Everything In Its Place

Atlanta's Manchester Orchestra Seems Poised To Have An Even Bigger Year

originally published December 27, 2006

The dark hardwood floors were peppered with colorful confetti, glitter and silver balloons. The bleachers were empty. A band was playing on one end of the room with mic stands sporting red bows and speakers lined in garland. A small crowd gathered in front of the band, slowly bobbing their heads and moving their bodies with the music. The scene looked and felt more like a high-school dance than a rock-and-roll show. But it was actually the latter that brought some Emory University students and a handful of local residents to campus on a recent and freezing (literally) Friday night.

The middle act in a three-band bill, Manchester Orchestra took the floor and immediately captured the audience. It was difficult to ignore the fact that this six-man outfit - Andy Hull (vocals, guitar), John Dance (guitar), Robert McDowell (guitar), Jonathan Corley (bass), Chris Freeman (keyboards, percussion) and Jeremiah Edmond (drums) - had something that makes people immediately take notice. And that night was no exception.

The Atlanta band rolled through several songs from its new album I’m Like a Virgin Losing a Child smoothly and with solid execution. Hull’s vocals were effortless. The music sounded familiar but hard to place, reminiscent of several musicians that the band has probably never heard, much less been able to take influence from. It's a fresh take on pop-leaning indie-rock, and there's a lot in Manchester Orchestra's sound that'll appeal to fans of Grandaddy, Pedro the Lion and Death Cab For Cutie, for instance. Throughout the set, the band relied on a well-developed sense of humor (Hull introduced “I Can Barely Breathe” with “It’s a song about an asthma attack…”), its songwriting skills, and its ability to perform like a band with much more experience than these guys actually have. Ending with “Golden Ticket,” Manchester Orchestra wrapped up what proved to be a strong showing, and one that likely won them a handful of folks to add to an already loyal following in the Atlanta area.

Neither an orchestra nor hailing from Manchester, the band was so named due to Hull’s early obsession with Morrissey and the random friends that Hull would have play with him when he was starting out. The name has misguided many, from concert organizers who inquire where the band’s violins (and the rest of the members) are upon arrival, to the South by Southwest organizers who put the band on a bill with five U.K. bands this past March.

Manchester Orchestra is the brainchild of 20-year-old Hull, who started the band a couple of years ago, playing churches and battle of the bands competitions. Everything changed when an associate publisher of Paste saw Hull perform and urged him to put high school on hold and record an album. Hull took the advice, home-schooled himself for his senior year of high school and hit the studio. That album never really saw the light of day, nor would any of the other Manchester Orchestra recordings that followed until the band put out the rougher EP You Brainstorm, I Brainstorm, But Brilliance Needs a Good Editor last year. I’m Like a Virgin Losing a Child was released this past October, and now with a proper full-length in tow, Manchester Orchestra is ready to move forward.

Today, Hull is the only original member of Manchester Orchestra and he can boast of the fact that the band has had 20 different musicians come and go over the last two years. “The schooling system has been a plague on our band,” Hull explains. “Generally, people who are great musicians think it’s really fun to be in a band, so they’ll stop going to school and college and they’ll be in a band and realize it’s really, really hard and it’s not glamorous and it totally sucks and you have to continue to feed off the small little things that you’re thrown by the gods of music in order to maintain happiness. So, we’ve lost a whole lot to school.”

“Plus some to girls,” adds Corley.

Keeping their fingers crossed that the current lineup is compatible and solid, the members of Manchester Orchestra are looking forward as they finish what has turned out to be a great year. With some still in their teens and the rest in their early 20s, the members have a lot to learn, even though when speaking with Hull it’s as if you’re talking to a seasoned musician; he's poised, level-headed and knowledgeable about how Manchester Orchestra should proceed. After more than 120 shows in 2006, including gigs at Lollapalooza and South by Southwest, this young band has already learned a thing or to.

“Do not be selfish,” Hull insists is the most important thing he's learned about being in a band. “Always put every member of the band’s needs in front of your own and if they do the same, everyone stays completely happy. It’s so important to not be selfish. It’s so important to not think that you’re doing something better than somebody else in the band. The only way a band works is if every member thinks that the other member is doing something that they’re not able to do. That’s what we had to learn, to completely respect and honor everything that that person does because you don’t have the ability to do it.”

Despite the hype, their youth and the blow of moving through 20 bandmembers in two years, the guys have kept their heads up and maintained their momentum. It’s refreshing to see a band so young that carries itself with so much poise, maturity and intelligence. These guys aren’t looking to run out and sign with the first label that will throw money at them. They want to sign a deal that’s right for them and on their own terms.

Such ideals will help Manchester Orchestra transition into 2007, as this coming year has a lot in store. Plans are to tackle around 240 shows, including a U.K. tour in January and an outing with the current emo-gods of Brand New at some point. Add on to that the search for the perfect record label and Manchester Orchestra has a busy year ahead.

Hull says he has a plan mapped out for the new year. “[There will be] a continual growth,” he explains. “[We’ll] continue to have fun and continue to stay at a place where we’re just thankful of where we are. We’re just happy to be here and play a ton of shows and hopefully go with a label that is respectful of us and we’re respectful of them and they can be part of our family and we can be part of theirs. That’s our biggest thing. And to have as much fun as we possibly can, because at the end of the day, we’re doing a band for our life, like, that’s ridiculously awesome! Even if we suck, it’s still cool that we’re able to do it.”

Leah Weinberg

WHO: Manchester Orchestra, The New Frontiers
WHERE: Tasty World
WHEN: Wednesday, January 3
HOW MUCH: $5