Andrew McMahon
Appearances
Morbid
Episode 650: Plagues of Hysteria with Andrew McMahon
And, you know, I grew up in an amazing house. And by the time I was, you know, in high school, it was like, you know, a lot of like a house full of women. It was like my sister and my mom and me. And, you know, my mom never tried to kill my dad.
Morbid
Episode 650: Plagues of Hysteria with Andrew McMahon
But I think I could relate to the angst of that just having been, you know, my mom and I were super close growing up. And so it was like originally it was a courtroom drama. Like the chorus was like was all about what happens after. I loved that. the murder and then I, it didn't fit right. And, and me and the band were on tour in, we were in Amsterdam, I think, or something like that.
Morbid
Episode 650: Plagues of Hysteria with Andrew McMahon
Or no, maybe, yeah, we were, we were, no, we were in Leeds and ended up meeting up with a couple of the drive-thru bands and went on a very wild sort of psychedelic journey. Nice. And I remember I was following the moon All night by myself. That's amazing. Through Leeds, England. I was like, I was certain it was calling me. It was you in the moon.
Morbid
Episode 650: Plagues of Hysteria with Andrew McMahon
I won't paint the details of what led me to that moment. But I remember just going like, I just want to go see where this moon is at.
Morbid
Episode 650: Plagues of Hysteria with Andrew McMahon
And I just followed it through the streets. It was you in the moon. Yeah, totally. Until I ended up like locked in a hotel bathroom. And I had this piece of paper and I just wrote, it's me in the moon. And I like.
Morbid
Episode 650: Plagues of Hysteria with Andrew McMahon
The handwriting was, it was like cursive and just kind of like. Like super. Writing the words was actually a part of the journey. And I woke up with that piece of paper and I ended up on a stage sound checking and I finished the song on stage and I was like, and just wrote the chorus to the rest of the song that day. And yeah, it's been one of my favorites forever.
Morbid
Episode 650: Plagues of Hysteria with Andrew McMahon
And the fact that fans followed us into that, that phase was such a huge thing. Cause I was like, are they going to hate me for taking this hard left turn into six, eight sort of murder mystery song. But yeah, it was, that song was a, was a journey from start to finish. And still, I think like is a high watermark for something corporate catalog.
Morbid
Episode 650: Plagues of Hysteria with Andrew McMahon
And that was kind of how I processed my grief from losing my uncle. And that was it for me. I was like, this is the thing. You know, like writing songs became my whole, like I would come home from school and I would just sit at the piano until I was told I had to go to sleep or do something for school or whatever. I love that. And it's been that way ever since.
Morbid
Episode 650: Plagues of Hysteria with Andrew McMahon
It was definitely a challenge to fans to be like, do you want to go here? But it gave me a lot of hope for the future, too, that it was like, okay, cool, I can stretch out and people will take a chance and follow us.
Morbid
Episode 650: Plagues of Hysteria with Andrew McMahon
The sky's the limit. You're good. It's such a great song. Thank you so much.
Morbid
Episode 650: Plagues of Hysteria with Andrew McMahon
I was raised a Catholic, so I'm all for getting into the nun phase of this. Let's do this.
Morbid
Episode 650: Plagues of Hysteria with Andrew McMahon
So he insisted that they keep going because they had even started.
Morbid
Episode 650: Plagues of Hysteria with Andrew McMahon
Can I ask practical questions about food and bathroom?
Morbid
Episode 650: Plagues of Hysteria with Andrew McMahon
So some people live for a year doing this?
Morbid
Episode 650: Plagues of Hysteria with Andrew McMahon
How long were they up there for, does it say?
Morbid
Episode 650: Plagues of Hysteria with Andrew McMahon
Yeah, I mean, I think when you're nine, it's like a whole other... Everything is so much easier. Yeah, you have that whole sort of neuroplasticity or whatever. And I really liked it, right? So it wasn't like... I didn't start going to piano lessons until like maybe a year or two after that. And so for me, it was just like constant discovery.
Morbid
Episode 650: Plagues of Hysteria with Andrew McMahon
He didn't help the first group that slept until they died.
Morbid
Episode 650: Plagues of Hysteria with Andrew McMahon
It's not hanging with your homies on a bridge and dancing until it falls down.
Morbid
Episode 650: Plagues of Hysteria with Andrew McMahon
All the time. It's very common. It comes up on the road a lot.
Morbid
Episode 650: Plagues of Hysteria with Andrew McMahon
And like you said, it was a way to process my world, you know? So I just... I think I blew past the it's hard part until I got into like having to study classical music. And then it was like, this sucks. Yeah, this is hard. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And I wasn't a great student, but I sort of did what I had to to learn how to navigate the piano and read and do all that stuff.
Morbid
Episode 650: Plagues of Hysteria with Andrew McMahon
You're listening to a Morbid Network podcast.
Morbid
Episode 650: Plagues of Hysteria with Andrew McMahon
We feel depressed. Now it's time to wild out. Yeah.
Morbid
Episode 650: Plagues of Hysteria with Andrew McMahon
Were they all happening at the same time? Was it like...
Morbid
Episode 650: Plagues of Hysteria with Andrew McMahon
I was at a show like last year. It feels similar.
Morbid
Episode 650: Plagues of Hysteria with Andrew McMahon
But it was always just like a safe haven for me.
Morbid
Episode 650: Plagues of Hysteria with Andrew McMahon
Did they say they enjoyed the dancing when they were doing it, or was it...
Morbid
Episode 650: Plagues of Hysteria with Andrew McMahon
It's been the only real job I've had to have my whole life, which is a really huge gift. I mean, I'm always wondering when the bottom will drop. But yeah, so far so good.
Morbid
Episode 650: Plagues of Hysteria with Andrew McMahon
You do. I feel like that's actually probably true. Yeah, yeah. You know? Damn. It seems like a reaction to whatever their religious... Being oppressed by. Yeah, yeah, they're like... They're like, okay, we have to chill, but if we just go freak out and we can claim, we're seeing heaven.
Morbid
Episode 650: Plagues of Hysteria with Andrew McMahon
Yeah. Yeah. So something corporate, which was like my sort of official second high school band, we throughout my like, you know, junior, senior of high school kind of continued to get bigger. And I sort of skipped college and focused on that. And miraculously, we got signed when I was 18. And that was sort of the beginning of Of all of it.
Morbid
Episode 650: Plagues of Hysteria with Andrew McMahon
If the priest joined in at that point, they're like, is this how we do it? Is this how we go?
Morbid
Episode 650: Plagues of Hysteria with Andrew McMahon
Rad. I love this. I hate that this wasn't on film.
Morbid
Episode 650: Plagues of Hysteria with Andrew McMahon
Like they were literally being like- The nuns would say that?
Morbid
Episode 650: Plagues of Hysteria with Andrew McMahon
They probably had a nun way of saying it.
Morbid
Episode 650: Plagues of Hysteria with Andrew McMahon
When it was over, were they allowed to stay in the nunnery or were they exiled?
Morbid
Episode 650: Plagues of Hysteria with Andrew McMahon
Are they still dancing while they're biting? That's the question.
Morbid
Episode 650: Plagues of Hysteria with Andrew McMahon
So I, you know, Summit Corporate did really well and we toured a ton and put out records. And then, you know, I've kind of hopped from like about every 10 years or so, start a new project because I am restless, I guess you could say. And yeah, it's been a journey for sure. And I've had good fans who are willing to follow me through multiple name changes. Here we are. Here we are. Yeah. Yeah.
Morbid
Episode 650: Plagues of Hysteria with Andrew McMahon
At some point you're going to get tired. Yeah, you're tired now.
Morbid
Episode 650: Plagues of Hysteria with Andrew McMahon
Wouldn't it be great if after this airs, these plagues begin spreading all over again?
Morbid
Episode 650: Plagues of Hysteria with Andrew McMahon
I mean, it seemed like, I mean, there are a lot of ways you could die back then, but it seems like dancing would have been one of the better ones. I would choose that. Yeah.
Morbid
Episode 650: Plagues of Hysteria with Andrew McMahon
Well, and this is while the other people are still dancing.
Morbid
Episode 650: Plagues of Hysteria with Andrew McMahon
They started, you started this. We're going to take care of you, but we're going to let the others go.
Morbid
Episode 650: Plagues of Hysteria with Andrew McMahon
See, they had to cancel the musicians because they're like, this is easy for us. We can just go and we already have an audience.
Morbid
Episode 650: Plagues of Hysteria with Andrew McMahon
So remind me, tarantism, it isn't dancing, but it's just sort of like... It is kind of dancing. It is, okay.
Morbid
Episode 650: Plagues of Hysteria with Andrew McMahon
There was actually the last Jackson Mannequin record we almost named Tarantula Mating Season. No! That'd be great. Because we actually, we rented a house in Joshua Tree during Tarantula Mating Season and they were
Morbid
Episode 650: Plagues of Hysteria with Andrew McMahon
I mean, I don't care for spiders, but big ones I care for less. Yeah, way less. So if you ever want to go get some tarantism, I recommend Joshua Tree around October, November.
Morbid
Episode 650: Plagues of Hysteria with Andrew McMahon
I think that's how we connected was because I started having fans message me on Instagram. They're like, you got mentioned on the Morbid podcast.
Morbid
Episode 650: Plagues of Hysteria with Andrew McMahon
I wish I could find this video because there's a video of me and two of my bandmates running around the house screaming in like a high pitch, like trying to chase a tarantula out of the house. How big? I mean, bigger than my hand. No. Yeah, yeah, yeah. They're huge. Yeah.
Morbid
Episode 650: Plagues of Hysteria with Andrew McMahon
It's my understanding they're not that, like, I don't know that the big ones are that bad. No, I don't think they really do much. Yeah, but they don't look like anything you want to spend time with.
Morbid
Episode 650: Plagues of Hysteria with Andrew McMahon
But I'm talking up close. I never found them cute.
Morbid
Episode 650: Plagues of Hysteria with Andrew McMahon
the first one i was like oh that's cool and then i saw another you know another few roll through and i was like you're like who are these people i'm like we should reach out to these women they keep talking about us and it seemed like they're pretty popular and then we met at the uh what was it roadrunner show on the something corporate reunion um yep thanks to connor yes shout out forever
Morbid
Episode 650: Plagues of Hysteria with Andrew McMahon
Well, if you're dancing, the devil has to be a part of it.
Morbid
Episode 650: Plagues of Hysteria with Andrew McMahon
Yeah, what is offered their virtue though? That's what I want there. Literally show an ankle. Yeah, they showed their shoulders.
Morbid
Episode 650: Plagues of Hysteria with Andrew McMahon
Connor's a good man. He's a very good man. Yeah, my tour manager. He's our Gen Z holding down. Hell yeah. Yeah, we like to, I like to bring young bucks into the mix and bring them up. That's always been sort of a part of our mission. And Connor rose the ranks from content to now he's tour managing.
Morbid
Episode 650: Plagues of Hysteria with Andrew McMahon
And this is what the movie Footloose was based on. Exactly. That's what I was thinking the entire time.
Morbid
Episode 650: Plagues of Hysteria with Andrew McMahon
Yeah. Yeah, don't do that. Avoid bridges. Yeah, 12th century bridges are not the place to go. No.
Morbid
Episode 650: Plagues of Hysteria with Andrew McMahon
No. Okay, so my question is, did men ever participate in the dancing plagues? They did.
Morbid
Episode 650: Plagues of Hysteria with Andrew McMahon
Yeah, especially in that era, they were like, we'll blame the ladies.
Morbid
Episode 650: Plagues of Hysteria with Andrew McMahon
Was there any documentation of whether or not they were having fun?
Morbid
Episode 650: Plagues of Hysteria with Andrew McMahon
Well, it's an easy out, too. It's like, we can just claim that we were possessed, but we're having a great time. And there will be some recourse. Exactly. We'll get back to normal eventually.
Morbid
Episode 650: Plagues of Hysteria with Andrew McMahon
Book signing's not going to work tonight.
Morbid
Episode 650: Plagues of Hysteria with Andrew McMahon
I'm going with the ghost. There's something about whispering that nobody can hear that feels really... Ominous. At least they can be like, oh, there's my friend the ghost. Yeah. Hopefully. Is it a friendly ghost? Do we know? We don't know. It's up in the air. Okay.
Morbid
Episode 650: Plagues of Hysteria with Andrew McMahon
It's up to you. It's your ghost. I'd rather... In general... I'd rather be able to see it. If it's just whispering, that's another level for me. That'll drive you mad, I feel like. That's how I feel.
Morbid
Episode 650: Plagues of Hysteria with Andrew McMahon
He is. He is. He's the representation. I hate the whole kids these days philosophy. I know. To me, I feel like it's such a sign of you're not actually paying attention. And I've had my whole perception of the Gen Z universe reshaped by Connor and his people and people we've brought into our camp. I love that. These guys are actually hard workers and super fun and very fashionable. They are. Yeah.
Morbid
Episode 650: Plagues of Hysteria with Andrew McMahon
Yeah, I'm there with you. I'm very type A and things are where they need to be.
Morbid
Episode 650: Plagues of Hysteria with Andrew McMahon
Yeah, they're not moving. Don't touch them. And also, let's see what's in the other dimensions. I'm curious.
Morbid
Episode 650: Plagues of Hysteria with Andrew McMahon
You can't rearrange it every day because it's going to get rearranged that night.
Morbid
Episode 650: Plagues of Hysteria with Andrew McMahon
If it's a really good interior designer who's rearranging the house, maybe it's a new story. This is my scenario. It is. That's a really nice new configuration of the living room furniture.
Morbid
Episode 650: Plagues of Hysteria with Andrew McMahon
Yeah, I mean, I think the longer trip in the book is probably less of a vibe. Yeah.
Morbid
Episode 650: Plagues of Hysteria with Andrew McMahon
I can handle two hours in another world pretty easily. That's true.
Morbid
Episode 650: Plagues of Hysteria with Andrew McMahon
I've worked my way up with psychedelics, and this is actually something that I... You're like, I've done that. You're like, you know what? Yeah, I know I can handle that, but... But I'm a slow reader.
Morbid
Episode 650: Plagues of Hysteria with Andrew McMahon
Well, and with some of the books that y'all are reading for this podcast, I would imagine those are not worlds that you want to spend a lot of time in. No.
Morbid
Episode 650: Plagues of Hysteria with Andrew McMahon
That's the surprise for this episode. I brought some here. I'm totally kidding. Don't get the wrong idea. These are occasional.
Morbid
Episode 650: Plagues of Hysteria with Andrew McMahon
You're only watching short films from here on out.
Morbid
Episode 650: Plagues of Hysteria with Andrew McMahon
I need the sun. Like, I'm... Yeah. I need the sun.
Morbid
Episode 650: Plagues of Hysteria with Andrew McMahon
Well, yeah. Well, I was born out here. I actually was born in Massachusetts. Oh, yeah. And moved across the country, but getting to California. Now it's like, when I tour in the wintertime, it's not good for me. If it's dark for a long time, I lose my mind.
Morbid
Episode 650: Plagues of Hysteria with Andrew McMahon
I had an amazing walk this morning. I was like, I didn't feel cold. I went and got coffee. I was like, okay, this was, because you told me, you prepared me. You're like, there's no sun out here. And I was like, I can handle that for two days. But two days is like my limit.
Morbid
Episode 650: Plagues of Hysteria with Andrew McMahon
What's funny is I always rejected the fact that I was a millennial because I graduated in 2000 and we didn't have a qualification. We were just sort of in this nether group between Gen X and whatever was coming next. And then I think By the time I was 30, then they started calling us millennials. And I was like, I denounce this. Yeah, I don't like this qualification or designation.
Morbid
Episode 650: Plagues of Hysteria with Andrew McMahon
Yeah. It sounds like good morbid merch. I know. The parasol feels on brand to me. Mikey, write that down. Mikey's like, I got it. He's like, already done it.
Morbid
Episode 650: Plagues of Hysteria with Andrew McMahon
Totally. Which is fun. I have a lot of admiration for a parasol. Like when I see people out doing the parasol thing, I'm like, I couldn't do it. Even when it rains, I don't carry an umbrella. I'm just like, whatever, just get me wet, I'm fine. But the commitment to, you know, good skin. But I love the sun too much. I'm like, I will look like a beat up leather shoe.
Morbid
Episode 650: Plagues of Hysteria with Andrew McMahon
within the next 10 years and I'm fine with it I'm like when I see those guys on the beach and I'm just like yeah that's my future I did it I'm like maybe you don't think this is good looking but I'm like I want to just look like a shoe I'm going to live as a shoe I'm fine with it yeah I don't do well in the sun either like I don't like hot
Morbid
Episode 650: Plagues of Hysteria with Andrew McMahon
I'm the opposite. I'll go to the desert in the middle of the summer when it's like 113 degrees and I'll just be in heaven.
Morbid
Episode 650: Plagues of Hysteria with Andrew McMahon
No, no, I never did that. I toured with a band once. The singer actually had one of the- No way. My God. We'll never say who. They're great. And he's great too. But I remember walking outside and being like, that dude's doing like,
Morbid
Episode 650: Plagues of Hysteria with Andrew McMahon
the grandma on the porch thing with the with the reflector you see like oh my god i don't think it's real yeah i was like this is like this is a level of commitment to tanning that i've never even imagined yeah but but i get cold so easily oh i get cold very easily yeah and i'm just like i and i it's my least favorite feeling is being cold really and my least favorite feeling is being hot yeah i'm yeah i'm like hot i can handle but not when i'm sleeping
Morbid
Episode 650: Plagues of Hysteria with Andrew McMahon
I mean, it's a sound logic. It's just one I don't follow at all. It's okay. We diverge here. That's fine.
Morbid
Episode 650: Plagues of Hysteria with Andrew McMahon
I like both. I came to you in winter, so here we are. You did. That's true.
Morbid
Episode 650: Plagues of Hysteria with Andrew McMahon
Not me. No. I would be, it'd be over in one season. Yeah, I would have lost my mind.
Morbid
Episode 650: Plagues of Hysteria with Andrew McMahon
That would kill me. I've been to Alaska when it was in that period.
Morbid
Episode 650: Plagues of Hysteria with Andrew McMahon
it was it i mean it was it was hard to sleep yeah yeah for sure but it was pretty cool to go outside when it was like two in the morning and it's like oh and it's the middle of the day yeah i mean it would be like dusky you know but it was it was it was pretty cool that would i feel like that would like fuck up your circadian rhythm it totally does yeah definitely the other way would too obviously so that wouldn't be great yeah you got to be strong to live out there
Morbid
Episode 650: Plagues of Hysteria with Andrew McMahon
Yeah, I mean, so Dear Jack is a nonprofit I started years ago on the heels of my survivorship with leukemia. And so we advocate for adolescent and young adults. So people 15 to 39, which is like for years has been a really forgotten demographic of cancer patients. and survivor. And so, yeah, we build programs for this group specifically. We do retreats for couples that are entering survivorship.
Morbid
Episode 650: Plagues of Hysteria with Andrew McMahon
And we also do a wish granting program for young adult cancer patients. So yeah, please just go to dearjackfoundation.org if you want to learn more about what we're doing, or if you happen to have a friend or be going through the cancer journey yourself. We have a lot of support services and ways to kind of link up with you and try and make the journey easier.
Morbid
Episode 650: Plagues of Hysteria with Andrew McMahon
I had many of my friends were Blockbuster video employees. Hell yeah. And we used to go hang out at Blockbuster on the weekends because they would just, you know, they'd smoke weed in the back. And like the, you know, like we're proper degenerate Blockbuster employee managerial staff. And yes, I do. I miss the Blockbuster days. It's such a good vibe. Yeah, it's a good vibe. It really is.
Morbid
Episode 650: Plagues of Hysteria with Andrew McMahon
I mean, the truth is the new model is working better. Oftentimes, there were no videos available. Very true. But it was a fun sort of snapshot. Just the environment.
Morbid
Episode 650: Plagues of Hysteria with Andrew McMahon
I mean... Look, I think, you know, you're an author, so, you know, it's like as you start by writing because it's just like a reflex and it's this exploratory thing. And I think that the biggest shift is that you have to continue to find ways to explore and make it fresh and make it exciting. So, like, I've changed processes over the years, right? You know, I think...
Morbid
Episode 650: Plagues of Hysteria with Andrew McMahon
When some of that like, oh, I just have to be sitting at the piano all day. And like now I have a family and I spent a lot of time on the road. So I do, you know, I do little tricks to sort of reengage myself in the writing process. I'll write with other people that I'm really excited about. I try and always like surround myself with writers that are both older and younger than me.
Morbid
Episode 650: Plagues of Hysteria with Andrew McMahon
You know, just so I can, you know, like I love having people in the room that are still in that phase of writing where they're like... and just super hungry and it keeps me hungry. So I think that's changed. And then what you write about changes, right?
Morbid
Episode 650: Plagues of Hysteria with Andrew McMahon
So as you get to certain stages of life and the questions are changing about what is relevant or what's important to you, you have to find new ways in to discuss those things. And I feel like changing projects for me is like, has been a part of that, right? So it's like something Corbett was like very much about. you know, all of the things that you encounter in like high school and coming of age.
Morbid
Episode 650: Plagues of Hysteria with Andrew McMahon
It's a lot of makeups and breakups. And I think our industry, like the music business is fueled on a lot of that. And as somebody who wants to write and perform and do this till the day I die, you know, I've had to sort of shift my thinking. You know, a lot of Jack's Mannequin was, I got sick when I was in the middle of that project. So I had cancer and I was a cancer survivor.
Morbid
Episode 650: Plagues of Hysteria with Andrew McMahon
I was like, how do you write about that? You know, and then, you know, and then sort of shifting into this next phase, a lot of it's been about keeping my edge while maintaining a family and a life and, you know, how to look after my kid and those questions that come with fatherhood and trying to stay creative, you know. So I think those are sort of, you know,
Morbid
Episode 650: Plagues of Hysteria with Andrew McMahon
big parts of how I shift and try and stay creative. I love that.
Morbid
Episode 650: Plagues of Hysteria with Andrew McMahon
Yeah, totally. And I think too, like I've tried really hard because a lot of my fans have grown up with me. Like rather than making the mistake, I think a lot of people do is they get older and their their artistic processes are trying to sort of recreate their their youth and still sing about those things.
Morbid
Episode 650: Plagues of Hysteria with Andrew McMahon
And I think it's the challenge for me is like, how do I really talk about what's relevant to me now? and put that in a pop song, you know, and that can be tricky. Yeah. But I think if you strike on something that's universal, it applies backwards and forwards.
Morbid
Episode 650: Plagues of Hysteria with Andrew McMahon
And, you know, I want people who've been with me for a really long time to be like, oh, he's talking to an experience that I'm having right now because we're a similar age and going through similar things in life. But also, if I do it well, you know, you could be 15 and pick up that record and it will land. You know, most of the artists I was listening to when I was 15
Morbid
Episode 650: Plagues of Hysteria with Andrew McMahon
You know, I think it's like a task, but I think it's a worthy one. And I'm like, I'm super reverent of the fact that there are people who I've been seeing at shows since they were, you know, high school, middle-aged kids coming out to see me. When I was not much older than them, I was 18 or 19, but it felt like a world apart, right?
Morbid
Episode 650: Plagues of Hysteria with Andrew McMahon
When you're sort of like grown and then you have like a kid in the audience. Now, you know, now we're sort of orbiting the same world. Life trajectories and I really like – I want to make music for those people who have been in those rooms and I want them to have songs that they can connect to at this stage of wherever they're at. You're killing it. No, thank you. I try really hard.
Morbid
Episode 650: Plagues of Hysteria with Andrew McMahon
That's me. Welcome. Yeah, I'm glad to be here.
Morbid
Episode 650: Plagues of Hysteria with Andrew McMahon
Yeah, well, like the shows I went to when I was, you know, the first shows I was going to, a lot of them were bands, my brothers and sisters, three of them are 10, 12 years older than I am. And, you know, I went to see REM when I was, you know, when I was in the seventh grade or whatever. I love that.
Morbid
Episode 650: Plagues of Hysteria with Andrew McMahon
You know, and I became a huge Tom Petty fan and like going to those shows, seeing the young people that are picking, were picking up, you know, heartbreakers to me, to my people, my brothers and sisters ages and older, you know, in a dream world, that's really what you want. You want to see people across generations connecting to what you do.
Morbid
Episode 650: Plagues of Hysteria with Andrew McMahon
And that's sort of the fight I'm in every day is just to sort of make sure that, you know, it spreads to as many people across generations as possible. It works. It does.
Morbid
Episode 650: Plagues of Hysteria with Andrew McMahon
It's like such a cool place to be. I'm honored.
Morbid
Episode 650: Plagues of Hysteria with Andrew McMahon
We'll say like when we put out the first Something Corporate record, I think a lot of that music was really reflective of sort of our high school, post high school journey, because a lot of those songs were written in that time. And that was sort of the first record we went out and toured the world with and got noticed for.
Morbid
Episode 650: Plagues of Hysteria with Andrew McMahon
And then, you know, by that point that I was coming back to write those songs for North, I was just in a much different headspace. And it was like, I wanted to do something moodier and And it was like the first time I was living in Jordan Pundick from Newfound Glory. I was living in his guest room, you know, and it was sort of the first time I'd lived away from my parents.
Morbid
Episode 650: Plagues of Hysteria with Andrew McMahon
And so I had all this freedom just to sit in a room and write all day. And I mean, I would be lying to say I wasn't like smoking a ton of weed at that point and just playing the piano and just trying to find new chords and new chord shapes and progressions. And I got to the sort of piano figure that plays under the verses of that song, which I was like, this is so cool.
Morbid
Episode 650: Plagues of Hysteria with Andrew McMahon
It felt like something really new for me. And the first words that showed up were, it's a good year for a murder. That's so good.
Morbid
Episode 650: Plagues of Hysteria with Andrew McMahon
I remember even in that moment being like, oh, this is going to land pretty interesting. Like this is different. Yeah, I'm like punk rock princess to let's talk about murder, you know. But I was just in love with it. And it sort of wrote itself, like the verses wrote itself. And it became about this sort of idea of like a suburban mother finally reaching her breaking point with her husband. Yeah.
Morbid
Episode 650: Plagues of Hysteria with Andrew McMahon
I mean, it's going to get heavy really quick. We had like a loss in our family. My uncle passed away. And right around that same time, I had a friend's dad teach me how to play a Jerry Lee Lewis song on the piano. And I'd never, I mean, I had piano lessons a little bit as a kid, but... I took the chord that he taught me and all of a sudden just started writing songs.