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 self, 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. 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" on May 10, 2012, promoting their next album entitled "Here", which was released on May 29, 2012. Their third full-length album, self-titled "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".