Manchester Orchestra

History

2004–2005: Early years

Manchester Orchestra originated in the Atlanta suburbs. They are named after the English city of Manchester, a city frequently viewed as being bohemian and also rich in musical history. In an interview with Caught in the Crossfire, lead singer Andy Hull explained that he chose "Manchester" because he "had gone through a summer of listening to nothing but The Smiths", and "Orchestra" because he "didn't want to be in a band" and envisioned having "all [his] friends come and be a part of it and form an orchestra". Feeling increasingly alienated at his "small-town-Georgia, Christian high school" named Providence Christian Academy, in suburban Atlanta, Hull became so frustrated that he spent his senior year studying at home. He also wrote and recorded his first full-length album in 2004 while studying during his last year of high school.

Early in their career, the band recorded an album entitled Nobody Sings Anymore. However, it was never released due to the shift in the band's musical direction and personnel changes undergone following its recording. The band stated that "the band that made the record was different to the band now." Some of the tracks written for the album were released instead on their 2005 EP You Brainstorm, I Brainstorm, but Brilliance Needs a Good Editor. |access-date=October 3, 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170707135716/http://strangeglue.com/news/interview-with-manchester-orchestra |archive-date=July 7, 2017

2006–2008: ''I'm Like a Virgin Losing a Child''

Following the release of You Brainstorm..., Manchester Orchestra recorded and released their debut album I'm Like a Virgin Losing a Child. The album was released on July 27, 2007. Guitarist Robert McDowell did not appear on this album, having left the band at the time of recording.{{cite web |access-date=November 19, 2009

On February 13, 2008, a Daytrotter Sessions set was published including three songs the band performed live.{{cite web |access-date=May 9, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180509181135/http://www.daytrotter.com/andy-hull-manchester-orchestra/daytrotter-studio-february-13-2008.html |archive-date=May 9, 2018

2008–2010: ''Mean Everything to Nothing''

In early September 2008, the band announced on their Myspace blog that they had begun recording their second album entitled Mean Everything to Nothing with producer Joe Chicarrelli (The Shins, My Morning Jacket). On February 4, 2009, the band posted a link to a free download of the single "I've Got Friends"{{cite web |access-date=July 7, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110524065941/http://www.spinner.com/2009/02/04/manchester-orchestra-ive-got-friends-mp3-exclusive/ |archive-date=May 24, 2011

Jeremiah Edmond left the band in January 2010 to focus on his family and running the band's record label. |access-date=July 7, 2017 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120717163130/http://www.absolutepunk.net/showthread.php?t=1526011 |archive-date=July 17, 2012 }} Also in January, the band announced the release of a split EP with Kevin Devine entitled I Could Be the Only One. The EP was released digitally January 26, 2010. Following the release of the Manchester Orchestra / Kevin Devine split EP, it was announced that Devine would record a full-length album along with the members of Manchester Orchestra later that year, with half the album written by Devine and half by Andy Hull. On April 10, 2010, it was announced the new project's name as Bad Books and that the album would be released under that moniker. On August 16, 2010, it was announced that the self-titled Bad Books album would be released on October 19, 2010, digitally and on November 9, 2010, on a physical CD.

2010–2012: ''Simple Math''

In March 2010, Hull mentioned in an interview with the Dallas Observer that the band had begun work on a follow-up to 2009's Mean Everything to Nothing, tentatively titled Let Go of Your Sorrowful Groaning. (While ultimately discarded as an album title, this phrase later appeared on the song "Mighty".) He also said that the band had been demoing around 34 songs, and that in writing the album he was imagining a "spiritual miscarriage". In September 2010, in an interview with Rip It Up magazine, the band announced that they were in the middle of recording their third full-length album, and explained it to be completely different from anything they had released in the past. The album was recorded with Dan Hannon in both Blackbird Studio (Nashville) and their own Favorite Gentlemen Studios (Atlanta). Drummer Tim Very is featured on the album and eventually became Edmond's replacement. On October 23, 2010, during an appearance at Radio 104.5 in Philadelphia, following a Bad Books show in support of their recently released self-titled debut album, Manchester Orchestra debuted an acoustic version of the new album's title track, "Simple Math". Frontman Andy Hull said the album would be released in March 2011. On January 27, 2011, the band announced that their third full-length studio album, Simple Math, would be released on May 10, 2011. It was also revealed that Simple Math would be a concept album. The song "April Fool" was featured in the game NHL 12. In the summer of 2011, the band joined Blink-182 and My Chemical Romance for part of the 2011 Honda Civic Tour. In autumn 2011, the band headlined the PacTour and were supported by White Denim, The Dear Hunter and Little Hurricane.

2013–2015: ''Cope'' and ''Hope''

On February 10, 2013, Jonathan Corley left the band to pursue a career outside of playing music and was replaced by Andy Prince. On March 11, the band announced they had begun recording their fourth full-length album. For Record Store Day 2013, the band teamed up with Grouplove and Frightened Rabbit to release a 12-inch containing the tracks "Make It to Me" and "Architect".{{cite web |access-date=April 1, 2014}} On October 28, 2013, the band released their first new music since 2011, "After the Scripture", a song featured on the soundtrack of the movie Dallas Buyers Club.

On December 8, 2013, Andy Hull announced in a video interview with Matt Pinfield that their fourth studio album would be titled Cope, and was slated for release on April 1, 2014. On January 21, 2014, an official statement from the band confirmed this information. The album's first single, "Top Notch", was released alongside the announcement. Pre-orders for CD and LP copies of the album were subsequently added to the band's online store. On February 25, 2014, the album's second single, "Every Stone", was released. On September 16, 2014, Manchester Orchestra surprise-released Hope, a song-by-song re-imagining of Cope with stripped down and more emotionally driven versions of each song. On Hope, Andy Hull stated that the band "aimed for nasty and guttural stuff on Cope, and this was more like, 'How pretty can this be?' I've always liked both sensibilities. This was an opportunity to see if we could sit down and do it for a whole album." They also announced a 13-date tour in support of Hope.

2016: ''Swiss Army Man''

Andy Hull and Robert McDowell wrote and performed the soundtrack for Swiss Army Man, a 2016 film starring Daniel Radcliffe and Paul Dano. The soundtrack is composed solely of vocals, with as many as 150 vocal tracks layered on top of one another. Radcliffe offered high praise for the soundtrack:

The soundtrack was nominated for "Best Original Score for a Comedy Film" and "Film Music Composition of the Year" in the 2016 International Film Music Critics Association Awards.

2017–2021: ''A Black Mile to the Surface''

The band released their fifth full-length album, A Black Mile to the Surface, on July 21, 2017. The album debuted at No. 7 on the Billboard Top Albums Sales chart, No. 2 on Vinyl Albums, No. 6 on Alternative Albums, and No. 7 on Rock Albums. The album was produced by Catherine Marks, John Congleton, and Jonathan Wilson. The band put out three singles ahead of the album's release. "The Gold" was released June 9, with an accompanying music video by Mike Dempsey and Johnny Chew. Two weeks later, the band released "The Alien". It featured a music video, released on NPR and created by Mike Dempsey and the Daniels. On July 10, 2017, they released the third and final single from the album, entitled "The Moth". On July 31, the band released a music video for "The Sunshine", which was directed by the Daniels.

On March 30, 2018, the band released a cover of "No Hard Feelings" by The Avett Brothers.{{cite web |access-date=May 9, 2018 |archive-date=May 9, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180509174845/https://www.pastemagazine.com/articles/2018/03/manchester-orchestra-release-cover-of-the-avett-br.html |url-status=dead

2021–present: ''The Million Masks of God''

On February 17, 2021, the band announced their sixth album, The Million Masks of God, by releasing the first single from the album, "Bed Head". The album was released on April 30 via Loma Vista.

In April 2022, the band joined Michigander for a feature on their single "In My Head" and brought them out on their headlining tour in support of The Million Masks of God, alongside Foxing.

On March 10, 2023, the band released The Valley of Vision, a six-song album accompanied by a VR film released on YouTube. It features tracks recorded during The Million Masks of God sessions.

Appearances in media

Television performances

Movies

Video games

• NHL 08 featured "Wolves at Night"
• NHL 12 featured "April Fool"{{cite web |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20111229182126/http://www.ea.com/nhl/blog/nhl-12-soundtrack |archive-date = December 29, 2011 |url-status = dead
• MLB 11: The Show and Dirt 3 both featured "I've Got Friends"
• The Sims 3: World Adventures featured "I've Got Friends" in the Simlish version
• Fortnite featured "Bed Head" on the car radio station.

Podcasts

• Comedy Bang! Bang! – July 31, 2017
• Comedy Bang! Bang! – May 2, 2021
• Improv4humans – September 9, 2021
• Comedy Bang! Bang! – July 30, 2023

Band members

Current members

• Andy Hull – lead vocals, rhythm guitar, piano (2004–present)
• Robert McDowell – lead guitar, keyboards, backing vocals (2005–2007, 2008–present)
• Tim Very – drums, percussion, backing vocals (2011–present)
• Andy Prince – bass guitar (2013–present)

Current touring musicians

• Brooks Tipton – piano, keyboards (2017–present)

Former members

• Andrew Maysilles – drums, percussion (2004–2005)
• Garrett Brown – lead guitar (2004–2005)
• Jonathan Corley – bass guitar (2004–2013)
• Chris Freeman – keyboards, additional drums, percussion, backing vocals (2006–2016)
• Trevor Dowdy – lead guitar, keyboards (2007–2008)
• Jeremiah Edmond – drums, percussion (2005–2009)
• Benjamin Homola – drums, percussion (2010)
• Len Clark – drums, percussion (2011)

Timeline

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bar:Andy text:"Andy Hull" bar:Garrett text:"Garrett Brown" bar:Robert text:"Robert McDowell" bar:Trevor text:"Trevor Dowdy" bar:Jonathan text:"Jonathan Corley" bar:Prince text:"Andy Prince" bar:Chris text:"Chris Freeman" bar:Andrew text:"Andrew Maysilles" bar:Jeremiah text:"Jeremiah Edmond" bar:Benjamin text:"Benjamin Homola" bar:Len text:"Len Clark" bar:Tim text:"Tim Very"

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Discography

Main article: Manchester Orchestra discography

• I'm Like a Virgin Losing a Child (2006)
• Mean Everything to Nothing (2009)
• Simple Math (2011)
• Cope (2014)
• A Black Mile to the Surface (2017)
• The Million Masks of God (2021)

Podcasts

Manchester Orchestra has consistently released a series of video podcasts throughout their career. Over one hundred podcasts have been released since September 2006 on the band's YouTube page. They begin during the recording process of the band's first record I'm Like a Virgin Losing a Child, and continue to highlight key moments of the band's progression. These 5- to 10-minute videos were released as a way to connect with fans and to give them a glimpse of what it's actually like touring and making records. |archive-url = https://archive.today/20130624190054/http://acrn.com/features/interviews/?review=41&p=100 |archive-date = June 24, 2013 |access-date = July 7, 2017 |url-status = dead

Related musical projects

Several of the members of Manchester Orchestra are involved in other music projects. Andy Hull has a solo project called Right Away, Great Captain! as well as a band called Bad Books consisting of Hull and Kevin Devine. Robert McDowell's solo project is called Gobotron. In addition to Manchester Orchestra, Andy Prince plays bass for Kevin Devine and Nashville-based band The Gills.

The Stuffing

The band hosts, curates, and performs at an annual festival in Atlanta called "The Stuffing". The festival began in 2010 and takes place every year around Thanksgiving. In addition to Manchester Orchestra, past performers include Cage the Elephant, Kevin Devine, O'Brother, The Front Bottoms, All Get Out, Grouplove, Dustin Kensrue and more. 2016 was the 7th year of The Stuffing and featured Manchester Orchestra performing their album I'm Like a Virgin Losing a Child in its entirety to celebrate the album's 10-year anniversary. |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170312071741/http://themanchesterorchestra.com/the-stuffing-vii/ |archive-date=March 12, 2017 |access-date=July 7, 2017}}

References

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