by strong melodies and infusions of folk along with psychedelia. Early on he led the punk-leaning Ima Robot for multiple years, then in 2007 added the roughly twelve-piece Edward Sharpe & the Magnetic Zeros as a second project. While both groups stayed active he issued his debut solo effort Alexander, recorded entirely on his own, in 2011. Film and television scoring assignments followed, among them the 2013 picture All Is Lost, for which he supplied a mix of instrumental chamber pop and symphonic textures. Bedroom indie electronica appeared on his résumé in 2018 via the In Support of 5ame Dude series, after which his second solo album, the hip-hop-inflected I vs I, arrived in 2020.
Born in Los Angeles to psychotherapist Michael Ebert and actress Lisa Richards, he absorbed a wide range of sounds during childhood that included classic country, ’60s soul, hip-hop, and classical music. In the late ’90s he co-founded the eclectic indie group Ima Robot alongside Timmy Anderson. Electronics specialist Oligee later joined, and the three generated local attention in Los Angeles through an energetic, refreshed take on punk and new wave. Bassist Justin Meldal-Johnsen, known for work with Beck and Tori Amos, and drummer Joey Waronker, who had played with R.E.M. and Beck, completed the lineup before the band signed to Virgin. The Public Access EP surfaced in mid-2003, and the self-titled full-length Ima Robot followed that September. With a revised roster of Ebert, Anderson, Andy Marlow on guitar and keys, Filip Nikolic on bass, and Scott Devours on drums, the band released its second album, Monument to the Masses, in September 2006. After parting from Virgin the next year, Ebert launched Edward Sharpe & the Magnetic Zeros.
The new ensemble took its name from a messianic character Ebert conceived amid post-rehab introspection. It expanded to eleven members whose bushy beards, Eastern mystic clothing, and sound—folksy pop blended with neo-psychedelia—evoked the free-loving Laurel Canyon aesthetic of the 1960s. Both projects continued in parallel: the Magnetic Zeros issued their well-received debut Up from Below in 2009, while Ima Robot delivered Another Man’s Treasure the following year. Ebert meanwhile gathered songs for a solo record, Alexander, tracking it in the gaps between Magnetic Zeros tours. Unlike the group approach of Edward Sharpe yet retaining elements of its exuberant, retro style, he performed every instrument himself; the album appeared in March 2011.
Edward Sharpe & the Magnetic Zeros returned in 2012 with Here, which reached number five on the Billboard 200 and also charted in France and Australia. Their self-titled third album arrived in mid-2013 and entered the U.S. Top 15. Later that year the soundtrack to the Robert Redford film All Is Lost was released and earned a Golden Globe for Best Score in 2014. Music for the crime drama A Most Violent Year followed in December on Community Projects. The ten-piece Magnetic Zeros convened in one room to compose and track collectively, resulting in the PersonA LP issued in spring 2016. Ebert also contributed to the Showtime comedy-drama I’m Dying Up Here, scoring the first season in 2017 with bandmate Mark Noseworthy.
Under the In Support of 5ame Dude banner he issued a trilogy of trippy, D.I.Y. indie electronica EPs in 2018, with Vol. 1 and Vol. 2 appearing online in September and Vol. 3 completing the set in October. That year he introduced the TUNERS app, intending it as a thread-based platform for sharing music that he likened to an audio version of Reddit. Returning to solo work under his own name, the eclectic and expansive I vs I emerged on Community Music in early 2020; Ebert characterized it as a borderline concept album.
Born in Los Angeles to psychotherapist Michael Ebert and actress Lisa Richards, he absorbed a wide range of sounds during childhood that included classic country, ’60s soul, hip-hop, and classical music. In the late ’90s he co-founded the eclectic indie group Ima Robot alongside Timmy Anderson. Electronics specialist Oligee later joined, and the three generated local attention in Los Angeles through an energetic, refreshed take on punk and new wave. Bassist Justin Meldal-Johnsen, known for work with Beck and Tori Amos, and drummer Joey Waronker, who had played with R.E.M. and Beck, completed the lineup before the band signed to Virgin. The Public Access EP surfaced in mid-2003, and the self-titled full-length Ima Robot followed that September. With a revised roster of Ebert, Anderson, Andy Marlow on guitar and keys, Filip Nikolic on bass, and Scott Devours on drums, the band released its second album, Monument to the Masses, in September 2006. After parting from Virgin the next year, Ebert launched Edward Sharpe & the Magnetic Zeros.
The new ensemble took its name from a messianic character Ebert conceived amid post-rehab introspection. It expanded to eleven members whose bushy beards, Eastern mystic clothing, and sound—folksy pop blended with neo-psychedelia—evoked the free-loving Laurel Canyon aesthetic of the 1960s. Both projects continued in parallel: the Magnetic Zeros issued their well-received debut Up from Below in 2009, while Ima Robot delivered Another Man’s Treasure the following year. Ebert meanwhile gathered songs for a solo record, Alexander, tracking it in the gaps between Magnetic Zeros tours. Unlike the group approach of Edward Sharpe yet retaining elements of its exuberant, retro style, he performed every instrument himself; the album appeared in March 2011.
Edward Sharpe & the Magnetic Zeros returned in 2012 with Here, which reached number five on the Billboard 200 and also charted in France and Australia. Their self-titled third album arrived in mid-2013 and entered the U.S. Top 15. Later that year the soundtrack to the Robert Redford film All Is Lost was released and earned a Golden Globe for Best Score in 2014. Music for the crime drama A Most Violent Year followed in December on Community Projects. The ten-piece Magnetic Zeros convened in one room to compose and track collectively, resulting in the PersonA LP issued in spring 2016. Ebert also contributed to the Showtime comedy-drama I’m Dying Up Here, scoring the first season in 2017 with bandmate Mark Noseworthy.
Under the In Support of 5ame Dude banner he issued a trilogy of trippy, D.I.Y. indie electronica EPs in 2018, with Vol. 1 and Vol. 2 appearing online in September and Vol. 3 completing the set in October. That year he introduced the TUNERS app, intending it as a thread-based platform for sharing music that he likened to an audio version of Reddit. Returning to solo work under his own name, the eclectic and expansive I vs I emerged on Community Music in early 2020; Ebert characterized it as a borderline concept album.
Albums
I vs I
2020
In Support of 5ame Dude, Vol. 2
2018
In Support of 5ame Dude, Vol. 1
2018
In Support of 5ame Dude, Vol. 3
2018
A Most Violent Year (Original Music From and Inspired By)
2014
All Is Lost (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)
2014
Alexander
2011
Singles
