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Twenty-six-year old singer/songwriter Andrew McMahon has already had his share of life experience, well before the age of 30: a successful rock career with Something Corporate which led him to start Jack’s Mannequin. Shortly before the release of their first album, he was diagnosed with acute leukemia. After a full recovery and a very successful second album, The Glass Passenger, McMahon is back on the road on a worldwide tour, having just completed the European leg.
Louis Elfman: How does it feel to be stateside again?
Andrew McMahon: Ah, it’s nice. I won’t lie — it’s been a whirlwind for sure, but we’re doing good. It’s nice to be home for a minute and getting some sleep and resting a little bit.
LE: How did the first leg of the tour go?
AM: It was amazing — getting to see so much of the world in a short period of time was pretty incredible, and the shows definitely exceeded our expectations. We went to Australia for our second time, and the crowds were huge and were really responsive, so it was nice to see our work from the first trip over there paying off. It was our first time in Germany and the UK, but the shows were super fun. I was surprised to see it was probably like 300 kids in the German shows, and then around 600 or 700 at the UK shows, and a lot of fun — all of them.
LE: How is the US tour looking? Are you looking forward to it?
AM: Yeah, absolutely. It’s going to be fun — having two records to pull from now and having had the second record out for a while. I think we’re pretty comfortable with it and in a position now to make a different set night to night to night, because we have a lot more material to go through, so I think that’s going to make it a lot of fun.
LE: Speaking of the latest album and playing it live, obviously there’s a lot of deeply and painfully emotional stuff that you experience that you put into the album. Playing that live, does it feel like you’re sort of rubbing the nerve raw every time, or do you feel that it helps you come to terms with it all?
AM: Yeah, I suppose there is a little bit of that for me, and it’s been this way even before getting sick and all — just the idea…if you write a song and it deals with something heavy or whatever, does it come back when you play it? Truth is, for me, that’s never really how I perform. It’s not like method acting or something, when you’re trying to get yourself in character. I think there are definitely artists who do that sort of thing, which I think is really respectable. For me, I’ve always played shows with the energy for that show. I’m trying to play to that crowd and to that moment, so it doesn’t really come back and haunt me, in that respect. Probably talking about it regularly — it’s still a regular part of conversation in my life; if nothing else, there’s a bit of catharsis there as well.
LE: When it comes to the songwriting process, have you been doing any songwriting on the road, or have you just let that sit so you can focus on the tour?
AM: I tend to let it sit while I’m on tour, and that’s really kind of true in general. It’s hard to find time because I’m not a guitarist and I don’t have a tune that I’ve just got lying around on the bus while we’re driving. The piano element of it makes it a little bit harder on tour. Sometimes, when we’re headlining, I’ll be able to take time during soundchecks to work things out, but I definitely write every time I come home. Whether I write something that I’m in love with that I’m going to record or not is a different story. I’m usually always near a piano and working ideas out throughout the day. It’s those sorts of things that end up on records and those sorts of things that you end up recording that kind of pop up again while moving along through tour and coming home.
LE: Any immediate projects on the horizon that you’re thinking of — not necessarily a new album, but anything fans can look forward to?
AM: Yeah, I’m always working on a bunch of stuff in hopes that some of it pans out. At the moment, I recorded some music that was intended to go along with the Dear Jack movie — this documentary that circles around this whole period of time, the second to last record at least. I went in and recorded some stuff for that and ended up really liking a couple of the songs and thought maybe I’ll withhold a couple for the next record. So there’s a bunch of little ideas like that floating around, and I’m constantly writing. I think there will be some music component with the Dear Jack movie. We’ll probably start working on new music as soon as I get back from this tour.
LE: So later in the year you’ll start working on it — after the summer?
AM: Yeah, I’m always trying to go in the studio and make new music when I’m home. I’m going to cross my fingers that a new record comes more quickly on the heels of this record than the past couple of albums I put out. Changing from Something Corporate to Jack’s Mannequin was such a huge shift, and obviously the health issues and all that stuff… I’m actually anxious to work on an album at a normal pace and try to get in the flow of putting out records a little bit more regularly here.
LE: Speaking of Something Corporate, you guys are on “hiatus,” and although it was pronounced indefinite, do you think, at this point, it’s pretty much over?
AM: I don’t want to say anything 100% for sure, because if I’ve learned anything, that’s when it comes back to you full circle and you’re ready. For me, creatively speaking, I see myself as happy in this narrative that I’m in for making new music and committing on that level. We have so many great fans and we have so many people out there that would love to see a Something Corporate concert, and I know I’d like to play one, so I think in that sense, I wouldn’t say it’s indefinite because I think we’ll probably end up getting together and doing some shows. My hope is that that scenario finds its way to the front of all our minds in the near future, and we can do it.
