――Jack's Mannequinというバンド名の由来は？

Uh, the band name "Jack's Mannequin" is not that great of a story. Uh, it really was just the merging of two ideas; one, uh, the idea of calling my − my band "The Mannequins", which, uh, I was the only one in my band at that point so there were no mannequins. Um, and I, uh, I slid the name Jack in front of "Mannequin" because, uh, the first song that I wrote for the project was called "Dear Jack".

――どんなアーティストに影響を受けていますか？

I've been inspired by a lotta different artists. I − I think, uh, a lot of − a lot of the artists from the sort of classic era of rock 'n' roll − the sort of sixties and seventies, uh, the − some of the singer-songwriters − really had a big impression on me; guys like Neil Young and Paul Simon and James Taylor, Billy Joel and Elton John. Um, you know, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers were a huge influence for me. Um, growing up − so yeah, a little bit older − bands like REM and the Counting Crows, and, um, you know, more recently bands like Phoenix and, uh, Mumford and Sons, My Morning Jacket, the Arcade Fire, uh, you know, those are a handful of very influential artists, uh, that I would say, uh, have had a big impact upon me.

――白血病を克服して音楽活動を続けられていますが、病気を克服したことが音楽制作にどのような影響を与えていますか？

Yeah I think, I think, uh, the fact that I, you know, am a cancer survivor of course affects, uh, affects sort of everything in my life, uh, to some extent. I − uh − I feel this point now I'm pretty well past it but, uh, you know, to − to − to any extent that you encounter something major and life changing, uh, it informs your perspective and it changes your perspective on things. I'd like to think I, uh, I live a little bit, uh, I live a little bit more, um, little bit more of an inspired life now knowing that, uh, that every day is something that I've been, uh, you know, that I've been given as a, uh, blessing and − and, uh, I try and do my best to, uh, you know, to honor the fact that − that I did survive when so many others, uh, have not.

――チャリティー団体Dear Jack Foundationの具体的な活動について教えてください。

Uh, the Dear Jack Foundation is an organization I started about, uh, six years ago, uh, on the heels of, uh, my leukemia diagnosis. Uh, we've worked over the years to fight against, uh, leukemia, lymphoma and other blood diseases and cancers and, uh, now we're focusing, uh, largely on young adult cancers. So, uh, people aged from the fifteen − fifteen to thirty-nine, uh, who are a fairly under-researched, bracket of cancer patient; we're doing our very best to get them, uh, get them support and get some research done to, uh, help them improve their survival rates.