I took the ferry across the Puget Sound on a clear crisp day. The water rested like glass, the only disturbance being the boats that cut through it quickly before returning to its quiet dreamy state. To my left, I could see the beautiful Mt. Rainier poking her head out of the clouds, feeling the sun warm the ice on her surface. To my right, houses of all shapes, sizes, and colors stood on the waterfront and watched me watch them. In my ears, a trumpet and a piano harmonize perfectly, playing for me, and the sun sat on my lap, keeping me warm.
So today I am feeling yellow. Today I can’t help but feel small. Today I enjoy the little things and savor the beauty that is around me. Today I live in a state of peaceful happiness. Today I am yellow, and as the wind dances around me like a ballet dancer with the world as their stage, Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros sings to me—this is yellow.
Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros is an eleven-person indie rock band. They draw their inspiration from the communal musical communities that peppered Southern California (specifically Laurel Canyon) with positive vibrations during the ’60s and early ’70s.
Alex Ebert, founder of Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros, said the band first started as a “social experiment of ramshackleness” — a group of several musicians free to make mistakes while playing with an almost childlike innocence and freedom. However, he realized that the music they were making and the musicians they were becoming were worthy of being taken seriously. “Just by virtue of the process, we started to become a great band, basically,” he said bluntly in an interview with Rolling Stone magazine. One thing that is so special about this band is their respect for each other and their use of so many instruments to make truly one of a kind music. “It was unmediated communication between 10 people. It was pretty magnificent.” said Ebert.
They released their first full length album, Up from Below, in July of 2009. The band grew in popularity based in part on its fiery live show, touring often, and making several television appearances, including multiple performances on Late Night with David Letterman. Edward Sharpe & the Magnetic Zeros followed up their debut in 2012 with the album, Here. This album was quickly loved by fans, climbing to number five on the Billboard 200. Since then, they have released two more albums: Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros in 2013 and PersonA in 2016.
Music has played an important part of every human culture, both past and present. People around the world respond to music in a universal way. Now, advances in neuroscience enable researchers to quantitatively measure just how music affects the brain. The interest in the effects of music on the brain has led to a new branch of research called neuromusicology which explores how the nervous system reacts to music; and the evidence is in — music activates every known part of the brain. Listening to and playing music can make you smarter, happier, healthier and more productive at all stages of life.
Music grounds us in all aspects of our life. Music can make you feel more hopeful, powerful, and in control of your life, by increasing the neurotransmitter dopamine.
Picture this: You plug in your ear buds and set your playlist to Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros Radio. Sound waves travel out of your ear buds and into your ear canal until they reach the eardrum. The eardrum passes the vibrations through the middle ear bones, or ossicles, into the inner ear. The inner ear is shaped like a snail, called the cochlea. Inside the cochlea, there are thousands of tiny hair cells that change the vibrations into electrical signals that are sent to the brain through the ‘hearing nerve’ or the auditory vestibular nerve. The brain tells you that you are hearing a sound and what that sound is. You enjoy this sound (because how can you not) and the neurotransmitter dopamine (a chemical) is released into the synapses between neurons making you feel “yellow”. Pretty magnificent isn’t it?
I will never not be impressed by the power of music. The power to bring together unlike individuals, the power to send chills down your spine, the power to stop tears, or maybe induce them. The power to change you physically and emotionally.
You can listen to Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros on Spotify, and other music apps. Though it is hard to pick a favorite by them, I think my go-to song would be “Home” from their 2009 album Up from Below. I have many fond memories with that song and it never fails to put a smile on my face.
What song does that for you?
BRIDGET BENEVIDES | “Come and dance with me” | KXSU Music Reporter