![]() ![]() “We wanted to play as many gigs as we could and we wanted the labels to come see us live, with our audience, in the clubs.” And the labels came. “We wouldn’t showcase for the record labels,” says Hull of the band’s early days. In 2005, before they were even old enough to vote, Manchester Orchestra headed out on the road and played over 200 shows, quickly building a legion of loyal fans that grows bigger and bigger with every show they play and every album they release. And I like to use my music to explore how that faith stretches and challenges me to be a better man.” I’m a spiritual, but not a religious, person. “I’ve always believed in God, but modernized Christianity can scare me. The son and grandson of southern ministers, Hull formed Manchester Orchestra in 2004 at the age of 17 with his lifelong friends (Jonathan Corley on bass, keyboardist Chris Freeman, guitarist Robert McDowell and drummer Tim Very) and used their music as a way to explore the issues that mattered most to him, issues of life, emotional vulnerability and the human condition. “I’ve always had a clear perception of right and wrong around me,” says Hull, “I’ve constantly questioned my beliefs, trying to find the truth.” It’s why Alternative Press gave MO’s 2009 acclaimed Mean Everything to Nothing (which yielded the Top 10 Modern Rock hit “I’ve Got Friends”) a five-star lead review that called the album “a masterpiece of intricacy and honesty.” You can feel their passion in the power of Hull’s voice and the fury of the band’s music in every track they’ve ever laid down, a power that wraps itself around you and demands your attention as Hull’s lyrics guide you through the world as he sees it. And the lyrics, which take us firsthand through this life-changing experience, are poetic and raw, honest and passionate.īut Manchester Orchestra has always been about truth about passion. The narrative is a trip through a man’s brain, through his mistakes, regrets and realizations. The composition is emotional and complex, expertly weaving music with story. The instrumentation is big, even in its smallest moments. As Roy Shuker defines in his book Popular Music: The Key Concepts, a concept album is a record "unified by a theme, which can be instrumental, compositional, narrative, or lyrical." Simple Math is indeed unified by all of these. Recorded at Blackbird Studios in Nashville and mixed by Joe Chiccarelli, the band kept the same studio set-up and production team intact from their second to third records. Produced fat, tactile and beautiful by Dan Hannon, Simple Math is Hannon’s third full-length LP with the band, starting with the debut album I’m Like A Virgin Losing A Child and then the follow-up Mean Everything To Nothing. But for the first time, I’m not blaming anyone but myself,” Hull says. “It’s the reaction to my marital, physical, and mental failures. ![]() Manchester Orchestra’s new album, Simple Math, is about that experience. ![]() On April 1st, 2009, Andy Hull started to put his life back together. With: Balance and Composure, Kevin Devine and the Goddamn Band ![]()
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