HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Alexander Michael Tahquitz Ebert (born May 12, 1978) is an American singer-songwriter and composer. He is best known for being the lead singer and songwriter for the American bands
Ima Robot Ima Robot is an American band based in Los Angeles, California, that formed in the late 1990s. They have released several albums, EPs, and singles, most notably ''Ima Robot (album), Ima Robot'' in 2003, ''Search and Destroy'' and ''Monument to ...
and Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros. On January 12, 2014, Ebert won the Golden Globe Award for Best Original Score for his musical score to the film '' All Is Lost'' (2013).


Early life

Ebert was born in Los Angeles in 1978, the son of a
psychotherapist Psychotherapy (also psychological therapy, talk therapy, or talking therapy) is the use of Psychology, psychological methods, particularly when based on regular Conversation, personal interaction, to help a person change behavior, increase hap ...
, Michael Ebert, and actress Lisa Richards. His father would often take the family on long car trips through the
desert A desert is a landscape where little precipitation occurs and, consequently, living conditions create unique biomes and ecosystems. The lack of vegetation exposes the unprotected surface of the ground to denudation. About one-third of the la ...
. On one such trip, his mother took a video of his father chanting in the desert, cradling Alex's baby sister, Gabi, which would one day become a part of the video for the Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros song "Desert Song". His grandfather, Carl Ebert, had been Intendant of Deutsche Oper, Berlin; he also was a famous actor trained by Max Reinhardt. His full birth name is Alexander Michael Tahquitz Ebert, as his father took one of his son's names from his favorite climbing rock, Tahquitz Rock. Alex later discovered that Tahquitz is the name of a "demon" in the Native American language of the Cahuilla people. His father influenced young Alexander by playing music by artists like
Patsy Cline Patsy Cline (born Virginia Patterson Hensley; September 8, 1932 – March 5, 1963) was an American singer. One of the most influential vocalists of the 20th century, she was known as one of the first country music artists to successfully Cross ...
,
Willie Nelson Willie Hugh Nelson (born April 29, 1933) is an American singer, guitarist, songwriter, actor and activist. He was one of the main figures of the outlaw country subgenre that developed in the late 1960s as a reaction to the conservative restr ...
, and
Johnny Cash John R. Cash (born J. R. Cash; February 26, 1932 – September 12, 2003) was an American singer-songwriter. Most of his music contains themes of sorrow, moral tribulation, and redemption, especially songs from the later stages of his career. ...
. He also cites 60s R&B, Pavarotti, and
Beethoven Ludwig van Beethoven (baptised 17 December 177026 March 1827) was a German composer and pianist. He is one of the most revered figures in the history of Western music; his works rank among the most performed of the classical music repertoire ...
as influences, as well as his elementary school (Children's Community School) teacher, a woman from South Africa named Ruth Belonsky. Ebert enjoyed listening to
hip-hop Hip-hop or hip hop (originally disco rap) is a popular music genre that emerged in the early 1970s from the African-American community of New York City. The style is characterized by its synthesis of a wide range of musical techniques. Hi ...
as a teenager, and originally intended to be a
rapper Rapping (also rhyming, flowing, spitting, emceeing, or MCing) is an artistic form of vocal delivery and emotive expression that incorporates "rhyme, rhythmic speech, and ommonlystreet vernacular". It is usually performed over a backing ...
. Following a school project on
Marlon Brando Marlon Brando Jr. (April 3, 1924 – July 1, 2004) was an American actor. Widely regarded as one of the greatest cinema actors of the 20th century,''Movies in American History: An Encyclopedia''
, Ebert developed an affection for film and cinematic studies. His mother supported his budding passion and Ebert consequently was enrolled in extracurricular filmmaking classes. Ebert attended Oakwood School for high school, and then
Emerson College Emerson College is a private college in Boston, Massachusetts, United States. It also maintains campuses in Los Angeles and Well, Limburg, Netherlands (Kasteel Well). Founded in 1880 by Charles Wesley Emerson as a "school of Public Speaking, o ...
for a time before dropping out. After dropping out, Ebert directed a short film and wrote several screenplays. He attributes the revival of his interest in professional music to his childhood friends and excessive drug usage during that period of his life.


Career


Ima Robot

Ebert began writing and recording music (primarily rap) with his longtime friend Tim "Timmy the Terror" Anderson in 1997. The duo, occasionally joined by local DJs and longtime friends Oliver " Oligee" Goldstein and Jason "One Three/ComputerJay" Taylor, recorded demos under various names with various other members until they settled on a final name in 1999, ''
Ima Robot Ima Robot is an American band based in Los Angeles, California, that formed in the late 1990s. They have released several albums, EPs, and singles, most notably ''Ima Robot (album), Ima Robot'' in 2003, ''Search and Destroy'' and ''Monument to ...
,'' which originated from an inside joke between Anderson and Ebert. With Goldstein as an official third member, Ima Robot began recording demos and performing shows around Los Angeles. The band was signed to Virgin Records on 2002. Their first full-length album released on September 6, 2003, was ''Ima Robot'', which featured the singles "Dynomite" and "Song #1." After the departure of Goldstein (and other members), bassist Filip Nikolic joined in 2005. On September 12, 2006, Ima Robot released their second album '' Monument to the Masses'' which featured the singles "Creeps Me Out" and "Lovers in Captivity". In April 2007, the band won their independence from Virgin Records and continued to work unsigned under the management of Alexis Rivera of Echo Park Records. The song "Gangster" premiered on the band's
MySpace Myspace (formerly stylized as MySpace, currently myspace; and sometimes my␣, with an elongated Whitespace character#Substitute images, open box symbol) is a social networking service based in the United States. Launched on August 1, 2003, it w ...
on April 15, 2008, with its lyrics posted in a blog entry by the band. In 2010 the band announced the upcoming release of their new album, ''
Another Man's Treasure ''Another Man's Treasure'' is the third album by Ima Robot. It was released by Werewolf Heart Records on September 18, 2010. It was made available on iTunes, and listeners could purchase the album through the band's site, which offered several d ...
'', and released the song "Ruthless" on the Internet. They are now being represented by Anderson's Werewolf Heart label. Ebert was quoted as saying that "most of the songs were recorded between two and four years ago", but that he looks forward to making music with Anderson and Nikolic again. Ebert expressed frustration with the corporate limitations on the band, saying he "pretty unironically ended up feeling like a robot by the end of the process because of the major label thing."


Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros

After years of his Los Angeles party lifestyle and subsequent drug addiction, Ebert broke up with his then-girlfriend, moved out of his house, and spent some time in rehab. During this time, he developed Edward Sharpe, his
alter ego An alter ego (Latin for "other I") means an alternate Self (psychology), self, which is believed to be distinct from a person's normal or true original Personality psychology, personality. Finding one's alter ego will require finding one's other ...
. "I don't want to put too much weight on it, because in some ways it's just a name that I came up with. But I guess if I look deeper, I do feel like I had lost my identity in general. I really didn't know what was going on or who I was anymore. Adopting another name helped me open up an avenue to get back." Ebert developed Sharpe into a messianic figure, saying "He was sent down to Earth to kinda heal and save mankind, but he kept getting distracted by girls and falling in love." Though the band would eventually grow into an ensemble of – at various points – even more than 10 people, Ebert began initial writing and recording completely alone, doing "the horn lines with my mouth or a kazoo on the demos" and "all the background vocals layering imelf, pretending that there were people there." The band began to take shape with the addition of singer Jade Castrinos, whom he saw sitting on an outdoor bench and immediately knew he needed to have a relationship with. Their resultant affair formed the seeds of what would become Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros. They started writing music together, and became a part of the art and music collective The Masses, which was partially started by some seed money from actor
Heath Ledger Heath Andrew Ledger (4 April 1979 – 22 January 2008) was an Australian actor. After playing roles in several Australian television and film productions during the 1990s, he moved to the United States in 1998 to further develop his film care ...
. While their relationship did not last, the group took off in a big way, and their group soon swelled to more than 10 members, some of whom had been Ebert's friends since he was young. By summer 2009, they were touring the country. Their first album, '' Up from Below'', was released in July 2009. Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros appeared on the ''
Late Show with David Letterman ''Late Show with David Letterman'' is an American late-night talk show hosted by David Letterman on CBS, the first iteration of the ''Late Show'' franchise. The show debuted on August 30, 1993, and was produced by Letterman's production com ...
'' on May 10, 2012, promoting their next album entitled ''Here'', which was released on May 29, 2012. Their third full-length album, '' Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros'', was released on July 23, 2013. They again appeared on the ''Late Show'' to promote the album, performing the track "Life Is Hard." On their most recent album, ''
PersonA A persona (plural personae or personas) is a strategic mask of identity in public, the public image of one's personality, the social role that one adopts, or simply a fictional Character (arts), character. It is also considered "an intermediary ...
'', Ebert tried to evolve, stating, "In a lot of ways this album does things that are missing." He went on to discuss why the name Edward Sharpe is crossed out on the cover, saying, "There was no character to begin with, so why not kill him? He never really was there. If anything, and at most, Edward Sharpe was a vehicle for me to get to slough off whatever I had become up until that point, and to get back to or sort of allow my pure self to come forth into sort of a clean slate."


Solo career

In 2011, Ebert released his first solo album, ''
Alexander Alexander () is a male name of Greek origin. The most prominent bearer of the name is Alexander the Great, the king of the Ancient Greek kingdom of Macedonia who created one of the largest empires in ancient history. Variants listed here ar ...
''. He appeared on '' Conan'' on September 12, 2011, to promote his solo album. On August 4, 2015, it was announced that Ebert would appear as the lead singer on Avicii's single " For a Better Day" from his album '' Stories''. "Feel the Bern" was added to Ebert's SoundCloud on September 30, 2015. The anthem celebrates the movement surrounding Bernie Sanders and compels people to "Feel the Bern", which was a slogan of Bernie's 2016 & 2020 presidential campaigns. Ebert's second non-soundtrack solo album ''I vs I'' was released on January 31, 2020. Ebert has said that ''I vs I'' is “The most in-my-emotions, emo, self-centered album that I’ve probably ever made, but it’s been part of my process to get back to myself.”


Theatre

Ebert wrote the song "Daddy Knows Best" for ''SpongeBob SquarePants: The Broadway Musical''. As part of the team of songwriters who contributed to the score (which included
Cyndi Lauper Cynthia Ann Stephanie Lauper ( ; born June 22, 1953) is an American singer, songwriter and actress. Known for her distinctive image, featuring a variety of hair colors and eccentric clothing, and for her powerful four-octave vocal range;Jerome, ...
, Panic! At the Disco, and
John Legend John Roger Stephens (born December 28, 1978), known professionally as John Legend, is an American singer, songwriter, and pianist. He began his musical career working behind the scenes for other artists, playing piano on Lauryn Hill's " Every ...
), Ebert was awarded the Outer Critics Circle Award for Outstanding New Score (Broadway or Off-Broadway) and was nominated for the Tony Award for Best Original Score.


Personal life

Ebert has a daughter with former partner Roehm Hepler-Gonzalez. Ebert began a relationship with actress Jena Malone in 2019.


Discography

;With
Ima Robot Ima Robot is an American band based in Los Angeles, California, that formed in the late 1990s. They have released several albums, EPs, and singles, most notably ''Ima Robot (album), Ima Robot'' in 2003, ''Search and Destroy'' and ''Monument to ...
*''
Ima Robot Ima Robot is an American band based in Los Angeles, California, that formed in the late 1990s. They have released several albums, EPs, and singles, most notably ''Ima Robot (album), Ima Robot'' in 2003, ''Search and Destroy'' and ''Monument to ...
'' (2003) *'' Monument to the Masses'' (2006) *''
Another Man's Treasure ''Another Man's Treasure'' is the third album by Ima Robot. It was released by Werewolf Heart Records on September 18, 2010. It was made available on iTunes, and listeners could purchase the album through the band's site, which offered several d ...
'' (2010) ;With Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros * '' Here Comes EP'' (2009) * '' Up from Below'' (2009) * '' Here'' (2012) * '' Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros'' (2013) * ''
PersonA A persona (plural personae or personas) is a strategic mask of identity in public, the public image of one's personality, the social role that one adopts, or simply a fictional Character (arts), character. It is also considered "an intermediary ...
'' (2016) ;Solo * ''
Alexander Alexander () is a male name of Greek origin. The most prominent bearer of the name is Alexander the Great, the king of the Ancient Greek kingdom of Macedonia who created one of the largest empires in ancient history. Variants listed here ar ...
'' (2011) * ''I vs I'' (2020)


Awards and nominations


References


External links

*
Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros official website

Ima Robot official websiteAlexander Ebert official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ebert, Alex Singers from Los Angeles Writers from Los Angeles 1978 births Living people American male singer-songwriters American rock singers American rock songwriters American alternative rock musicians Golden Globe Award–winning musicians Grammy Award winners 21st-century American singer-songwriters 21st-century American male singers Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros members Singer-songwriters from California