Runner-up of the 2019 “Up From Below” Cover Song Video Contest
Name: Emily Hall and Jonny Wilde
Hometown: Manchester, U.K.
Describe how you discovered Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros?
Emily: “I was only 13 at the time. I remember hearing Home come on the radio and turning it right up to the max and dancing like a loon, it was not like anything I’d ever heard! I was just getting into ‘folky’ type of music at the time and other kids thought I was a weirdo for listening to what they called ‘hillbilly music.’ But I didn’t mind. I was too busy dancing along to ESMZ and haven’t stopped since!”
Jonny: “I was introduced to them through Emily around 2014. We were studying together in Manchester and would sit at night waiting for our train home listening to them through shared headphones to drown out the noise of the city.”
Tell us what it felt like for you when you first “got it”.
Jonny: “It was like a liberation. It encouraged me to not care about the scrutiny of the outside world and just enjoy life and to dance like no one is watching or sing with the same gumption as if I’m in the shower. And it also taught me that the more people you can get around to dance and sing like goons the better!”
Emily: “Yeah ditto what Jonny said! It was like watching a 1,000 sunrises all at once.”
Emily Hall
How many times have you seen ESMZ live?
Emily: “Just once — at the Green Man Festival in Wales.”
Jonny: “A big fat magnetic zero.”
Share your personal experiences or favorite memories from the show?
Emily: “The best moment had to be when Alex chose this guy next to me to do ‘Storytime’ and he proposed to his girlfriend much to her surprise! She said ‘yes’ with some encouragement from Alex; it was such a fun moment.”
Try and explain what an ESMZ show is like to someone who has never seen or heard the band before?
“It was like a secret party with all your closest friends — even though you’re surrounded by strangers. Pure joy just spilled out from the staged and instantly infected the audience. We all became children again.”
How has ESMZ influenced your life?
Emily: “They were a big part of why I started writing my own music and I can’t imagine a life without songwriting now. I have a habit of writing kind of slow sad songs because its easier. But they’ve inspired me to leave my comfort zone every now and then and write music that sends out a more hopeful message. My dream is to one day be part of a big band that feels like a family.”
Jonny: “ESMZ has been there for some really special moments, I can’t count the times Emily and I have been singing at the top of our lungs in the woods and I would never have had the confidence to do that before I heard their music. So I owe them a lot!”
Jonny Wilde
How has the band impacted your life beyond music?
Emily: “I think their music really taught me to not take life too seriously, not to sweat the small stuff, and to never forget to allow the child within yourself to shine through.”
Jonny: “They’ve given me a new outlook on life, one less secluded and one that isn’t afraid to reach out to people and not be afraid to let loose because that’s all anyone ever really wants, right?”
Tell us a little bit about the video for your cover song?
“We used six main instruments (banjo, mandolin, guitar, ukulele, melodica, Irish penny whistle) and lots of different percussion instruments such as hand drums, tambourines, maracas, etc.”
What are your favorite ESMZ songs?
“If I Were Free, Man on Fire, All Wash Out and of course … OM NASHI ME!”