Tim Kinsella On Owls, Chinese Food Chains And Emo
By Katie Karpowicz in Arts & Entertainment on Apr 8, 2014 4:15PM
Owls from L to R: Mike Kinsella, Sam Zurick, Tim Kinsella, Victor Villarreal. Photo by John Sturdy
Chicago musician Tim Kinsella insists he has nothing against P. F. Changs.
That's his stance when we ask him about his constant association with emo music, a genre and movement he's publicly stated that he has nothing to do with.
"I don't have an opinion about P.F. Chang's. I also don't have an opinion of the Chicago Blackhawks. I know they exist but I don't think about them [like the 'emo' label]."
Still, Kinsella and his brother Mike—both members of cherished Chicago bands like Cap'n Jazz, Joan of Arc and Owls—are two of the most talked about and blogged about personalities when it comes to emo music and the more recent "emo revival." Again, Kinsella tells Chicagoist he's not even aware of the name drops he receives in countless online articles and he certainly doesn't feel that he's integral to the musical movement.
"Like any awkward teenager, we found our own identities through a form of conformity, finding a group. We didn't start anything. I'm not too sure the world of music would be any different if [Mike and I] never existed."
Of course, that's not the only reason the Kinsellas' names are popping up in search engine results lately. They've just released the second album in Owls' discography—notable in part because it's the first release from the band since 2001. Kinsella blames the long gap in part on his and his band members' other commitments.
"It took us a while to find what exactly our process would be because we had very limited time, sometimes only two hours a week in common," he told Chicagoist over the phone the week of the release. "That's not very much time to work, let alone figure out how to get the work done. It's not like we brought 13 years of ideas to this. We're all pretty invested in making things in the present."
"Invested" is a word Kinsella uses a lot throughout our conversation and it makes sense. He certainly is invested, but not just in his music.
He's also a creative writing instructor at the Graham School, a freelance film editor and head of a small printing press, Featherproof Books. In fact, his second novel comes out this month. Let Go and Go On and On follows the story of an actress through the perspective of the characters she plays. And, of course, you can still find Kinsella keeping bar at Rainbo Club some eight hours a month.
In between it all, Kinsella and Owls found time to record Two. The resulting album, one Kinsella says the band looked to Danzig and Lungfish for inspiration on, still has the same twinkling pop and rock qualities of the band's debut but with a more simplistic feel that is both primitive and refined.
"We never listened to the first record when making [Two]. We wanted it to be a contemporary thing for us. I guess that's just representative of what our thinking is these days. There used to be a lot of wordplay and cleverness in the the songs and I don't feel an attachment to that barrier these days."
Owls also had a chance to schedule a live show on May 16 at Subterranean—their first live performance since 2002. Tickets are on sale now.
In addition you can see the ever-reclusive Kinsella ("I've always found the mechanisms of promotion a little embarrassing.") in his element during CIMM Fest performing his 2013 album Tim Kinsella Sings The Songs of Marvin Tate by Leroy Bach on May 2 at the Hideout. You can also purchase his new novel on April 15 or pre-order on Amazon.