Jack's Mannequin

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Jack's Mannequin
Jack's Mannequin performing in Cleveland, Ohio
Jack's Mannequin performing in Cleveland, Ohio
Background information
Origin Orange County, California, United States
Genre(s) Piano Rock
Years active 2004–present
Label(s) Maverick Records, Sire Records
Associated acts Something Corporate
Website JacksMannequin.com
Members
Andrew McMahon
Bobby "Raw" Anderson
Jay McMillan
Jon "Dr. J" Sullivan

Jack's Mannequin is a piano rock band from Orange County, California. A side project of Andrew McMahon, originally from Something Corporate, the band was formed in 2004 and released their first album in August 2005. In June of that year, McMahon was diagnosed with late stage acute lymphoblastic leukemia, but made a full recovery. His album, Everything in Transit, was received with positive response by fans and critics. They are currently signed to Sire Records.

Contents

[edit] Etymology

The band's name is a combination of the title of a song Andrew McMahon wrote, "Dear Jack", and a band name he considered, The Mannequins. He stated that he had grown bored of the "the" band names, so he combined them.[1]

[edit] History

Andrew McMahon's started out in music initially as the lead vocalist and pianist for the Orange County piano rock band, Something Corporate. The primary impulse behind McMahon's solo project Jack's Mannequin was a song he recorded in December 2000 titled "Locked Doors". He felt the song was too different from previous Something Corporate material to be one of their songs. He realized that if he ever decided to release it, it would be on a solo album rather than a Something Corporate record.[2] The idea seemed outlandish until late summer of 2004 when both McMahon and his bandmates were exhausted from months of touring. They decided to take a temporary break. During his time off, McMahon laid down piano and vocal tracks for a song on Hidden in Plain View's Life in Dreaming and two songs on Tommy Lee's Tommyland: The Ride.

While Something Corporate's other songwriter and lead guitarist Josh Partington created a side project of his own called Firescape, McMahon started writing his own songs. He never expected the songs to be released. McMahon took a more therapeutic approach in writing these songs, resulting in a more personal and intimate testament of his songwriting. They dealt with "coming home, and having home be way different than I had remembered it [...], abandoning a lot of people, and things, that I had normally been so attached to [...], exploring and being okay with myself, and not having to make excuses for who I am, and accepting who I am", McMahon stated in an interview.[3] Although he just planned on recording them, the songs really began to take shape collectively. He paid for the production out of his own pocket, which ultimately led to a record deal with Maverick Records.

Their first album, titled Everything in Transit, was released in August 2005 and received a positive response from fans and critics alike. A summer tour was scheduled to support the record release, but was cancelled after McMahon was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia and had a bone marrow transplant. The band began recording their second album in the summer of 2007. In August 2007, McMahon posted the lyrics to the song "Cellular Phone" on his blog,[4] which the band played live at several shows in 2007 and 2008. Also, in February 2008, videos of live performances of two songs off the new record ("Caves"[5] and "Suicide Blonde"[6]) were uploaded onto YouTube for public viewing. McMahon appears on the cover of Alternative Press's January 2008 issue, which contains an interview with him.[7] The new record, revealed to be titled The Glass Passenger in an official blog post,[8] had an original release date of April 22. The date was then tentatively set to June 3 and is now expected to be on shelves by the end of August or beginning of September, 2008. McMahon told the Montclair State University student newspaper that the new album just isn't finished yet, and won't be until the end of May - he then needs two to three months to get the word out to the press and media.[9]

On May 5, 2008, Paramore singer Hayley Williams announced on The Sauce that Paramore and Jack's Mannequin had a tour scheduled together, to begin at the end of the summer. Dates have been confirmed for August and September 2008.[10]

[edit] Members

[edit] Discography

Jack's Mannequin performing a free concert at Ohio State University in 2006
Jack's Mannequin performing a free concert at Ohio State University in 2006

[edit] Albums

[edit] Singles

[edit] EPs

  • "La La Lie"/"Kill the Messenger" 7" vinyl (2005)
  • "Holiday" Online Streaming (2006)

[edit] Non-album tracks

[edit] External links

[edit] References

  1. ^ Herbel, Brandon. Jacks Mannequin (Andrew McMahon) - 08.29.05. AbsolutePunk.net. Retrieved on February 22, 2008.
  2. ^ Interview with Andrew McMahon. SoCo-Online. Retrieved on July 31, 2005.
  3. ^ Berger, Laura. Andrew Mcmahon. For The Sound. Retrieved on February 12, 2006.
  4. ^ Cellular Phone. Jack's Mannequin. Retrieved on May 1, 2008.
  5. ^ Jack's Mannequin - Caves. YouTube. Retrieved on March 23, 2008.
  6. ^ Jack's Mannequin - Suicide Blonde. YouTube. Retrieved on March 23, 2008.
  7. ^ Zaleski, Annie. "Bodies, Rest & Motion", Alternative Press, January 2008, pp. 114-119. Retrieved on 2008-01-02. 
  8. ^ a b "...even if my voice comes back again...". Jack's Mannequin. Retrieved on December 9, 2007.
  9. ^ a b Marciniak, Bernadette. Q & A: Andrew McMahon. The Montclarion. Retrieved on April 20, 2008.
  10. ^ shows.. Paramore. Retrieved on May 28, 2008.
  11. ^ Jack's Mannequin Studio Session - Absolutepunk.net. Virb.com. Retrieved on December 26, 2007.