Something Corporate singer balances two acts
By KELLY WILSON
Get Out

The blaring horns and loud sirens in New York are somewhat symbolic for Something Corporate frontman Andrew McMahon, who is in the midst of his own craziness — balancing two different bands.

The 22-year-old singer/songwriter/pianist is in the Big Apple for an Alternative Press magazine photo shoot for his side project, Jack's Mannequin. McMahon brings the band to the East Valley on Friday.

The singer, who possesses boy-next-door good looks, initially put his own money into his side project before signing a deal with Maverick Records.

“I used it more as an art therapy project than anything,” he says. “It was just a chance to kind of get some ideas out and use the time off that I had to make something that I like. Eventually, the record kind of got to a place where I was really proud of it and wanted to put it out and started exploring avenues and places that I wanted to put it out. At that point, I wasn't sure that Geffen (Something Corporate's record label) was the right place. It didn't seem like it made a lot of sense to put the side project out on the same label that Something Corporate was at ... It seemed best to kind of keep the two separate.”

The album, “Everything in Transit,” will be released in July. McMahon says the CD — which Tommy Lee engineered and played drums on — stems from a breakup.

“When you listen to it, more or less, it's the story of what happened to me coming home after being on the road with Something Corporate for so many years,” he explains. “And one of the main things and probably the most impacting thing was the separation of myself and my girlfriend.”

Something Corporate fans will hear a difference in McMahon's side project — they'll also hear similarities in the sunny, poppy harmonies.

“Obviously I'm still the writer and still the singer on this stuff, so there's always going to obviously be a similarity between this and Something Corporate,” McMahon says. “This music is a lot more laid back than Something Corporate. It was really heavily influenced by a lot of my favorite artists like the Beach Boys. I kind of discovered ‘Pet Sounds’ right as I was starting to make this record. There's quite a bit more harmony on this record than there was on previous records.”

Jack's Mannequin
With: Skybox, Sunrise Elementary
When: 6:30 p.m. Friday
Where: Neckbeard's, 7 E. Baseline Road, Tempe How much: $10, all ages
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