Andrew McMahon

Andrew McMahon
Andrew McMahon
Background information
Birth name	Andrew Ross McMahon
Born	(1982-09-03) September 3, 1982 (age 29)
Origin	Concord, Massachusetts, United States
Genres	Piano Rock, Alternative Rock, Emo, Pop Punk, Indie Rock
Instruments	Piano, Vocals
Years active	1998–present
Associated acts	Something Corporate, Jack's Mannequin

Andrew Ross McMahon (born September 3, 1982) is a singer/songwriter. He is the vocalist, pianist and primary songwriter for the bands Something Corporate and Jack's Mannequin; he also performs solo.^[1]

Early life

McMahon was born in Concord, Massachusetts. He briefly lived in New Jersey until 1991, when his family moved to Bexley, Ohio where he attended Cassingham Elementary School. His family relocated frequently due to his father's occupation in retail. McMahon recalls that while he was in fourth grade, they briefly stayed in California to support his mother's family after the loss of her brother. The death had a large impact on the family, and Andrew has a tattoo on his forearm in his uncle's memory. Following the death of his uncle, who was a musician himself, McMahon became inspired to get involved with music, and began teaching himself piano very soon afterward.

McMahon's family decided to settle in California shortly before he entered eighth grade. He would later describe himself as "a pudgy, outgoing, artistic little kid who never quite fit into the California scene". He graduated from the public Dana Hills High School in 2000.

Career

Early work

He started playing the piano at age 8. The following year, he began performing piano solos before he could even read music. In an interview, McMahon states "my mother was a good player and I started playing by ear. After a year of that, I began writing songs, and found outlets to perform them at school assemblies. Eventually, I got lessons." ^[2]

McMahon started his first band Left Here with his high school friends and future Something Corporate bandmates Kevin "Clutch" Page on bass and Brian Ireland on drums in 1997.

Even though they won a local battle of the bands competition, they soon broke up. McMahon went on to record the self-released eponymous four-track demo CD Andrew McMahon with the aid of several friends of his, including guitarist Josh Partington, whom he had met his sophomore year in high school. Joined by rhythm guitarist Reuben Hernandez (who was later replaced by William Tell), the quintet formed the piano rock band Something Corporate in 1998.

Something Corporate

Fronted by McMahon, Something Corporate recorded their self-released ten-song demo album Ready... Break in 2000, which led to a record deal with the indie record label Drive-Thru Records. Drive-Thru released the band's nationwide distributed debut EP Audioboxer the following year. McMahon's vocals, songwriting skills and especially the incorporation of the piano earned the CD rave reviews and caught the attention of Drive-Thru's distributor MCA (now Geffen). Due to the labels' distribution deal, MCA was able to sign over Something Corporate and released their major label debut Leaving Through the Window in May 2002.

The band promoted the album by playing concerts across the United States, which included the main stage at Vans Warped Tour as well as supporting New Found Glory, whose vocalist Jordan Pundik used to be McMahon's roommate, on their European tour. Something Corporate released their second full-length album North on Geffen Records in late 2003 and toured with 311, Good Charlotte, Yellowcard, and Jimmy Eat World. As of 2004, and the signing of Jack's Mannequin to Maverick Records, the band is no longer under contract to any label.

On December 4, 2009, Something Corporate announced one reunion show at Bamboozle Left 2010. An additional show was later added at Bamboozle Chicago 2010. After Bamboozle the band announced their reunion tour, which took place in August 2010.

Jack's Mannequin

The initial impulse behind McMahon's solo project Jack's Mannequin was "Locked Doors", a song he recorded in December 2003, which he felt was too different from previous Something Corporate material. He realized that, if he would ever decide to release it, it would be on a solo album rather than a Something Corporate record.^[3] The idea seemed to be off the table until, in late summer 2004, 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 Partington created a side project of his own called Firescape, McMahon started writing songs, knowing they would not be released under Something Corporate. After Something Corporate dissolved, McMahon started working on his solo project, Jack's Mannequin, as an outlet for these songs. 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.^[4]

Over the next couple of months, McMahon began recording the newly written songs with producer Jim Wirt, who played guitar and bass over sampled drum tracks, while McMahon contributed vocals and piano. They later brought in additional musicians such as Bobby "Raw" Anderson (formerly of River City High) and Tommy Lee to add to the mix. In an eerily foreshadowing moment, the project's name, Jack's Mannequin, came from a friend of his whose brother was diagnosed with childhood leukemia. McMahon was soon diagnosed with leukemia himself, and later went on to write the song "Dear Jack" in tribute to the original Jack. In March 2005, Jack's Mannequin — now consisting of McMahon on vocals and piano, Jon Sullivan on bass, Anderson on guitar, and Jay McMillan (ex-River City High) on drums — played their first live show at Molly Malone's Irish pub in Los Angeles, California. The first album Everything in Transit was released in August 2005.

After the release and success of the first album, McMahon then proceeded to compose his second Jack's Mannequin album, The Glass Passenger, which was released in September 2008. The first single, "The Resolution", is the band's highest-charting song to date.

Following "The Glass Passenger," McMahon, began working on Jack's Mannequin's third album, People and Things. For this album, he wanted to touch on subjects other than his battle with leukemia. He stated that this new album "[would] probably have a bit of freeness" to it, distancing itself from "The Glass Passenger." ^[5] The album was released in October 2011 with the single "My Racing Thoughts" preceding it in July of the same year.

Personal life

On May 27, 2005 (three months before the release of Jack's Mannequin's debut album Everything in Transit), McMahon was forced to cancel all of his upcoming concerts.^[6] After a medical examination in connection with a relentless case of laryngitis, McMahon was admitted to a hospital in New York City, where he was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia on June 1, 2005, the same day he finished recording Everything in Transit.^[7] Since the illness was diagnosed in its early stages, McMahon's doctors had high hopes for a full recovery.^[8]

Over the following couple of months, McMahon received various types of treatment, all the while updating his blog to keep his fans informed on the progress of his condition. August 23, 2005 marked a very significant date for him for two reasons: it was the day his album Everything in Transit was released, debuting at #37 on the Billboard 200 with over 22,000 copies scanned within its first week, as well as the day he received a stem cell transplant, with his sister Katie McMahon serving as the donor.^[9] As a thank-you, he wrote and recorded a song called "There, There, Katie" for her. The song was finally played live at a Jack's Mannequin concert on 7/11/2006 in Cleveland, Ohio where Katie was in attendance for the performance.

On December 2, 2005, McMahon celebrated the 100-day anniversary of his stem cell transplant by playing his first concert in six months: a private invite-only show in a small venue in Los Angeles, California. His first public appearance followed ten days later at "Gimme Shelter '05", an acoustic cancer benefit concert at the Roxy in Los Angeles, California. Following these shows, Maverick Records finally started a promotion campaign for Everything in Transit, including TV appearances by McMahon on Jimmy Kimmel Live, One Tree Hill (in the episode "Just Watch the Fireworks"), Last Call with Carson Daly, Steven's Untitled Rock Show, and The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson, as well as a second music video for "The Mixed Tape", which hit #1 on VH1's VSpot Top 20 Countdown on June 9, 2006. Simultaneously, Jack's Mannequin embarked on a two-month tour across the United States supporting Of A Revolution.

In July 2006, McMahon founded a non-profit charity, entitled The Dear Jack Foundation, to raise funds for cancer research. The organization's primary beneficiaries are the Pediatric Cancer Research Foundation, the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society and the regents of the University of California, Los Angeles.^[10]

On July 9, 2006, McMahon announced at his Summerfest Jack's Mannequin concert that that night would be the last night he would have to take medication for his cancer treatment. Soon after, the second single from Everything in Transit, "Dark Blue", was released. This was followed by gaining an opening slot on Panic! at the Disco's "Nothing Rhymes With Circus Tour" throughout the United States and Canada, starting November 7, 2006 in Florida and ending December 12, 2006 in New Mexico.

A documentary entitled "Dear Jack" was released on November 3, 2009 on DVD by Warner Bros, and was shown at theatrical screenings in New York, Chicago, and Los Angeles.^[11] The film, which chronicles McMahon's struggle with leukemia, features self-recorded footage in the hospital and is narrated by his friend Tommy Lee. The documentary was directed by Corey Moss and Josh Morrisroe, two former MTV News producers who covered McMahon's story for the channel, although much of the intensely personal footage was shot by Andrew himself. Along with the "Dear Jack" DVD Jack's Mannequin also digitally released the Dear Jack EP, with a recorded version of the song "There, There, Katie" Andrew wrote for his sister, along with three other tracks, titled "Diane, The Skyscraper," "Dear Jack" and a music box version on the pre-released song, "Swim."

Recording Label

Andrew started Airport Tapes and Records recording label in 2007. The label signed Chicago rock band Treaty of Paris in September 2007. The label dissolved in late 2008.

Discography

For McMahon's releases with Something Corporate, see Something Corporate's discography

For McMahon's releases with Jack's Mannequin, see Jack's Mannequin's discography

• Andrew McMahon (1999)
• Hidden in Plain View - Life in Dreaming (2005, piano on "Halcyon Daze")
• Later Days - Catch This Epidemic... (2005, piano on "Evan's Epidemic")
• Tommy Lee - Tommyland: The Ride (2005, vocals on "Hello Again" and "I Need You")
• William Tell - You Can Hold Me Down (2007, piano on "Fairfax")
• The Spill Canvas - No Really, I'm Fine (2007, piano on "Saved")
• The Academy Is... - Fast Times at Barrington High (2008, piano on "After The Last Midtown Show")
• The Academy Is... - Lost In Pacific Time EP (2009, piano and vocals on "Sputter")
• Elliot Minor - Solaris (2009, lyrics on "Tethered")
• O.A.R. - King (2011, co-writer on "Over and Over")^[12]
• Erland - All I've Got EP (2011, producer)^[13]

References

External links

• Dear Jack Foundation against Leukemia, grounded by Andrew McMahon and Jack's Mannequin
• Jack's Mannequin's official website