Jack's Mannequin

Jack's Mannequin
Jack's Mannequin performs at the 9:30 Club in Washington, DC in February 2012
Background information
Origin	Orange County, California, United States
Genres	Piano rock, pop rock
Years active	2004–present
Labels	Maverick, Sire
Associated acts	Something Corporate Relient K
Members
Andrew McMahon Bobby "Raw" Anderson Jay McMillan Mikey "The Kid" Wagner
Past members
Jonathan 'Dr. J' Sullivan

Jack's Mannequin is an American rock band formed in 2004, originally hailing from Orange County, California. The band began as a side project of Andrew McMahon, the frontman for Something Corporate, and is composed of guitarist Bobby Anderson, bassist Mikey "The Kid" Wagner, and drummer Jay McMillan.

In June 2005, McMahon was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL), just months before the release of Jack's Mannequin's debut studio album. They released the album, Everything in Transit, in August 2005. The album peaked at number thirty-seven on the Billboard 200. McMahon made a full recovery and the band returned to touring. They released The Glass Passenger after a series of delays in 2008. It sold 49,000 copies in its first week and peaked at number eight on the Billboard 200. "The Resolution" was released as the first single and charted at number 27 on the Hot Modern Rock Tracks chart.

History

Formation and Everything in Transit (2004–07)

Andrew McMahon began his musical career as the lead vocalist and pianist for the Orange County piano rock band, Something Corporate. The primary impulse behind McMahon's solo project, Jack's Mannequin, was a song he recorded in December 2003 titled "Locked Doors." He felt the song had a different style from previous Something Corporate material to be one of their songs. He realized that if he ever decided to release it, it would be on a solo album rather than a Something Corporate record. Exhausted from months of touring in late summer 2004, the band 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 Josh Partington created a side project of his own called Firescape, McMahon started writing his own songs. He did not expect the songs to be released. McMahon took a more therapeutic approach in writing these songs, resulting in a more personal and intimate testament of his songwriting. McMahon stated in an interview that 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,". Although he just planned on recording these songs, they began to take shape collectively. He paid for the production out of his own pocket, which ultimately led to a record deal with Maverick Records.

He formed the band under the name Jack's Mannequin, which came to be after McMahon had considered the name "The Mannequins". However, after growing "bored of the 'the' band names," he decided to "sandwich" it together with the title of a song he had completed for the record, "Dear Jack". Originally, there was said to be "not much significance behind the name," but upon McMahon's diagnoses of acute lymphoblastic leukemia, "the band name became ironic--considering the Jack I wrote the song for & ultimately named the project for after, had suffered from childhood leukemia."

Their first album, titled Everything in Transit, was released in August 2005 and received a positive response from fans and critics alike. A summer tour was scheduled to support the record release, but was canceled after McMahon was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia and had a stem cell transplant.

Music by Jack's Mannequin from Everything in Transit, was featured in Season Three, Episode Fifteen of the TV series One Tree Hill.

The Glass Passenger (2007–2010)

Jack's Mannequin performing at The Grog Shop in Cleveland, Ohio, November 10, 2008.

The band began recording their second album in the summer of 2007. In August 2007, McMahon posted the lyrics to the song "Cell Phone" on his blog, which the band played live at several shows in 2007 and 2008. Also, in February 2008, videos of live performances of two songs off the record ("Caves" and "Suicide Blonde") were uploaded onto YouTube for public viewing. McMahon then appeared on the cover of the January 2008 issue of Alternative Press.

The album was entitled The Glass Passenger, and is a transcendent step-up, a catchy and listenable journey through McMahon's stories of love, life, and loss that moves from full-on upbeat rock ("Spinning") to melancholy introspection ("Annie Use Your Telescope") and all that lies between. It was originally set for release on April 22, 2008 but the date was then tentatively set to June 3, and eventually delayed to be released on September 30, 2008.

The Ghost Overground EP was released to iTunes on August 5, 2008. The EP contains two tracks from the second album, "The Resolution" and "Bloodshot," and two live tracks from Everything in Transit. Another EP, In Valleys, was released on iTunes on September 9, containing one song from the album, "Swim," and three b-sides, "Cell Phone," "Sleazy Wednesday," and "At Full Speed".

On August 28, 2008, in an interview with MTV, Andrew revealed that the author Stephenie Meyer had written the treatment for the music video for "The Resolution" and was set to direct it the following week. McMahon said of the filming, "It was a very cool shoot. Music videos are a tricky thing. They require a lot of trust in the team creating the visuals and that can be a little scary. That said, there was a great vibe on the set, and shooting by the water really made it an especially peaceful day, despite all the hard work that goes into it."

On September 3, 2008, it was announced that Jack's Mannequin would be the headliner on a fall tour that featured the album. The tour was called "Hammers and Strings: An Evening with Jack's Mannequin and The Glass Passenger." The band toured many cities and played much of the album at these shows. This much-awaited tour saw many of the shows sell out in a few days. It was the first tour after The Glass Passenger's release.

On October 4, 2009, McMahon began a solo tour across the country to raise awareness of leukemia and to support the release of the Dear Jack documentary due out on November 3, 2009. On November 3, 2009, the EP associated with the Dear Jack documentary, also of the same name, was released, including the songs "Dear Jack," "Diane, the Skyscraper," "There, There Katie," and "Swim (Music Box)".

People and Things (2011)

In an Alternative Press article, Andrew revealed that he planned to return to the studio in Spring 2010 to record his third full studio album with Jack's Mannequin. According to a LiveDaily interview with Relient K's lead vocalist, Matt Thiessen, Thiessen contributed around four songs or so to this Jack's Mannequin album. 3 of these songs, "Amy, I", "People, Running", and "Platform Fire", were included on the album. This newest album was released on October 4.

McMahon debuted a new song titled "Restless Dream" during an acoustic tour in Australia in February 2011. This song, along with "Hey Hey Hey (We're All Gonna Die)", and "Platform Fire", which was debuted in late 2010, are on the new album.

On March 21, 2011, Andrew McMahon sent an email to his fans announcing a summer tour with Guster and revealing the title of Jack's Mannequin's third studio album: "In a perfect world we will be finished with Jack's third album, 'People and Things', by the end of this month."

On July 19, 2011, it was announced that People and Things would be released on October 4, 2011. The first single, "My Racing Thoughts", was released on August 2, 2011.

According to AbsolutePunk.net, McMahon had this to say about the new album, "I consider 'People and Things' a relationship record. My goal with many of the songs was to strip away the flowery language and sentiment attached to newer love and replace it with starker, less blinded language about more binding love. In the time following the last Jack's album the people in my world were moving in together, getting married, trying to find quote unquote 'real jobs' and reconciling new lives that looked a lot less like youth than some of us cared for. Marriage is a bit of a beast to tackle in a pop record but when I wrote 'My Racing Thoughts,' it became clear how powerful and loaded a subject this kind of love is and somewhere in that moment I began to lock into the broad concept for the writing sessions to come."

Philanthropy

In June 2005, Andrew McMahon was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia, but made a full recovery. Jack's Mannequin annually participates in the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society's Light the Night Walk. In 2008, they set a $100,000 fund raising goal which is collected through a personalized fund-raising page. The money raised goes towards fighting blood cancers and providing support to patients and their families. Their 2011 Light the Night Walk goal is $125,000. If Team Jack's Mannequin achieves this goal, they will have raised half a million dollars for the Light the Night Walk. McMahon was recently named a Stand Up to Cancer celebrity-ambassador.

In an effort to initiate change and provide a voice for the generations of young adults who have been diagnosed with cancer, Andrew founded the Dear Jack Foundation in July 2006. It aims to raise awareness and support organizations and charities that research treatments and improve quality of life for young adults. Past recipients of Dear Jack funding are: the UCLA stem cell transplant program (a program on the cutting edge of cures through transplantation), The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, and the Pediatric Cancer Research Foundation.

The Dear Jack Foundation is a charitable organization set up through the California Community Foundation, IRS Tax ID 95-3510055. There are no paid employees of Dear Jack Foundation; it is a 100% volunteer run organization.

Members

• Andrew McMahon – Vocals, piano (2005–Present)
• Bobby "Raw" Anderson – guitar, backup vocals (2005–Present)
• Jay McMillan – drums (2005–Present)
• Mikey "The Kid" Wagner - bass (2010–Present)

Former members

• Jonathan 'Dr. J' Sullivan – bass guitar (2005–2010)
• Andrew 'The Beard' Bennett- bass guitar (2010-2011)

Discography

Studio albums

Year	Album details	US	CAN
2005	Everything in Transit Released: August 23, 2005 Label: Maverick Records	37	—
2008	The Glass Passenger Released: September 30, 2008 Label: Sire Records	8	—
2011	People and Things Release Date: October 4, 2011 Label: Sire Records	9	57

Singles

Year	Song	Peak chart positions					Album
		US	US Adult	US Alt	US Heat	JPN
2005	"The Mixed Tape"	124	—	—	—	—	Everything in Transit
	"Dark Blue"	—	—	—	—	—
	"The Lights and Buzz"	—	—	—	—	—	Non-album single
2006	"La La Lie"	—	—	—	—	—	Everything in Transit
2008	"The Resolution"	104	—	27	—	—	The Glass Passenger
2009	"Swim"	—	34	—	—	—
	"Dear Jack"	—	—	—	40	—	Dear Jack EP
2011	"My Racing Thoughts"	—	—	—	—	68	People and Things
	"Release Me"	—	—	—	—	—

EPs

• "Kill the Messenger" 7" vinyl (2005)
• "The Free Holiday EP" Online Streaming (2006)
• "The Ghost Overground" (iTunes Store Exclusive) (August 5, 2008)
• "In Valleys" (iTunes Store Exclusive) (September 9, 2008)
• "The Resolution EP" (Rhapsody/VCast Exclusive (September 23, 2008)
• "Live from SoHo EP" (iTunes Store Exclusive) (March 10, 2009)
• "Dear Jack EP" (iTunes Store Exclusive) (November 3, 2009)

Non-album tracks

• "Lonely for Her" – bonus track on the iTunes Store version of Everything In Transit (2005)
• "The Lights and Buzz" – released as a digital download on the iTunes Store (2005)
• "Meet Me at My Window" – released on Sound of Superman (2006)
• "Last Straw, AZ" – released online (2006)
• "Bruised (Remix)" – released on Snakes on a Plane: The Album (2006)
• "Bruised (Acoustic)" – released on Fearless Records' Punk Goes Acoustic 2 (2007)
• "God (feat. Mick Fleetwood)" – released on Instant Karma: The Amnesty International Campaign to Save Darfur (2007)
• "La La Lie (West Coast Winter version)"- released on Punk the Clock Vol. 3: Property of Gentlemen (2007)
• "Doris Day (Don't Go)" – released as a digital download on Amazon.com (2008)

External links

• Official website
• Official blog
• Official MySpace page
• Dear Jack Foundation
• Sire Records Artist Page