“Wolves at Night“
from the album I’m Like a Virgin Losing a Child
2007
iTunes
Über-trendy indie bands have long indulged in dissing the Internet and all of its interconnectivity, so it’s refreshing to stumble upon Manchester Orchestra, a quintet that takes full advantage of podcasting, MySpace, blogging and everything else on the World Wide Web.
“We all are very into the technical aspects in stuff, trying to stay ahead of the curve and keep up with the latest things in technology and the ways we can use it for our band and for our career,” admitted drummer Jeremiah Edmond.
Formed in 2005, Manchester Orchestra has already been acclaimed as one of Rolling Stone’s “Ten Artists to Watch” and have opened for indie heavyweights Brand New and Kings of Leon.
“We’ve spent a lot of time making sure we’re holding the reigns, and not letting things get crazy and blow up too quickly,” Edmond said. “We try and make it a real, conscious effort to be visible to our fans and connected to our fans, and out there where people can discover us but not to be whoring ourselves out.”
Oddly enough, it’s completely believable. Manchester Orchestra is a young band — with an average age of 19 — but they recognize how lucky the breaks they’ve gotten have been. According to Edmond, their new album, I’m Like a Virgin Losing a Child, reflects the idea of “losing something you never should have had, or didn’t deserve in the first place.”
Not only is it refreshing that Manchester Orchestra is a proud member of the Internet revolution, but they have yet to be tainted by the growing association of music and politics. Edmond rejects the idea that they have a political agenda.
“We don’t believe our music gives us a right to tell people what their beliefs should be… things can always change as we grow, and your opinions and beliefs, but at this stage it’s not something we’re concerned with,” he said.
Their music is a delicate balance of soulful writing and explosive guitars, and songwriter and vocalist Adam Hull’s lyrical voice emerges through characters rather than from him.
“I think that a lot of the time, music should be like movies,” said Hull, an opinion evident in several nods to Woody Allen on the album.
If Manchester Orchestra continues powering on at this dramatic pace, it is difficult to foresee anything but further success.
“At least we aren’t killing ourselves for something we don’t enjoy,” Edmond said. “One of the things that keeps me going when I’m kind of wearing out on the road is being able to go out every night and watch Kings of Leon play… its just inspiring, getting out and hearing bands doing what they do so well.”