Jack's Mannequin

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 Something Corporate frontman Andrew McMahon, and comprises guitarist Bobby Anderson, bassist Jonathan Sullivan 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 37 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 8 on the Billboard 200. "The Resolution" was released as the first single and charted at number 27 on the Hot Modern Rock Tracks chart.
Formation and Everything in Transit (2004–07)
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 2003 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. 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. 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. Although he just planned on recording them, the songs 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 had come about 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 though, it became ironic as "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 bone marrow transplant.

Jack's Mannequin featured in series three episode fifteen of the TV series One Tree Hill, performing at Peyton's breast cancer benefit gig at Tric, the band performed "The Mixed Tape," "Holiday From Real," and "Dark Blue."

The Glass Passenger (2007–09)

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, was originally set for release on April 22, 2008. The date was then tentatively set to June 3, but was 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 played much of the album at these shows, touring major cities. 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)".

Third studio album (2010)
In a recent Alternative Press article, Andrew revealed that he is planning to return to the studio in Spring 2010 to record his third full studio album with Jack's Mannequin. He hopes to release it in the fall.

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. McMahon was recently named a Stand Up to Cancer celebrity ambassador.

Members
Andrew McMahon – Vocals, piano
Bobby "Raw" Anderson – guitar, backup vocals
Jonathan 'Dr. J' Sullivan – bass guitar
Jay McMillan – drums
Discography
Studio albums
Everything in Transit (August 23, 2005) #37 U.S.(250,000+ US)
The Glass Passenger (September 30, 2008) #8 US (225,000 US)
Singles
"The Mixed Tape" #124 US
"Dark Blue"
"The Lights and Buzz"
"La La Lie"
"The Resolution" #104 US, #27 US Modern Rock
"Swim"
"Dear Jack" #40 US Heatseekers
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)
"Holiday from real"
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)
"Doris Day (Don't Go)" – released as a digital download on Amazon.com (2008)
"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)