NATHAN ANCHETA

Scene Editor

Jack’s Mannequin frontman Andrew McMahon spoke to the Creightonian Tuesday, the day his “Dear Jack” documentary was released.

NA: Your first band, Something Corporate and now current project Jack’s Mannequin have been staples at college shows around the country. How are college shows different than playing your regular shows?

AM: It really depends on how it’s set up. It can be different or it can be really similar. A lot of it comes down to venue at the college you’re at. It can be a gymnasium or something like that so just environmentally that’s different. We tend to find that crowdwise it can be really similar. A lot of time at colleges if there’s an event going on people who wouldn’t go to our shows normally might go just because it’s on campus and it’s what’s happening so that can be beneficial to us.

NA: If you had to choose a college major, what would you think you would go with?

That’s a good question. I mean music would be the obvious one. That’s what I would have chosen had I gone. Now that I think about it I might have wanted to study business.

NA: “Dear Jack” (the documentary Andrew made filming himself during his diagnosis of Leukemia before the release of your first Jack’s Mannequin album in 2005) was released today, but you also showed it in theaters prior. What was it like watching yourself on the big screen in that environment?

AM: Well I definitely sat out for the first few. We did one in Chicago, one in New York and we did two in Los Angeles. I sort of waited to do the big screen thing until we were in the Los Angeles screening and it was like friends and family and people who were close to the movie and that’s the first time I watched it on the big screen. It was strange. More than anything it just felt self-conscious, just seeing myself on the big screen like that and obviously the subject matter isn’t necessarily the easiest for me to watch. But that said, I mean I did watch it with a group of people I was close to, so in that sense technically it was an experience I was happy to share with my family and friends.

NA: With the Dear Jack foundation you’ve raised a lot of money for cancer research, how does that make you feel?

AM: It’s great. When you find yourself in a position when you have one of these illnesses and get in a place where you are able to survive it and recover, it becomes sort of an instinct to try to help out in whatever way you can. I’m lucky that I have a platform that I’m able to talk about it and able to raise money and call attention to it. In that sense it feels good to be able to anything to help out.

NA: What’d you do for Halloween?

AM: We just had a party over at my guitarist’s house. I went dressed as Zach Gilifinaikis from The Hangover.

NA: Did you have the whole baby-holster thing?

AM: I definitely carried the baby around the entire night and wore a pair of baby ears. I even found that shirt that he wears in the movie with the head. The tree growing out of his head.

NA: You’ve been touring pretty much all year, how do you deal with all the traveling?

AM: You just get used to it. I mean at some level, if it gets excessive if you don’t get time at home or find time off, it can compound and get overwhelming. With as busy as we’ve been I’ve been trying to be a little bit smarter and balance that out. We at least get a few days at home and you have time to recharge the batteries and whatnot. It can be tiring but at this moment I can say I’m accustomed to it.

Saturday will be your third time in Omaha in the past year; when I say the city “Omaha”, what comes to mind?

[laughs] I have no idea. I see these cities over, over and over again it’s hard to say one thing comes to my mind. I want to say, but I’m probably going to mess up the name but Omaha is called Sokol right?

(NA: Yeah, Sokol Auditorium/Underground.)

AM: Yeah, okay yeah. So in that sense that’s the first thing that comes to mind because most of the time that’s where we end up playing. So I definitely have a vision of that room and playing but beyond that, I don’t have a “this is what I associate Omaha with.” Maybe this next time you guys can show me the way.

NA: Can you talk a little bit about your opener, Erin McCarley?

AM: She’s a talented girl and they’re old friends of ours. She’s a singer songwriter/acoustic guitar. A little bit softer overall.

NA: What’s a band that you think people should know about?

AM: There’s a bunch of stuff I’ve started to listen to recently: a band called Hockey. I’ve definitely been digging on that record. A band that people are definitely finding out about now and that we’re excited to play a show with in December is a band called Phoenix. We’re taking out a band called Fun on this next little group of dates we’re playing til Feb. That’s Nate from The Format and Jack the guitar player from Steel Train. There’s a very cool big sounding, almost orchestral sounding record so you can listen to that.

NA: How did you learn to play the piano the way you do right now?

AM: I think it’s just a combination of growing up around the piano my whole life. I think it was around 8 or 9 when a friend of mine’s dad taught me how to play a whole lot of stuff like Jerry Lee Lewis. I took that and developed songs around the simple chords when I learned that song. From there I studied classical music for three or four years around elementary/middle school and studying other disciplines in high school with a couple different teachers. So I think the songwriting was always one of these things that I just felt. A compulsion, something I had to do. And you know obviously it was best to learn tosing and how to play piano around that idea that if I was going to write songs, I had to find a way to perform them too. That’s where it all came from.

NA: You have a tour with Weezer coming up, what’s it like to play with those guys?

AM: Well we haven’t done it yet, but I’m definitely looking forward to it. I mean I grew up, the Blue Album and Pinkerton were two of my favorite records of all time. I’d say this is the first time I’ll be on a bill, on a tour, I’m opening up for guys that I looked up to in such a major way growing up as a young musician. I’m pretty much geeking out on playing.

NA: What’s the last book you read?

AM: I just read this book, I don’t have the author’s name on hand but it’s called “The History of Love” that was awesome. It was really good. It was a cool novel. I’m trying to remember the woman’s name. It’s probably the most recent thing I’ve read. I haven’t been keeping up my reading as I’d like to. It was about three or four months before I actually like finished that book because I’ve been other places working.

NA: Last question, kind of random: do you have any nicknames, does anyone call you Andy or Drew?

AM: I’ve known people who’ve called me both of those names. I mean most people just call me Andrew to be honest. I don’t have a group of friends who all call me one thing. The Something Corporate dudes have all called me Drew you know what I mean and I have a couple close family members who have called me Andy throughout my life. But for the most part I’ve stuck to Andrew pretty much.

NA: Alright thanks for taking the time to talk to us, good luck with your show tonight and I hope you have a good time Saturday.

AM: Yeah lookin forward to it. See you at Creighton.

NA: OK thanks.

AM: Alright take it easy.