Back in 1996, after Cap’n Jazz and before American Football, Mike Kinsella was just another student at the University of Illinois. On summer and winter breaks, he would commute back to his suburban Chicago hometown for his day job: band member of Joan of Arc.
Between Washington D.C. and Chicago’s underground scene, magazines and local publications caught the attention of the dive-bar concerts and house shows, labeling the teenage angst, adolescent songwriting and intimate live performances as emo. The birth of the genre has been debated on continuously ever since, but one thing that’s for sure is Kinsella, his brother Tim and a revolving wheel of punk pop musicians were all right in the middle of its inception.
This weekend in Champaign-Urbana, Kinsella will return to his old stomping grounds for the reunion of American Football and as his wildly successful Owen, a solo project that started in his childhood bedroom in 2001. Today, it has taken Kinsella all over the country, a long way from Chicago’s Empty Bottle to places like San Francisco and New York City.
Since Owen’s inception, Kinsella has made some changes. He’s a family man now with two kids, has toured less most recently because of household duties but still, like his old ways, continues to release music with project after project. From Owls and Owen to Joan of Arc and Their/They’re/There, Kinsella has relentlessly interested in experimental, do-it-yourself music production. With his many projects, he’s mastered ProTools, recorded albums on an 8-track and refuses to limit himself to one medium of expression.
Most recently, Owen’s 2013 release, L’Ami du Peuple is a somber yet hopeful collection of tunes about adult life and a bit of a graduation from the unknown he sang about earlier in his career. His songwriting is more confident, more self-assured. Musically, you can argue that it’s safe or even simple, but that’s when Kinsella is best. He plays with the bells and whistles (sometimes literally on this LP) and invites you in to really listen to the words. He’s done forcing you to feel his pain or teenage struggle. That’s most apparent with his most recent release.
And how is it settling into the father role after almost two decades on the road? He recently told Washed Up Emo he has found the balance a surprising delight.
“If I’m home with kids for a month, it’s fun to [know] at the end of this month I’ll go away for a week and I get a couple nights I can drunk and I get to play and if there’s 50 people there to see me great,” he said. “For that night I’m the coolest kid in the room, which is the opposite of my life at home.”
Speaking of recent releases, Kinsella will also be playing with the always favorite American Football, celebrating the re-release of their one and only self-titled album by Polyvinyl records.
“It’s insane, the legs of that album,” Mike told Washed Up Emo. “Everybody was in a few different bands that put out one record, so it’s funny that record is sort of referenced by anybody. I don’t know how or why, but it is a reason I’m still able to make music.”
The next career move in the works for Owen is an album worth of cover songs. The news was released by Kinsella himself via Twitter.
“Super excited to de-amplify / snooze-up some of my all-time favs.”
Owen plays on Saturday, September 27th at 8:15 p.m. at Mike N Molly’s for the Pygmalion Festival. Tickets are available via festival pass, and will also be on sale at the door.