He did some live sound in high school and college and then met Kristen Reynolds, now his wife, at Berklee College of Music. The dynamic duo are the brains behind Emo Orchestra, a new concept featuring the indie emo group Hawthorne Heights and a full orchestra playing classic emo tunes in a theater-setting. The Emo Orchestra tour comes to the Goodyear Theatre in Akron on Friday, Oct. 20.
“I had this idea for the orchestra show for quite a while,” says Mench-Thurlow in a conference call with Reynolds. “One of my duties at APA Agency is working with emo bands. I work heavily in the contemporary club world. I was working contemporary stuff and booking bands in clubs and stuff. Part of my duties is booking the roster of theaters and such. I got heavily involved in booking special attractions. Classical and contemporary was always interesting to me.”
Because, as Mench-Thurlow puts it, theaters are trying to bring in the next thing, it made sense to pair contemporary music with an orchestra.
“It’s an opportunity for fans who might be going to the orchestra to get exposed to new music,” says Reynolds.
Hawthorne Heights wound up as the guinea pig because Mench-Thurlow was so familiar with the group, which has been a part of the emo scene for more than 20 years.
“Back in February, we went to Cincinnati and did rehearsals and brought out the musicians,” he says of the preparation that took place earlier this year. “I’ve been working with Hawthorne Heights for 12 years or so. They are a very creative group of guys and push boundaries. When we were putting the show together, we wanted it to be a band of name in the scene. There was no second guessing it. Thankfully, they said yes.”
Once Mench-Thurlow and Reynolds had secured Hawthorne Heights, they began to sketch out ideas for a line of merch.
“We have a skeleton dude with emo hair who plays all the instruments,” says Mench-Thurlow. “When I was in third grade, I went and saw this guy who played all these instruments. I wanted to recreate something like that with our emo skeleton guy. We have a conductor one and one with clarinet. As industry professionals, we want to encourage kids to learn music and not just drums, guitar and bass.”
Reynolds adds that the shows are family friendly even though all emo music is decidedly not.
“We love the opportunity to cross into different fanbases,” she says. “It’s for people who might not get out to emo night. The shows aren’t super early. They’re built to be inclusive and family friendly. We’re keeping the songs clean, so it’s a safe experience for parents to bring their kid and see all the instruments.”
Though Mench-Thurlow says he knew from the start that he wanted Hawthorne Heights to be involved with the tour, he wasn’t sure who could direct the orchestra. He put up posts on Reddit and Facebook and received more than 40 submissions.
“[Hawthorne Heights singer-bassist] Matt Ridenour and his wife came to dinner and we listened to the top 10, and [British orchestrator and conductor] Evan Rogers scored the highest,” he says. “The pieces he created are so great. We get goosebumps every time we hear the songs.”
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This article appears in Best of Cleveland 2023.
