{"id":31299,"date":"2017-02-10T07:35:20","date_gmt":"2017-02-09T20:35:20","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/maytherockbewithyou.com\/mtrbwy\/?p=31299"},"modified":"2017-02-09T14:49:34","modified_gmt":"2017-02-09T03:49:34","slug":"andrew-mcmahon-andrew-mcmahon-wilderness","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/maytherockbewithyou.com\/mtrbwy\/2017\/02\/andrew-mcmahon-andrew-mcmahon-wilderness\/","title":{"rendered":"Andrew McMahon of Andrew McMahon in the Wilderness"},"content":{"rendered":"

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\u201cI think because I was writing a lot of the record while I was working the first Wilderness record and the fact that so much of that process was a new adventure, it was a big risk I think stepping away from Jack\u2019s Mannequin and taking time off and then jumping into this project. So I wanted to capture some of the uncertainty that went along with that\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n

From Release: He was the voice of Jack\u2019s Mannequin and also an incredible solo perfomer. Andrew McMahon in the Wilderness announces the release of his new album Zombies on Broadway on February 10, 2017 via Vanguard Records \/ Caroline Australia, a follow up to McMahon\u2019s eponymous debut album that launched the Gold-selling, cross-genre; Top 5 Alternative and AAA hit \u201cCecilia in the Satellite.\u201d\u00a0Having been diagnosed with cancer in New York in 2005, McMahon found himself wanting to return to the city to battle some demons leading to the creation of Zombies On Broadway.<\/p>\n

Andrew McMahon gave us a call to catch up ahead of his new album release to discuss its creation, concept, writing, Australia, changes, & more\u2026<\/p>\n

We last spoke about eighteen months ago, so let’s catch up, how have things been since June 2015? <\/strong>
\nGosh it\u2019s been a ride for sure, but a good one, I think since then about 18 months ago when I spoke to you a lot happened back here in The States with the success of \u2018Cecelia and The Satellite\u2019 and the sort of concurrent touring and the working on this record, so it\u2019s been busy and wile *laughs* to say the least. Had a beautiful holiday where I got to come home and chill out for a little bit and start kind of gathering strength to go and do this again.<\/p>\n

Of course you have the killer new album ‘Zombies on Broadway’ coming, for you what’s the feeling like around album release time?<\/strong>
\nYou know look, it\u2019s a combination of a lot of feelings; it\u2019s a mixed bag of emotions for sure you know? There\u2019s a sense that you\u2019re sort of putting yourself out there in a very vulnerable state to be dissected and at worst you get picked apart *laughs* and people don\u2019t like what they find and at best you get picked apart and you become a song in somebody\u2019s headphones or in their car and you get to ride with them, but there\u2019s anxiety and there\u2019s also a lot of excitement the idea that we\u2019re prepping for a tour now and get to bring these songs to life and really sort of fill out that side of the expression of what we\u2019re trying to do with these songs which is bring them to a stage is something that I\u2019m really ready to get in the middle of. It\u2019s hectic, it\u2019s fun.<\/p>\n

So in the time between the \u2018In The Wilderness\u2019 album and \u2018Zombies on Broadway\u2019, was there specific inspiration behind the new album?<\/strong>
\nWell, you know I hate to give a boring answer and say I try my best to use these songs as mile markers in my life and sort of chart the progress and the successes and the failures and all that kind of thing in between. I think because I was writing a lot of the record while I was working the first Wilderness record and the fact that so much of that process was a new adventure, it was a big risk I think stepping away from Jack\u2019s Mannequin and taking time off and then jumping into this project. So I wanted to capture some of the uncertainty that went along with that and some of the tension and the fear that comes from taking a big risk, especially one that I don\u2019t know for me it was pretty deeply personal and I think that what we got to with the record was kind of a beautiful charting of what was a crazy time in my life, one that started the nervous and this a project that\u2019s gonna work are people gonna get it? Are we gonna get it out there? Is there going to be an audience for it? Then having it succeed and having the success and having some celebration around it. Then to some extent overworking *laughs* and having that celebration turn in to a lot of late nights and maybe a confrontation with a side of myself that when indulged can require a little coaxing back to Earth and I think that\u2019s what this album really ventures in to.<\/p>\n

The name in itself is just great, but what does ‘Zombies on Broadway’ represent to you personally?<\/strong>
\nIt was sort of a scene that I encountered nightly leaving the studio; I mostly lived in Brooklyn in rented apartments while I was working on the album and I would take the L train into Manhattan and then take the train up to the studio which was basically smack dab in the middle of Times Square. If you\u2019ve been to New York you know you probably don\u2019t want to spend too much time in Times Square because it\u2019s not really the best hang *laughs* but that was where the studio was, and every night I would get out between eleven and midnight after long days working and you kind of wrench yourself when you\u2019re writing these songs and you\u2019re trying to get to something deep and you imagine stepping out of the studio and you want to walk into something peaceful and you actually walk into the most chaotic, lunatic, horror movie on Earth *laughs* which is this tourist central that kind of takes a turn at some time around ten thirty or eleven and guys trying to hustle you into strip clubs or sell you bad drugs and all I\u2019m trying to do is make it to the subway and this little phrase stayed kind of locked up in my notebooks, and man, when it came to naming the record it raised its hand again because it had just stuck with me from all the nights in the studio.<\/p>\n

The album flows so well, but I always like to pick one song to ask about and one that stood out for me was ‘Fire Escape’, can you tell us a bit about how that one came about?<\/strong>
\nYeah, it was this kind of beautiful moment, I kind of think of it as the centre of the record. When I ended up in the city kind of in this blind date writing session with a guy named Dan Omelio a lot of people know him as Robopop, he\u2019s done a lot of work, he did Lana Del Rey, and a lot of really amazing artists, and another producer and writer named Gregg Wattenberg, and we kind of got thrown together because we all had a lot of mutual friends and we were all in New York at the same time and said \u2018hey let\u2019s get together and try and write a song\u2019 and I had kind of a rare few days off in the city in between tours and it was this sort of celebratory moment that the first Wilderness record had done really well and we\u2019d seen a lot of success with \u2018Cecelia\u2019 and we were kind of riding that and I just had this kind of rare, carefree couple of days where\u00a0 I was seeing a lot of my friends and we were going out late and I just had this notebook that I carried with me and just write everything down for two nights of sort of insane, beautiful parties with my art friends and my musician buddies *laughs* and managed in this really perfect moment to get all these lyrics and all these sort of mini poems that I\u2019d written down into the lyric of this song that we wrote over a couple of days in the city. Yeah, I think of it as this beautiful celebration, that\u2019s what \u2018Fire Escape\u2019 is about, whether you\u2019re young or old or anywhere in between if you can find some good friends and a good bar and cut yourself loose for a night you\u2019re gonna have a great time.<\/p>\n

You’re no stranger to Australian shores, so do you have any plans to come back and see us in the near future?<\/strong>
\nWell I don\u2019t have anything on the books yet but I better be coming there soon because no tour or album would be complete if we didn\u2019t get some dates in one of my favourite places in the world. So I am crossing my fingers that something pops up here pretty soon because I would miss y\u2019all too much if it didn\u2019t come together. You should expect me, I\u2019m not sure when but I will get out there.<\/p>\n

Well I\u2019ve been seeing you since Something Corporate came back in 2003 I think when you came, so I can\u2019t wait\u2026<\/strong>
\nYeah thank you man, I\u2019m looking forward to it thanks for sticking with me that long.<\/p>\n

Obviously over time you’ve evolved as an artist through different projects and rather than ask you what’s changed, what would you say is the one thing that has stayed the same in the way that you work?<\/strong>
\nThat stayed the same\u2026 I think there\u2019s a sort of like a truth meter that if it\u2019s not met in a song and if I don\u2019t feel like when a song is complete that it strikes a certain chord with me and that it says something that feels honest, I think that is one thing, I can\u2019t put those songs out and I can\u2019t stick by those songs and if anything the thing that is the same is my intention behind what I create hasn\u2019t changed. I try to use these songs to answer questions and try to use these songs to understand myself a little better, and understand the world and the people around me a bit better and I don\u2019t think that\u2019s changed. I think the thing that has probably changed the most has been my desire to collaborate, my desire to sort of share that creative space with people and to learn from people, I think that\u2019s something that\u2019s grown with me over time and something that I value much more than I did when I just started out. I think as a kid just starting out making music was very territorial, I didn\u2019t want anyone near my songs until the very last minute and then I was very proprietary and had a very hard time sort of opening the door to other people. Now I think a lot of the joy I find with this process of making music for a living is getting to know people and getting to know their craft and how they make a great song and trying to learn from those people and surround myself with them and I think that\u2019s been the biggest change for me.<\/p>\n

So what’s on your list of things to do as an artist that you haven’t yet had the chance to do that you want to achieve?<\/strong>
\nHmm that\u2019s a good one\u2026 I mean it sounds kind of like a safe statement I suppose but I think just expanding what I do, I think there are a lot of artists out there that see themselves as\u2026 you know\u2026 I\u2019m just a guy on the stage that writes the songs and look I\u2019d be happy doing that for the rest of my life but I think I got a taste of the other side of that with working on the \u2018Smash\u2019 stuff, I worked on a TV show for NBC where I got to be the guy in the writers chair and have somebody else sing the songs and take cues from a director and a screenwriter and I think I see that being a much bigger part of my story as I move forward. I look at the artists who have been able to expand into who they are and forming different characters and exploring different sounds and styles and I think that\u2019s where I see myself going with this, doing a record and maybe doing a film project, or a TV project, or getting in and helping to write a musical, you know just get my hands in to other stuff to grow, and I think those are the things I\u2019m also looking forward to.<\/p>\n

Lastly let’s look ahead to the future, finish this sentence for me, by the end of 2017 Andrew McMahon wants to…<\/strong>
\n*laughs* that\u2019s a good question\u2026 what do I want to do by the end of 2017? Hmm\u2026 well I\u2019d like to take a mini sabbatical and bring my family and I off into some foreign land for a few months to just do that you know what I mean and just put things on hold for a minute and explore the world a little bit before my daughter goes to preschool and I can\u2019t snatch her for six months at a time and take her away *laughs* so maybe some quiet time away with my family.<\/p>\n

Well Australia is a lovely place, feel free to come here\u2026<\/strong>
\nI would love to I\u2019ve been trying to convince my wife, the sixteen hours on a plane with a three year old gets in the way a little bit but I think there are enough movies out there that we can probably entertain her with that would be worth it.<\/p>\n

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Essential Information<\/u><\/strong><\/h2>\n

From:<\/strong> USA<\/p>\n

Band members: <\/strong>Andrew McMahon<\/p>\n

Website:<\/strong> \u00a0http:\/\/andrewmcmahon.com<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

Latest release: <\/strong>Zombies on Broadway \u2013 (out now-\u00a0Vanguard\/Caroline Australia)<\/p>\n

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