FRIENDS IN ALL THE RIGHT PLACES
With a little help from Letterman and an A-list producer, Manchester Orchestra aims to be Atlanta’s Next Big Thing.
Though you’d never have guessed it based on the indie-rock aesthetic of their debut, Manchester Orchestra clearly isn’t satisfied with merely being the best band to emerge from Atlanta in over a decade. If their latest album, Mean Everything To Nothing, is any indication, Andy Hull and company are determined to be the biggest band in the world.
Produced by Joe Chiccarelli (My Morning Jacket, The Shins), Manchester Orchestra’s bombastic second LP was designed to fill arenas, with songs that evoke comparisons to rock legends ranging from Black Sabbath and R.E.M. to Jane’s Addiction and Nirvana without ever losing their distinctive identity. Which explains why the band had performed on The Late Show With David Letterman twice and had its music featured in shows such as Gossip Girl and One Tree Hill by the time most of its members were legally able to drink alcohol.
“We really wanted this record to be bigger,” admits Hull, the band’s 22-year-old singer-songwriter, “and I think that was the hardest part for Joe. There was a point in time where he was like, ‘Guys, you can’t turn everything up all the way and have it sound clear!’ He showed us how to arrange our music without having to crank everything to 11.”
It was a great lesson for the young band, the latest in a string of learning opportunities stretching back to when Hull was a teenager. Inspired by bands such as the Get-Up Kids, Modest Mouse and Death Cab For Cutie, he began playing music out of frustration with the alienation he felt at Lilburn’s Providence Christian Academy. The response to his earliest songwriting efforts were so positive that Hull, whose father and grandfather were both preachers, elected to drop out of high school and pursue music full-time.
“I was brought up with really good morals,” he recalls, “but my father and grandfather have always been incredibly supportive. There was never any pressure for me to follow in their footsteps, so I was home schooled for a few years while I was making our first record.”
Eventually Hull surrounded himself with like-minded friends Jonathon Corley (bass), Jeremiah Edmond (drums), Chris Freeman (keyboards) and Robert McDowell (guitar), and in 2006 Manchester Orchestra recorded their first proper album, I’m Like A Virgin Losing A Child. At the age of 19, Hull and company found themselves invited to play at the prestigious Lollapalooza and South By Southwest festivals, and the buzz surrounding them quickly began to build.
Much of the band’s critical acclaim tends to focus on Hull’s maturity, with lyrical themes such as religion, relationships, redemption and death that belie his tender age. “My mom always said that when I was a 4 I was acting like a 6-year old,” Hull recalls. “I’m in a position where I can’t really afford to screw up. I’m not a senior in college, so I was never raging or partying all the time. We had no time to be foolish because we were so busy touring, trying to get our jobs done.”
Asked how he remains grounded in the face of Manchester Orchestra’s impressive list of accomplishments– playing every late-night talk show of note, a glowing review of the new album in Paste, having their music used in TV shows and video games– Hull credits his 2008 marriage to his high school sweetheart, Amy, as well as the fact that he and his bandmates keep each other in check.
“A lot of the guys in the band have known my wife longer than I have. We’ve all known each other for like 10 years, and we’re big on accountability: They call me out on my crap and I call them out. We know we’re very lucky to have come this far, and we’re very aware of how quickly we can fall. I’ve never had a backup career plan,” Hull confesses before going uncharacteristically quiet for a moment. “I just hope it doesn’t go away.” –BRET LOVE
(originally appeared in Jezebel)
No comments:
Post a Comment