Andrew McMahon
Many people believe the kind of music someone listens to says a lot about them. That theory makes some sense. Music, though universal, is also very personal. Songs tell a story, not just the one of the person who sings or writes it, but that of everyone who is eventually affected by it. In its grand tribute to life, music emulates its movement in a process that captures who we are, where we’re going and how we’ll get there.
That flow isn’t always easy, but it is continuous. That ongoing topsy-turvy cycle is something Jack’s Mannequin and Something Corporate front-man Andrew McMahon knows all too well. At the age of 29, he’s experienced more than most people do in a lifetime: two successful, signed bands, a career that has taken him to various part of the world, an unyielding sea of admirers -oh, and then there was the cancer thing. McMahon is a leukemia survivor, and that’s a part of his story that inspires many. But it’s not whole the tale; it’s one chapter -a long, darker chapter at that but one none the less.
Seven years after the initial creation of Jack’s Mannequin, McMahon’s story is still being written. The current bookmark falls on a page entitled “People and Things,” the name of the upcoming, new album. And though the story has led us to the present, it all began in the past.
“It started truthfully with me -it must have been a couple summers ago, while we were still touring ‘Glass Passenger.’ I kind of began going in with the songs that I had been writing and sort of doing them on my own with a producer. Going back and forth and just building the songs in the speakers, as I say,” explains McMahon. “And I did that on and off for about a year thinking that we were gonna arrive at a finished record, and ultimately it just didn’t end up sounding like I had hoped it would sound, I guess.”
What ended up happening from there was what started bringing the record together: starting over. Coming together with guitarist Bobby Anderson and drummer Jay McMillan, Jack’s Mannequin went to the dessert and eventually back to Los Angeles.
“We all kind of went and held up in a house. We were gonna play all these songs that I had been recording, and we kinda started from scratch, recording them together effectively as a three-piece. Ultimately around like January of this year, Rob Cavallo, another amazing producer, came on board to help us take the record over the finish line with some of the overdubs and production stuff. It was kind of an interesting process. It certainly involved a change with each passing month,” he adds.
“People and Things,” the third studio album by Jack’s Mannequin, hit the shelves and the Internet on Oct. 4. Though it carries a pretty straightforward title, the elements present in it are far from simple.
“It’s obviously a pretty common phrase, and it was one that I had heard in the really early session of working on music for this record,” admits McMahon. “For me, I really wanted to make a record about things as simple as love and relationships and family and kind of the people in my life and how they affect me. And for whatever reason, when that phrase popped up -I mean as simple as it is and as stark as it is, it sort of came to be charged and loaded with a lot of information available to be interpreted and informed by however the album actually turned out.”
Jack's Mannequin
Preceded by “Everything in Transit” and “The Glass Passenger,” both of which carry implications of movement in their titles, “People and Things” doesn’t follow suit in such an explicit way. But as with most other things in life, looking beyond the surface is often necessary.
“I think that’s definitely been the story of my life, and the past several years have been not just a physical movement but internally and personally just a lot of, kind of a constant evolution or something to that effect. I think even more so with ‘Passenger’ and ‘Transit.’ These were sort of this really formative time where so much was happening at such a rapid pace. With this record, I think the motion was more subtle, and there was definitely intention with not making the album title a motion sort of thing. I had an alternate title that did imply motion,” says McMahon.
“With this record, I think you hear in the songs that a lot of the words are sort of about traveling and getting somewhere. But I think I wanted this record in a lot of ways to be about the last part of that journey and arriving at some place. So that’s sort of how the title differs and varies from the first two. But yeah there’s certainly –you’re spot on to see that there is a suggestion of constant motion because cause that’s definitely been a big part of my life.“
As far as the content on the album goes, McMahon’s style has always been a personal one with regards to music and songwriting. “Platform Fire,” a song from the new album is one that hits a little closer to home than others.
“It’s a pretty personal statement, I guess. It talks about, realistically speaks about what it’s like for me on the road out here. But I think rather than just talking about myself, it definitely makes references to the people who help me stay balanced and stay in a place -where I can actually keep continuing to do this and be gone for as many months a year from home as I am,” he describes. “And in a lot of ways, I view it as a thank you note, to some extent, to my people back home who really do a lot to keep me together when I’m not there.”
The official, standard edition of “People and Things” contains 11 tracks. Unlike the days leading up to the last album “The Glass Passenger,” no EPs were released beforehand. But, several additional songs have been made available to fans. Different versions of the album are available ough various channels including the official Jack’s Mannequin website, iTunes and Best Buy. With each of these comes a set of b-sides, some of which were previously unreleased demos for the prior two albums.
“It’s sort of taking a different approach. It’s an interesting thing trying to sell records these days. It’s different than it used to be. I think the availability of free information is just a reality,” says McMahon. “Instead of putting something else up for sale, we choose to take the b-sides and apportion them to different versions of the record so that people want to go out and instead of ripping the record online. If they actually do wanna buy it, they’ll get the benefit of having a bunch of extra tracks that are unreleased.”
With a new album on the scene, it’s pretty much only natural that Jack’s Mannequin is touring this fall. And while some may have developed a preference after spending so much time on the road, McMahon isn’t picky when it comes to playing in different kinds of venues.
“Playing music is awesome in any forum, to be honest. I think the beauty of live music is that the environment sort of ends up conforming the show and dictates, to some extent, how that show’s gonna turn out,” he says. “So for me, it’s not that I really have one sort of venue I prefer playing. I think more than anything I like to keep it varied, so we don’t get in a rut. So you don’t feel like you’re doing the same thing over and over again.”
Jack's Mannequin
“In Tune” writing and photography by Kathy Paz unless otherwise noted. Contact me at Kathy.Paz@fiusm.com
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