Vervegirl Interview - August 23rd, 2008

By Sharlotte Lawrence
Source

What first caught my eye about Jack’s Mannequin was lead singer Andrew McMahon’s leukemia diagnosis. Having gone through an illness as a kid, I instantly connected with their music. Although McMahon, who just turned 26, went through a personal ordeal, the second record does not dwell on the sadness of the events – but rather an emotional liberation filled with positive messages on life and surviving. Andrew was a pleasure to meet, and talking about his passion for life and music has made me a certified fan! A few hours before their performance at The Kool Haus in Toronto, Andrew caught up with me for a little chat about the new record.


The Beginning of Jack’s Mannequin:
“It started as a solo project while I as on hiatus from my other band Something Corporate. I had been going into the studio with new songs - just not really stressing about it and not even expecting to put it out. It developed into this process and gradually we brought more and more people into it – Bobby [who played with me from Something Corporate] came out and played guitar, Tommy Lee came out and played the drums on it. By the time the record was done, you knew we had to tour and so we put the band together after the fact. It began organically and we put the pieces together as we went.”

The Hard Times
“When I was on the first Jack’s Mannequin, tour before the album came out, I was feeling unwell and I had some blood work done and found out I had leukemia. I spent a better part of that year in and out of the hospital getting better and doing chemotherapy. Eventually my sister was a perfect match for a stem cell transplant. Her stem cells saved my life.”

Inspiration
“I have an amazing wife who took great care of me. She was a huge source of inspiration throughout the whole record. You find inspiration in a lot of strange places. I [get] so much inspiration from living by the beach, being near the water…A lot of myself is rooted in a southern California vibe. It’s the backdrop for my stories.”

On ‘The Glass Passenger’
“If I’ve realized anything in light of the events that happened during the last record – in the larger spectrum it’s that you don’t really know what’s going to happen. Life is a fairly fragile thing, and we’re getting carried along by some force in some respect. The Glass Passenger, for me, was accepting the fact that I’m not in control and things are fragile – and that’s ok.’