You guys were just here recently performing in New Orleans at the Mahalia Jackson.  How was being in New Orleans?

Orpheo: As a band, we all are totally in love with New Orleans. Personally, I think it’s my favorite city in America. There’s just something so special about the energy in that city, something kind of European that you don’t really find in many cities in America. You just really feel that history and rich culture and that kind of symbiosis of all different walks of life coming together and kind of just living and existing in a very real way with each other. I think it’s refreshing as a human and as a creative person- there’s a lot to be inspired by, being in that environment. If we have a day off or we’re passing through that area on a tour, if time permits we usually do a stopover in New Orleans.

I know you guys just wrapped up your North American tour and are headed to Australia now to tour for a bit with Mumford and Sons again. How is the tour going?

O: Just- better than ever. Each tour just seems to get better and better. And as a band we’re just becoming more and more connected to each other. The music’s just becoming tighter and, like I said it’s just becoming more of like a harmonized entity. We’ve worked hard for the last few years- a lot of traveling, a lot of learning from our experiences- personally and musically- and all the hard work feels like it’s paying off in many different regards. We have a really good team of folks that are out on the road with us helping us make it all come together and that makes it really nice. As a family unit, we’re just really getting along well and really just having fun.

Even with such a large number- How many is it now? 12 people?

O: We’re rolling 12 deep, yeah. The family keeps growing. Not only 12 people- we got a couple newborn babies that were on the road- and the mommas of the babies with us too.

You guys just kind of come together, then- I know so many people onstage at a time can seem overwhelming, but judging from your performances everything seems to fall together and harmonize. Do you think people see that in your shows?

O: I think it’s definitely about harmony. I think we want to be able to harmonize with our environment. So, that’s definitely an important element to the whole experience. Really just connecting with whoever’s there in the room with us- kind of just breaking down any preconceived notions and any kind of preconceived barriers that present themselves  sometimes in a performance environment, you know, and just kind of keepin’ it pure and fun and happy- and just a place for everybody to get together and feel a sense of community.

So, for someone that isn’t familiar with your music or this idea of breaking down barriers in a concert environment- how would you characterize the sound and feel of Edward Sharpe and The Magnetic Zeroes?

O: Oh, well gosh- it is such a melting pot of sounds and influences. You know, when you do have 12 people in the mix you get a lot of different things coming through. Everybody has different backgrounds and bring different things from their musical development and that all comes into play. I don’t know- It’s kind of like a spaghetti-western-psychedelic-folk-R&B- it’s mixin’ it all up into something and it keeps evolving. It’s definitely not genre-specific. Maybe we’ll start to create our own genre out of it.

Going along that line of evolving, what can we expect to see from you all on this next album you’re just finishing up?

O: We’re gonna take November, which is when our touring is finished, and just fine tune that third record- put those last background vocals here and there- whatever extra shaker, tambourine, and get it all mixed and sounding good. That’s gonna be coming toward the beginning of next year.

So what will that sound be like?

O: It’s got a very big, open, rich sound. I think like on “Here”, the songs have a big sound because there are a lot of us playing music, but there’s something more intimate about how those songs come off. They’re in some ways kind of stripped down. This next record’s songs are really big. They have big, rich textures and epic choruses and- they’re just pretty epic songs. We’re all pretty excited. We’ve been  actually playing some of the new ones from that record live like “High on Love” and “If I Were Free.”

You’ve been with the band since its birth?

O: Yeah, I came in right as the first record was being made. I kinda came in towards the end of the record being made and contributed as things were finishing up. That was right when the band started playing shows so I’ve been with the band since we started touring. Our first show out of L.A. was in Marshall, Texas. That’s when I joined on. I guess it’s been almost 5 years now, or something. We’ve been pretty much traveling nonstop since.

So that journey from playing small venues to playing completely sold-out shows and starring in commercials- What has that been like for you and the band over that past 5 years?

O: the whole evolution of this group has been so organic and natural about how everything has unfolded. It’s been, obviously, really exciting to watch everything grow and comfortablilities that we get to experience as things grow-like having a crew and getting our sound really sounding consistent and good every night- those types of things are so enjoyable because we can really just express ourselves and know that it’s coming across the way we want it to. All of us just feel really blessed that we get to experience these opportunities and that we continue to grow and really that we get to experience this and keep integrity in this whole process as musicians, as humans, as an entity that’s traveling around. I think we all just feel gratitude for this. Then these fans- our fan base that just keeps growing- we just have such amazing people that are coming to our shows, ready to give us so much. It makes it so easy to be able to give back. We really do it for the love. It’s creating this momentum on its own, really.