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A 'Dear Jack' Journey of Recovery with Andrew McMahon of Jack's Mannequin
by Troy Rogers
Fans of Something Corporate and Jack's Mannequin
know the emotional and inspirational story of
singer Andrew McMahon who was diagnosed with Leukemia
in 2005 three months prior to the release of the
Jack's Mannequin debut album, Everything in Transit.
Although the diagnosis cast an uncertain shadow
over the future, Andrew McMahon took an understandable
hiatus from Jack's Mannequin and music to focus
on recovery. However, after undergoing bone marrow
surgery that also included stem cell treatment,
McMahon soon found himself improving to the point
where he could slowly return to his music and
Jack's Mannequin for a two month tour. Slightly
over a year after being diagnosed with Leukemia,
Andrew McMahon announced he could continue life
without medication after overcoming the odds to
live life as a Leukemia survivor and serve as
living proof that hope is alive for Leukemia patients.
In 2006, Andrew McMahon founded the Dear Jack Foundation, a non-profit charitable organization that raises funds for research into fighting Leukemia and Cancer. At the time of his diagnosis, McMahon had recruited a documentary crew to shoot the daily activity of bringing Jack's Mannequin to life in the recording studio for Everything in Transit and the road. With cameras already rolling during the most significant moment in McMahon's life, what was intended to be a docu-chronicle of Jack's Mannequin turned out to be the story of Andrew McMahon and his battle against Leukemia, which is the focus of the upcoming documentary, Dear Jack. Featuring personal, intense footage shot by Andrew himself while fighting for his life, Dear Jack hits New York, Chicago, and Los Angeles before going wide to fans on DVD on November 9.
Ahead of the DVD release of Dear Jack on November
9, we had the good fortune to spend some exclusive
one-on-one time with Andrew McMahon who opened
up about his personal battle with Leukemia,
the challenges of overcoming uncertainty, the
affect his diagnosis had on Jack's Mannequin
and his music, and his decision to undergo stem
cell therapy. Also, Andrew took some time to
fill us in on his new solo work and his thoughts
on the Twilight Saga: New Moon soundtrack. Interestingly
for Jack's Mannequin fans, Andrew McMahon is
keeping his fingers crossed to hopefully land
a spot on the Twilight Saga: Eclipse or Breaking
Dawn soundtrack.
THE DEADBOLT: Can you remember how it felt when you were first diagnosed?
 ANDREW
MCMAHON: Yeah. I mean to be totally connected
to that feeling, being that it was several years
ago, there is definitely a part of that that
I will always recall.
THE DEADBOLT: How has Leukemia changed your sound since the diagnosis?
MCMAHON: I don't know. I guess in the same sense that any major life event is going to affect [anything]. By sound, I'm assuming you mean the art and how it comes out?
THE DEADBOLT: Right.
MCMAHON: I think any experience is going
to inform your decisions. Obviously one that
massive is a pretty big game changer. But I
wouldn't say it has any different affect of
any other major event life event, too. This
one lasts a little bit longer and the halo-effect
spreads out over a few more years than say maybe
a break-up or something to that effect. But
it's a very real. It's real like anything else
and a process that needs to enter the art form
for sure.
THE DEADBOLT: I'm interested to know what you wanted to tell with Dear Jack? When I first saw the trailer, I got a lump in my throat.
MCMAHON: [laughs] Yeah, it's a pretty
heavy thing. I mean, I think our goal was just
to tell the truth. I don't think there was an
[agenda]. The idea was really, when they approached,
they were like, "Look, we just want to tell
the story." Frankly, I was documenting my life
up to that moment for several months. So I think
what compelled the guys who initially brought
us the idea of turning this thing into a documentary
is, "It's told from a very clear point of view
in that sense of what you were doing before
and how it all played out in your life. You
have this perspective. You know this very personal
perspective." At first it was just my home movies
and I think our goal was just to kind of be
able to tell a very true story about what happened
in that situation. I think a lot of people face
it and we had this window into it that we thought
was a valid kind of point of view to present.
THE DEADBOLT: Was there anything that came out of the documentary that hit you unexpectedly in a rewarding manner?
 MCMAHON:
Well, it's any interesting thing. I think watching
it kind of in its finished state for the first
time, which happened maybe a month and a half
ago, maybe two months at the most. I mean, we've
been working on the thing forever. We've done
edits on the movie probably over the course
of two years. For whatever reason it just wasn't
the right moment. It was good but it wasn't
totally perfect. I think we were really sensitive
about not just handing it out there but just
waiting until it was locked up.
I think if nothing else, the most positive thing for me that comes out of it is just having that period of time on film and seeing how it played out and how important the people around me were to the success of my recovery. That's something that I'm glad I had it on film to be reminded. Really, it was in a lot of ways this sort support structure around me that made it possible for me to be at peace, and for me to be positive while I fought, because they really sat alongside me and did a lot of the heavy lifting in a lot of respects. So I think that reminder is a very positive thing. To see that and know how valuable your relationships are I think is big.
THE DEADBOLT: How did the diagnosis affect the other members of Jack's?
MCMAHON: Well, I think there's obviously a handful of realities to something like that. One, I think, from the human side. These are guys who I've become close with. You share a stage and play music with people, that's a pretty powerful bond. Even at that point I had moved from playing with Something Corporate, but it was sort of the same thing. You now, it's just like watching your brother get sick, in some respects, and I think there is sort of a brotherhood in playing music. So I think it was heavy for everybody.
Of course there's also the fact that's how we're all surviving, rolling around in a van together playing music. That's how we were getting paid and eating. So I think there are other questions of survival and whatnot. But again, it points to how as soon as I got sick the people in my life, my management company, my record company and everything, really looked after the rest of the band and made sure there was work playing in a few other bands that they had met through people in our world. Again, I think it sort of spoke to the positivity of having these people around you who are good people and looked after the band as well.
THE DEADBOLT: Can you talk about some of the positive elements of fear that have helped you, the music, and the band?
 MCMAHON:
You know, I don't know if there are a lot of
positive elements to fear to be honest [laughs].
I mean, I'm not saying that it's not a completely
valid emotion, but I think fear begets fear.
You know what I mean? I think you have to try
to keep your fear in check. There's no question
I think of moments in my career and in my life
when I've been afraid. But I also tend to find
those moments are kind of when you check out
sometimes and you can overcome them. I don't
know. Maybe I'm looking at it from the wrong
angle.
THE DEADBOLT: Will Dear Jack be getting a wide theatrical release?
MCMAHON: I'm sort of going around in the wagon behind the movie, going into these cities and just basically dropping it off in the theater, I guess, in three different cities. Chicago, New York, and Los Angeles will get to see it in a theater. You know, it's hard. Documentaries in general are pretty tough to get that sort of a release anyway, so I think we went down that road for a minute. Then, for a number of reasons, some of them personal and others business, I just think it made more sense for us to go directly to the fans and the people who wanted to hear the story first and then from there the movie will take on its own life. I like the idea of not jamming this down everybody's throat. I think that is the most appropriate way to go about it.
THE DEADBOLT: Since it took awhile to put this all together, what were some of the challenges? I heard that you had reservations about going back and looking at yourself like that.
MCMAHON: Yeah. It was never anything that stopped me from considering doing this movie. I think that just being too close to it, obviously, is difficult to be objective. So I think a lot of the reasons, it did take time. In the same sense The Glass Passenger took time was because there's sort of this halo effect of that kind of experience and it lasts a long time and you revisit it quite a bit. It sort of seemed like maybe the time for the movie would be when I felt those feelings had passed, like I was really in a different chapter in my life. Frankly, I think the past five or six talks after having the record released and getting it played, putting it out there it sort of moved me further and it was possible to be objective. That's why I think just within the past few months we really sat down and started looking hard at the movie again. I think in that moment where I felt finally objective about it, we really all of a sudden hit the "Go" button and it was ready to go.
THE DEADBOLT: I also wanted to know about the stem cell part of your recovery, considering the last administration was kind of against all of the research.
 MCMAHON:
Well, yes and no. I think a lot of people mix
up the idea of the stem cell transplant with
the idea of controversial stem cell research.
They're very different things, different deals
obviously.
THE DEADBOLT: Well, when you were given the option of more chemo or the stem cell procedure, what was going through your mind, no more chemo or was that just the better way to go?
MCMAHON: Well, frankly, it really came
down to a conversation and a lot of research
and a lot of talking to my doctor and whatnot.
My doctor, who is one of the better Leukemia
doctors in the world, that's kind of why we
went to him. He felt pretty strongly that this
would be the best chance at a lasting cure for
me. There was obviously a whole series of risks
that went a long with it that certainly made
it a conversation as to whether or not to do
it. But to me, I think once I sat with him and
had the conversation, it seemed to make sense
if my goal was to really move forward and have
a life without this in it. That's how the decision
was made. And it was scary, it's a new frontier.
It's something you don't know a lot about. But
that's why you lean on these people who know
more about it to guide you. My doctor, I call
him a Ninja because he found the path for me
and got in there with me and made it happen.
I give him a lot of credit. You'll see him in
the movie, he's the coolest.
THE DEADBOLT: As for Jack's Mannequin, what was the summer tour like with The Fray?
MCMAHON: It was awesome. It was probably one of the more relaxed, sort of fun-loving events I can think of on tour. You know, when you're touring venues that size, you just have a little bit more freedom in your day. I was going to yoga everyday when I was on that tour and you eat good food and all of that stuff and the fans were great. A lot of our fans came out to the dates, which I was pleasantly surprised at, because a lot of times if they see we're opening up, they'll stay away until we come back and headline. But we had a lot of people out for us and it seemed like we were making new fans. Yeah, we had a blast.
THE DEADBOLT: Tell me about the promo spot for Three Rivers?
 MCMAHON:
It's actually kind of a funny, sort of one of
those kismet kind of things. I was actually
doing a showcase for CBS. I do the showcase
and there's this lady who works there and is
just awesome, kind of a very cool supervisor
who works at the network. We were chatting and
she sent up something after the thing and she
said, "Oh, I just heard Jack's Mannequin and
we should definitely try to get them into one
of our shows." And the guy wrote back and said,
"Dude, that's so wild. I've been attaching 'Swim'
to Three Rivers and it really works well."
She started telling me about the show and I was like, "Are you aware I'm a transplant patient?" And she's like, "What are you talking about?" I'm like, "That's hysterical that that's the show you would put me into." Granted, it's not organ transplant. But yeah, I remember saying, "Is this shit going to follow me around for the rest of my life?" [laughs]. But it was kind of funny that it was so coincidental. But she kind of jockeyed the thing for us, and a couple of guys in my management company really helped get these spots put together, and it's definitely a good little blip for us as far as some access to the mainstream I guess.
THE DEADBOLT: I noticed you guys just released a video for "Swim". What are you guys working on now?
MCMAHON: [laughs] We're working on a really slow format of radio, as we speak, and all of us are crossing our fingers that we're able to push past - I mean, we're hovering around 40 on that Hot Indies chart. So we'll see if towards the holidays if it starts moving up the chart. Maybe that's the video we'll see a little bit more of than just the viral stuff. But yeah, in the meantime, putting out the documentary has been kind of our huge focus and I also have an EP that will be coming out sort of alongside the documentary probably in the next month or so. You are literally probably like the second person I've even told about this, because we were debating whether or not to do it, and I have a bunch of these songs that were relevant for stuff that got played in the context of the documentary. So I went in and finished these tracks this week and we're going to get them out there in the next month or so. That's kind of what we're working on.
THE DEADBOLT: I wanted to know about Stephenie Meyer and whether fans have been bugging you guys about the New Moon soundtrack?
MCMAHON: Bugging us in what sense? That's like one of those competitive soundtracks to get on and of course we didn't make it this time around. But yeah, what do you want to know?
THE DEADBOLT: Were they wondering if you guys were going to be on it?
MCMAHON: You know, I haven't talked to too many kids about it just because we've been on the road. But sort of in a very subtle manner, sneaking out for a weekend here and there or going out to Europe. So I haven't really heard much news about it. But cross my fingers, they have two more of those movies to make. So I'm hoping to make it on one of those soundtracks. So we'll see what happens [laughs].
THE DEADBOLT: I figured that the fans may have thought you guys were a shoe-in because you know Stephenie.
 MCMAHON:
Well, the thing is: Stephenie is the author
of the books and she's really involved in the
movies from a story standpoint. You know, she's
on set a lot. But I think the way the deal got
structured - I mean, Stephenie obviously has
a lot of say and the music is a big part of
those movies and it was a big part of her writing
those books. But I think the way it got structured
was that she sort of said I'm going to concede
to the person who puts the soundtrack together
to make sure they put together the right soundtrack
for the movie. I would never ask Stephenie to
put me on one of those things, that's a separate
thing. We're friendly with each other, but I'd
feel uncomfortable, you know, "Hey, would you
put me on your soundtrack?" So I'll just keep
submitting songs for the next couple and hope
to get on there.
THE DEADBOLT: Also, since you worked with Stephenie on "The Resolution," I thought people might have thought you guys were earmarked for the New Moon soundtrack.
MCMAHON: Yeah, well, if you listen to the soundtracks - I mean, they're not really so Jack's Mannequin friendly. You now what I mean? [laughs] It's a lot of Muse, and it's a lot of darker, heavier rock bands and really kind of moody melancholy stuff. Frankly, in the Jack's stuff, I've kind of shied away from that other than a handful of moments. So it's not something I think about too much [laughs].
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