- Title: UK: Atlanta rockers Manchester Orchestra talk about being on the brink of stardom
- Date: 30th April 2009
- Summary: LONDON, ENGLAND, UNITED KINGDOM (RECENT) (REUTERS) MANCHESTER ORCHESTRA BAND MEMBERS - KEYBOARDIST CHRIS FREEMAN (ON LEFT) AND GUITARIST AND LEAD SINGER ANDY HULL CLOSE OF HULL, THEN TO FREEMAN (SOUNDBITE) (English) ANDY HULL, LEAD SINGER OF MANCHESTER ORCHESTRA, SAYING: "We just played together so much we wer gone for 300 days in 2007 and played 250 shows together. When it came time to write this new record it just felt very natural to play. There was more..." FREEMAN, SAYING: "Gel" HULL, SAYING: "It was flowing very easily together and so we started writing." FREEMAN, SAYING: "Very liquid." HULL, SAYING: "Yes, very liquid."
- Embargoed: 15th May 2009 13:00
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- Reuters ID: LVA4TOC40T9L1LARFPOTRN4HJ5WA
- Story Text: Manchester Orchestra may not be a household name yet but the band from Atlanta hope to change all that with their follow-up album.
Manchester Orchestra are a five-piece band from the U.S.'s "Deep South".
After making quiet waves with their 2006 debut album "I'm Like A Virgin Losing A Child", the band return with a bigger wall of sound, courtesy of producer Joe Chicarrelli of The Shins and My Morning Jacket.
The boys from Atlanta, Georgia have been called "post-emo" by their record label in the UK and been compared to Foo Fighters or Weezer.
Andy Hull, the band's lead singer and guitarist, was scouted by record companies early on in high school and decided to home school himself to focus squarely on music. Upon entering the senior (last) year of high school, he did just that.
Hull, along with Chris Freeman (keyboards), Jonathan Corley (bass), Jeremiah Edmond (drums), and Robert McDowell, have technically only been a band for two years but already they have put in the work and muscle needed to make it in showbusiness.
Spending nearly all of 2007 on the road and getting to work together as a unit made it much easier for album number two to flow, said Hull.
"We just played together so much we wer gone for 300 days in 2007 and played 250 shows together. When it came time to write this new record it just felt very natural to play," Hull told Reuters Television.
"Mean Everything To Nothing" addresses life on the road and according to Hull, "how not to kill yourself while touring".
The band were fresh from performing a few gigs in London as well as at the Beatles' legendary Abbey Road studios where Hull admitted he was "so nervous". Despite the drawbacks, the band are getting to fulfill their dream.
"I mean we're also, we're touring in a van, it's like a trailer but we're driving ourselves around. It's a job, you know it's what we do - nobody needs to feel sorry for us, we're still playing in a band!" he said.
Manchester Orchestra prefer to have creative control, taking their marketing and production into their own hands in the United States. Their label "Favourite Gentlemen Recordings" is run by drummer Jeremiah Edmond. In the United Kingdom, they are on Columbia Sony BMG Records.
Early reviews of the album are favourable. Contactmusic.com and allmusic.com have both given it a 9 out of 10 with the latter calling it "one of the best records of the year so far".
Still, the band remains humble despite the accolades.
"Like I said, for each one of those there's five negative ones and so you just can't feed into that stuff, you know? I mean we listen to and we read that stuff because we also run our own label in the States, and you know there's quite a bit of stuff that you need to know. We use it for live reference points as well, because if someone says that they don't like something live we'll try and do that even more - as much as we can. To just see how angry we can make the fans," said Hull.
What they are more concerned about, said Hull, is their newfound fame: "There's a big paradox in our lives. Actually we said last night two of us look weird - which is the truth compared to the other guys in the band, we are two weird looking guys. And when we walk into a restaurant in the States it can go one of two ways, you know it's either like 'Who the hell are these guys?' or 'Oh, they're in a band - the Manchester guys.' They think we'll rob you or play songs for you, one of the two."
"Or that we want to talk about music, it's like - I don't want to talk about music, man. I don't want to talk about music I want to have my drink," added Freeman.
Manchester Orchestra are currently touring the U.S. and are planning to return for festival tour dates in Europe.
"Mean Everything to Nothing" is out now. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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