Jacks Mannequin

Fri 27th Feb, 2009 in Features

What happens when a distant satellite must suddenly return to Earth to spin in the company of a thousand others just like it? Something of an identity crisis, one would imagine – and so it was for Jack’s Mannequin frontman, 26-year-old Andrew McMahon.

Formed in 2004 after pop-punk sensation Something Corporate went on an extended hiatus, Jack’s Mannequin saw McMahan’s ability to write achingly beautiful and sweetly-accessible piano-rock taken to a new level. What he would produce through this new set-up was to be the most exquisite of break-up albums, Everything in Transit. But in mid-2005, the very day he finished mastering the final song, McMahon was diagnosed with leukaemia. This debilitating disease would instantly become his entire world, and he suddenly found himself flung into the isolation that comes with trying to survive.

But with remission came a new trial – trying to ease back into the “real world”. His second album, The Glass Passenger, was conceived in the midst of that great challenge. “For this record I was struggling to find myself in the middle of the universe – instead of being the satellite I had been, having a very individual experience. I had to link up with the universe again. I needed to be plugged back into the real world and not the individual world I had been relegated to.”

And so with The Glass Passenger McMahon’s focus was shifted to trying to identify and settle within the universal experience. “I think the specifics this time were hard to exactly map out so literally on this record. Break-ups are specialised in terms of the emotions, and people are eager to identify with those. And they tend to try and tie my songs back to my own story, so I found myself more inclined towards looking for a universal form that could be easily related to.”

The Jack’s Mannequin aesthetic often called for an orchestral and string-laced sound, which required a good handful of guest musicians in any given track. Quite a leap from the days spent writing for Something Corporate, which was effectively a small group of high-school friends. “It became a struggle on this record to tell the truth,” McMahon concedes. “The way Jack’s is structured, the other musicians were willing to give their opinions, respectful of my way of doing things. But people will stand up for their opinions, so that was a new experience. I do feel like their opinions and involvement is what truthfully made this album what it is though.”

Another opinion that had a great effect on a different aspect of The Glass Passenger was Twilight author Stephanie Meyer. A very vocal fan of McMahon’s work, Meyer was approached to direct the film clip for the debut single, The Resolution, after several failed pitches left McMahon seeking a different perspective. “What I liked about Stephanie Meyer is that we had an author direct it, so we were given a different vision. It wasn’t just the status quo,” says an enthused McMahon. “We embraced her as a visionary.”

It seems something of a lucky break that he was able to find someone he truly believed in to direct the clip. “It’s hard because the music clips aren’t really something I enjoy. I like to write songs, create them and love to perform them – that’s what I love. Film clips and that sort of thing are like a necessary evil. Par for the course. But to have an author provide her perspective rather than a director, it’s so valuable to be able to make changes in places where there’s such a traditional precedent.”

With such canny insight into the technical and theoretical world of creating music, McMahon seems almost perfectly suited to expanding towards some production work. But not quite yet, he cautions. “I did produce the Treaty of Paris album, and I’ve wanted to do some more producing. Maybe in the future I’ll do it. At this moment I find it difficult to have to let the artists create it how they want. I have a strong opinion on how I like things to sound, so producing right now could be a struggle. At this moment, I like to step back and let the people produce my stuff, just to see what I can learn from them.”

McMahon is disappointed hundreds of Jack’s Mannequin fans were unable to get through the gates at Sydney Soundwave in time to see their set. “We have heard that there were problems with people getting in and we were frustrated that we had such an early timeslot. We hate the idea that people couldn’t get in to see us. We know that we have the kind of fans that are passionate about the band and who get excited to see us on the bill. It’s hard to tell how many people would want to see us, but hopefully we’ll be able to make it out again and do a headlining show in the future.”

Jack’s Mannequin will play the remaining Soundwave Festival dates this weekend.

Fri 27 Feb – Melbourne Showgrounds, Melbourne
Sat 28 Feb – Bonython Park, Adelaide
Mon 2 March – Steel Blue Oval, Bassendean, Perth