Andrew Ross McMahon
(born September 3, 1982) is a singer/songwriter. He is the vocalist, pianist and primary songwriter for the bands Something Corporate and Jack's Mannequin; McMahon also performs solo. [1]
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ANDREW MCMAHON IN THE WILDERNESS TICKETS
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Biography
Early life
Andrew Ross McMahon was born on September 3, 1982 in
Concord, Massachusetts and has been playing the piano since he was eight years old. As a toddler, he frequently wore suits, neckties and bow ties because he looked up to his father. He briefly lived in
New Jersey and in 1991 he moved to
Bexley, Ohio where he attended Cassingham Elementary School for 5th and 6th grades and became a local legend by performing piano solos before he could even read music. Andrew's family moved frequently because his father worked in retail. Around 4th grade, they moved to California to support his mothers family after the loss of her brother. The death had a large impact on the family, and Andrew even has a tattoo on his forearm in memory of his uncle. The family moved around more, but finally found themselves back in California at the start of Andrews eighth grade year. Andy describes himself as a "pudgy, outgoing, artist little kid" who never quite fit into the California scene. He lived at his aunt's house, because things were rough for the McMahon family, and Andrew quickly learned that things can easily be taken away. Even though he lived on the west coast, he still considered himself a "Midwest kid" at heart. He made a friend in junior high who took him to many punk rock concerts. He never felt like he fit in, and certainly never thought he could play this type of music- especially on the piano. He attended
Dana Hills High School in
Orange County, California, and
[2]he started his first band
Left Here with his high school friends and future Something Corporate bandmates Kevin "Clutch" Page on bass and
Brian Ireland on drums in 1997.
Even though they won a local
battle of the bands competition, they soon broke up. McMahon went on to record the self-released
eponymous four-track demo CD
Andrew McMahon
with the aid of several friends of his, including guitarist Josh Partington, whom he had met his sophomore year in high school. Joined by rhythm guitarist
Reuben Hernandez (who was later replaced by
William Tell), the
quintet formed the piano rock band Something Corporate in 1998.
Something Corporate
Fronted by McMahon, Something Corporate recorded their self-released ten-song demo album
Ready... Break
in 2000, which led to a record deal with the indie record label
Drive-Thru Records. Drive-Thru released the band's nationwide distributed debut
EP Audioboxer
the following year. McMahon's vocals, songwriting skills and especially the incorporation of the piano earned the CD rave reviews and caught the attention of Drive-Thru's distributor
MCA (now Geffen). Due to the labels' distribution deal, MCA was able to sign over Something Corporate and released their major label debut
Leaving Through the Window
in May 2002.
The band promoted the album by playing concerts across the United States (including the main stage at
Vans Warped Tour) and supporting
New Found Glory (whose vocalist
Jordan Pundik used to be McMahon's roommate) on their European tour. Something Corporate released their second full-length album
North
on Geffen Records in late 2003 and toured with
311,
Good Charlotte,
Yellowcard, and
Jimmy Eat World. As of 2004 (and the signing of Jack's Mannequin to Maverick Records), the band is no longer under contract to any label.
Jack's Mannequin
The initial impulse behind McMahon's solo project Jack's Mannequin was "Locked Doors", a song he recorded in December 2003, which he felt was too different from previous Something Corporate material to be one of their songs. He realized that, if he would ever decide to release it, it would be on a solo album rather than a Something Corporate record.
[3] The idea seemed to be off the table, until in late summer 2004 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 Partington created a side project of his own called
Firescape, McMahon started writing songs, knowing they would not see the light of day as Something Corporate songs. 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.
[4]
Over the next couple of months, McMahon began recording the newly written songs with producer
Jim Wirt, who would play guitar and bass over sampled drum tracks, while McMahon contributed vocals and piano. They later brought in additional musicians such as Bobby "Raw" Anderson (formerly of
River City High) and
Tommy Lee to add to the mix. The project's name, Jack's Mannequin, originated from one of McMahon's songs called "Dear Jack", which was written about a friend of his whose brother was diagnosed with childhood
leukemia, but ultimately did not make the album's final cut. In March 2005, Jack's Mannequin — now consisting of McMahon on vocals and piano,
Jon Sullivan on bass, Anderson and
Jacques Brautbar (ex-
Phantom Planet) on guitars, and
Jay McMillan (ex-River City High) on drums — played their first live show at Molly Malone's Irish pub in
Los Angeles, California.
He then proceeded to compose his second Jack's Mannequin album,
The Glass Passenger
. The first single, "The Resolution", is the band's highest-charting song to date.
Leukemia diagnosis
On May 27, 2005 (three months before the release of Jack's Mannequin's debut album
Everything in Transit
), McMahon was forced to cancel all of his upcoming concerts.
[5] After a medical examination in connection with a relentless case of
laryngitis, McMahon was admitted to a hospital in New York City, where he was diagnosed with
acute lymphoblastic leukemia on June 1, 2005.
[6] Since the illness was diagnosed in its early stages, McMahon's doctors had high hopes for a full recovery. In the wake of this, many fans started projects to raise money for leukemia awareness. Most notably, the music website
AbsolutePunk.net had orange
wristbands specially made, reading "I Will Fight" (a line from a song only available on the British version of Something Corporate's
North
, "Watch The Sky", which McMahon claims to be his favorite song he ever wrote). They sold close to 6,000 bands, raising over $20,000 which was donated to the
Pediatric Cancer Research Foundation.
[7]
Over the following couple of months, McMahon received various types of treatment, all the while updating his blog, to keep his fans informed on the progress of his condition. August 23, 2005 marked a very significant date for him for two reasons: Firstly, it was the day his album
Everything in Transit
was released, debuting at #37 of the
Billboard 200 with over 22,000 copies scanned within its first week. Secondly, it was the day he received a
bone marrow transplant, with his sister Katie McMahon serving as the donor.
[8] As a thank-you, he and the rest of Something Corporate wrote and recorded a song called "Katie" for her. The song finally was played live at a Jack's Mannequin concert on 7/11/2006 in Cleveland, Ohio. Katie was in attendance for the performance. In October 2005, McMahon recorded a Christmas song titled "
The Lights and Buzz", which was released via the
iTunes Music Store a month later.
On December 2, 2005, McMahon celebrated the 100-day anniversary of his stem cell transplant by playing his first concert in six months – a private invite-only show in a small venue in Los Angeles, California. His first public appearance followed ten days later at "Gimme Shelter '05", an acoustic cancer
benefit concert at the Roxy in
Los Angeles, California. Following these shows,
Maverick Records finally started a promotion campaign for
Everything in Transit
, including TV appearances by McMahon on
Jimmy Kimmel Live
,
One Tree Hill
(in the episode "Just Watch the Fireworks"),
Last Call with Carson Daly
,
Steven's Untitled Rock Show
, and
The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson
, as well as a second
music video for "The Mixed Tape", which hit #1 on
VH1's
VSpot Top 20 Countdown
on June 9, 2006. Simultaneously, Jack's Mannequin embarked on a two-month tour across the United States supporting
Of A Revolution.
In July 2006, McMahon founded a non-profit
charity, The Dear Jack Foundation, to raise fundings for cancer research. The organization's primary beneficiaries are the Pediatric Cancer Research Foundation, the
Leukemia and Lymphoma Society and the regents of the
University of California, Los Angeles.
[9]
On July 9, 2006, McMahon announced at his
Summerfest Jack's Mannequin concert that that night would be the last night he would have to take medication for his cancer treatment. Soon after, the second single from
Everything in Transit
, "Dark Blue", was released. It was followed by an opening slot on
Panic! at the Disco's "Nothing Rhymes With Circus Tour" throughout the United States and Canada, starting November 7, 2006 in
Florida and ending December 12, 2006 in
New Mexico.
A documentary entitled "Dear Jack" will be released in late 2009. If it is not bought by
Fuse,
VH1, or
MTV, Andrew says he will put it on DVD for his fans. The film, which chronicles McMahon's struggle with leukemia, features self-recorded footage in the hospital. It is narrated by his friend,
Tommy Lee. The documentary was directed by Corey Moss and Josh Morrisroe, two former MTV News producers who covered McMahon's story for the channel, although much of the intensely personal footage was shot by Andrew himself.
Recording Label
Andrew started
Airport Tapes and Records recording label. The label has signed successful Chicago rock band
Treaty of Paris.
Discography
For McMahon's releases with Something Corporate, see Something Corporate's discography
For McMahon's releases with Jack's Mannequin, see Jack's Mannequin's discography
- Andrew McMahon
(1999)
- Hidden in Plain View - Life in Dreaming
(2005, piano on "Halcyon Daze")
- Later-Days - Catch This Epidemic...
(2005, piano on "Evan's Epidemic")
- Tommy Lee - Tommyland: The Ride
(2005, vocals on "Hello Again" and "I Need You")
- William Tell - You Can Hold Me Down
(2007, piano on "Fairfax")
- The Spill Canvas - No Really, I'm Fine
(2007, piano on "Saved")
- The Academy Is... - Fast Times at Barrington High
(2008, piano on "After The Last Midtown Show")
References
- inTuneMusic Online: http://intunemusiconline.com/2009/06/19/jacks-mannequin-nyc-619/
- Insert footnote text here
- Interview with Andrew McMahon
- Andrew McMahon (Jack's Mannequin)
- jacksmannequin: A Past That's Hard to Shake
- jacksmannequin: And suddenly, everything had changed...again
- Andrew McMahon - "I Will Fight"
- jacksmannequin: And it all collides on one fateful Tuesday
- The Dear Jack Foundation