When Andrew McMahon formed the band Jack’s Mannequin as a side project in 2004, he had no clue this new venture would be going strong eight years later, with three full-length albums to boot.
“I’ve certainly found it fulfilling to be able to write a song and take that to the studio and see it through with a singular vision,” said McMahon by phone during a tour stop in Portland, Maine. “I certainly felt compelled in that direction. But no, I don’t think I ever could have predicted the myriad twists and turns this project has taken.”
Jack’s Mannequin plays two sold-out shows at the 9:30 Club this Thursday and Friday.
| Onstage |
| Jack’s Mannequin |
| » Where: 9:30 Club, 815 V St. NW |
| » When: Thursday and Friday |
| » Info: Sold out; 930.com; with Jukebox the Ghost and Allen Stone |
McMahon entered the public spotlight as the frontman for the Orange County, California, emo act Something Corporate. He wrote and recorded some music he felt was not a good fit for his regular band, and those early songs became Jack’s Mannequin first album “Everything in Transit” in 2005.
After the completion of that first album, McMahon was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia, which he successfully battled. That experience influenced much of Jack’s Mannequin’s second album “The Glass Passenger.”
In October, the band — which includes Bobby Anderson, Jay McMillan and Mikey Wagner — released its third album “People and Things.”
“For me, it’s a relationships record in a lot of ways,” McMahon, 29, said of the recent release. “I think in a lot of respects it was sort of the untold story of what was going on during the time I was creating ‘The Glass Passenger’ record. I got very caught up and focused on certain elements of my recovery and managed to overlook some pretty major themes in my life that had developed.”
Jack’s Mannequin has been on the road quite a bit the last couple of years, a road warrior mentality that comes naturally to the lead singer.
“It’s sort have been the story of my life for the better part of the last decade,” McMahon said. “It occurred to me somewhere along the way that if we really wanted to take matters into our own hands, and spread the word and spread the music, we wouldn’t necessarily be able to rely on the mainstream outlets a lot of people get lucky with, so we’ve been taking to the streets ever since.”
After a greatest hits release and shows in 2010, there’s been no news on the Something Corporate front, and fans shouldn’t expect anything any time soon.
“No, no, no,” McMahon said. “I’m sorry to be so adamant. I’m so proud of what I accomplished with Something Corporate. The reality is that everybody is extremely busy and has moved in directions that don’t make us available.”
