Manchester Orchestra:
Allusions & Associations
Words: Evan Tokarz

Photo: James Minchin III

Manchester Orchestra is not an orchestra. Despite the name, Manchester Orchestra is, in fact, an indie-rock band from Atlanta. One often associated with the likes of Brand New and Kevin Devine, as all three acts have toured together.

Like Brand New, M.O.'s lyrics have a brutal honesty at times. Lead singer and songwriter Andy Hull gives a handy introduction to his psyche in the first lines of new album Mean Everything to Nothing when he sings, “I am the only one who thinks I'm going crazy/and I don't know what to do/I am the only son of a pastor I know/who does the things I do.”

Hull, whose father is a pastor, explained the origins of the band’s name in an interview with Cleveland, Ohio alternative newsweekly CleveScene:

“I was listening to a lot of Morrissey and the Smiths,” Hull said. “So the city of Manchester really fascinated me, as did the idea of being the leader of an orchestra and having all my friends come in to play.”

In a way, the drummer for the band, Jeremiah Edmond, belongs to Hull’s idea of an orchestra of friends.

Edmond, who has his own producing company, Fifth Story Music, helped found Manchester Orchestra's label Favorite Gentlemen Recordings with other members of the band. The imprint has gone on to put out more than ten records in the last year, including Mean Everything to Nothing. 

Edmond says the record is definitely different from the last album, I’m Like a Virgin Losing a Child, explaining that the band sought to explore new sounds that they might have been hesitant to play on previous records. Even if some fans and critics may not like the result, artistic vision is something worth putting up a fight for.

“Often what you're really proud of doesn’t line up with what everyone else thinks,” says Edmond.

However, critics seem to like Mean Everything to Nothing: Absolutepunk.net gave it a 93 rating, and the glossy monthly Alternative Press (AP) gave it five stars.

Edmond lists Nirvana’s In Utero, Foo Fighters’ The Colour and the Shape, and Weezer’s Pinkerton as albums that inspired the band during the making of the record. The band’s goal was not to make their record sound technically like these albums, which they consider classics; instead, they thought it would be nice if the album could affect the listener in the same way the albums affected them when they first listened to them.

Edmond says the aim of the new album was to make a record that the band members liked, and not necessarily an album that the public would.

“Our band goal is always to make an album we are proud and happy with,” says the drummer. “We've never really put all our worth in selling records or being signed, so we made a big point to not worry about that kind of stuff when making the record.”

Rainn Wilson, also known as Dwight Schrute from the NBC comedy The Office, is a big fan of the band. On March 30, Wilson wrote on twitter.com “u guys know MANCHESTER ORCHESTRA!? u should & u will b/c they ROCK!! (and they're doing an 11 part concept video.)”

Edmond says he thought that it was great for Wilson to recognize the band, since the band members are also big fans of his work.

The Emmy-award winning team of Clay Lipsky and Jason Bognacki from Destroy Rock Music, Inc. direct the 11-part concept video that Wilson references. The directors made a music video for Manchester Orchestra’s track "I Can Barely Breathe" from the band’s last album, I’m Like a Virgin Losing a Child, and the band liked it so much, they hired the team to make videos for each song on the new album. Every two weeks, the band will release a video in consecutive order from the album.

“There's one character that goes through each one - there's not a full-on story, but they're all connected in a way.” Edmond says. “It's very cool to make something ourselves and then hand it off to them and see what it inspires them to create.”

The members of Manchester Orchestra enjoy Florida. According to Edmond, they want to make sure to have more shows down here, since they always have a good time:

“There was a long spell where we weren't able to make it to Florida, but we've been lucky to have a lot great fans who stuck through us for that,” he says.

Specifically, Edmond is partial to Orlando's semi-legendary club The Social, formerly known as the Sapphire Supper Club. He says that despite the small stage, which can make playing difficult, they always have a great time at that venue.

“We like to get out and do what we do best: play live,” he says.

Manchester Orchestra in Florida:
June 2 - State Theatre, St. Petersburg
June 3 -The Social, Orlando
June 4 - The Social, Orlando

myspace.com/manchesterorchestra