Jack's Mannequin

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Jack's Mannequin
Jack's Mannequin performing in Cleveland, Ohio
Background information
Origin	Orange County, California, United States
Genre(s)	Alternative rock
Years active	2004–present
Label(s)	Maverick Records, Sire Records
Associated acts	Something Corporate
Website	JacksMannequin.com
Members
Andrew McMahon Bobby "Raw" Anderson Jay McMillan Jon "Dr. J" Sullivan

Jack's Mannequin is a piano rock band from Los Angeles, California, Originally hailing from Orange County, California. A side project of Andrew McMahon, originally from Something Corporate, the band was formed in 2004 and released their first album in August 2005. In June of that year, McMahon was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL), but made a full recovery. Both of the band's albums, Everything in Transit and The Glass Passenger, have been received well by both fans and critics alike. They are currently signed to Sire Records.

Contents 1 Etymology 2 History 2.1 Formation and Everything In Transit (2004-2007) 2.2 The Glass Passenger (2007- Present) 3 Philanthropy 4 Members 5 Discography 5.1 Albums 5.2 Singles 5.3 EPs 5.4 Non-album tracks 5.5 Unreleased Live Tracks / Covers 6 External links 7 References

[edit] Etymology

The band's name is a combination of the title of a song Andrew McMahon wrote, "Dear Jack", and a band name he considered, The Mannequins. He stated that he had grown bored of the "The" band names, so he had decided to combine them.^[1]

[edit] History

[edit] Formation and Everything In Transit (2004-2007)

Andrew McMahon started out in music initially 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 2000 titled "Locked Doors". He felt the song was too different 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.^[2] The idea seemed outlandish until late summer of 2004 when both McMahon and his bandmates were exhausted from months of touring. They 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 never expected 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. 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", McMahon stated in an interview.^[3] Although he just planned on recording them, the songs really 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.

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 bone marrow transplant.

Jacks Mannequin featured in Series 3 Episode 15 of One Tree Hill (TV series), performing at Peyton's breast cancer benefit gig at Tric, the band performed 'The Mixed Tape', 'Holiday From Real' and 'Dark Blue'.

[edit] The Glass Passenger (2007- Present)

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,^[4] 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 new record ("Caves"^[5] and "Suicide Blonde"^[6]) were uploaded onto YouTube for public viewing. McMahon appears on the cover of the January 2008 issue of Alternative Press, which contains an interview with him.^[7]

The new record, entitled The Glass Passenger, had an original release date of April 22. The date was then tentatively set to June 3, but was released much later on September 30, 2008.

On May 5, 2008, Paramore singer Hayley Williams announced on The Sauce that Paramore and Jack's Mannequin had a tour scheduled together, to begin at the end of the summer. Dates have been confirmed for August and September 2008.^[8]

On August 5, 2008, The Ghost Overground EP was released on iTunes. The EP contains two tracks from the upcoming album, "The Resolution" and "Bloodshot," and two live tracks from Everything In Transit. Another EP, In Valleys, was released on iTunes September 9, containing one song from the album, "Swim," and three b-sides, "Cell Phone," "Sleazy Wednesday," and "At Full Speed." "In Valleys" was expected to have a tracklisting of "Swim", "Cell Phone", "Sleazy Wednesday" and "Annie Use Your Telescope" but a mistake was made.

On August 28, 2008, in an interview with MTV, Andrew revealed that the author Stephenie Meyer had written the treatment for the new video for "The Resolution" and had set to direct it the following week.^[9] Of the shoot, McMahon said, "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."^[10]

On September 3rd, 2008, it was announced that Jack's Mannequin would be the headliner on a fall tour that will feature the new album. The Tour is called "Hammers and Strings: An Evening with Jack's Mannequin and The Glass Passenger". The band is expected to play the album in its entirety at these shows, touring major cities and areas with a large fan base. This much-awaited tour saw many of the shows sell out in a few days. It will be the first tour after The Glass Passenger's release.

On September 30, 2008, The Glass Passenger was released, getting great reviews from music magazines (Spin, Alternative Press, Rolling Stone, etc.) and a huge acceptance from fans.^{[citation needed]}

On October 13, 2008, a three-song live acoustic video performance premiered on LiveDaily Sessions, including the songs "The Resolution," "Annie Use Your Telescope" and "Bloodshot".^[11]

On November 3rd, 2008, it was announced that Jack's Mannequin would be the headliner for the annual KRBZ's The Night The Buzz Stole Christmas, one of the largest annual alternative music events during the Christmas season. The band will tour with The Fray in the summer of 2009.

On May 22nd 2009, it was announced on their website that the band would be shooting a music video for their next single "Swim". The fans were asked to send in any artwork that represented the metaphorical meaning of the word "Swim". That being anything to do with "hope, perseverance, courage, determination and strength". The video is to be released sometime in late June or July of 2009.

[edit] 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.

[edit] Members

• Andrew McMahon – vocals, piano
• Bobby "Raw" Anderson– guitar, backup vocals
• Jonathan 'Dr. J' Sullivan – bass
• Jay McMillan – drums

[edit] Discography

[edit] Albums

• Everything in Transit (August 23, 2005) #37 U.S.(250,000+ US)
• The Glass Passenger^[12][13] (September 30, 2008)^[14] #8 US (225,000 US)

[edit] Singles

• "The Mixed Tape" #124 US
• "Dark Blue"
• "The Lights and Buzz"
• "La La Lie"
• "The Resolution" #104 US, #27 US Modern Rock
• "Swim"

[edit] EPs

• "Kill the Messenger" 7" vinyl (2005)
• "Holiday" 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)

[edit] 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 3: Property of Gentlemen (2007)
• "Dear Jack" (played live for the first time in front of an audience on 10/14/08 in Atlanta, 10/23/08 in Austin)
• "Hey Hey Hey, We're All Gonna Die" (played live 11/18/08 in Philadelphia, 11/22/08 in New York City)
• "Into the Airwaves (Remix)" (played live at Lifestyle Communities Pavilion, 4/14/09 in Columbus, OH)

[edit] Unreleased Live Tracks / Covers

• All I Have to Do is Dream (The Everly Brothers Cover)
• American Girl (Tom Petty Cover)
• Changes (David Bowie Cover)
• Fool in the Rain (Led Zeppelin Cover)
• Friend of the Devil (The Grateful Dead Cover)
• Homeward Bound (Paul Simon Cover)
• I'm On Fire (Bruce Springsteen Cover)
• Kids (MGMT Cover)
• Message in a Bottle (The Police Cover)
• My Name is Jonas (Weezer Cover)
• Diane (Soundcheck)
• With or Without You (U2 cover)
• For All We Know (Soundcheck)
• Get Out Of This (Soundcheck)

[edit] External links

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

[edit] References

v • d • e Jack's Mannequin Andrew McMahon • Bobby "Raw" Anderson • Jay McMillan • Jonathan Sullivan Albums Everything In Transit • The Glass Passenger EPs The Ghost Overground • In Valleys • The Resolution EP Singles "The Mixed Tape" • "Dark Blue" • "The Lights and Buzz" • "La La Lie" • "The Resolution"•"Swim" Related Something Corporate • Maverick Records • Sire Records • "Hello, Again" • "I Need You"