Mike Kinsella

Kinsella's first musical project was serving as drummer for the band Cap'n Jazz, which he co-founded with his brother Tim.{{cite web |date=September 21, 2007 |title=Press |url=http://jadetree.com/press/article/1/764 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20120209112806/http://jadetree.com/press/article/1/764 |archivedate=February 9, 2012 |accessdate=May 17, 2013 |publisher=Jade Tree}} Cap'n Jazz originally featured their local high school star running back on drums. When he quit to focus on football, a 12-year-old Mike Kinsella learned how to play a 16-piece drum set.{{cite web |last1=Cohen |first1=Ian |title=Burritos, Inspiration Point, Fork Balloon Sports, Cards in the Spokes, Automatic Biographies, Kites, Kung Fu, Trophies, Banana Peels We've Slipped on, and Egg Shells We've Tippy Toed Over |url=https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/capn-jazz-shmapn-shmazz/ |access-date=August 26, 2018 |website=Pitchfork}}

With either Tim and/or cousin Nate Kinsella, he has also participated in the projects Owls and Joan of Arc.

In 1997, Kinsella, along with Steve Lamos and Steve Holmes, formed the band American Football, which would go on to release an EP in 1998 and a full-length album in 1999, before disbanding. After a 15-year hiatus, the band returned in 2014. They issued a sophomore album in 2016 and a third one in 2019.

In 2001, Kinsella began his current solo project, Owen, in which he performs vocals, guitar, bass, drums, keyboards, loops, etc.{{Cite web |date=February 5, 2008 |title=Owen |url=https://www.polyvinylrecords.com/bands/band_info.asp?bandID=10 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080205060137/https://www.polyvinylrecords.com/bands/band_info.asp?bandID=10 |archive-date=February 5, 2008 |access-date= |website=Polyvinyl Record Co.}} Kinsella was also in a band called The Shirts and Skins, with his wife. In 2013, he released two EPs with Their / They're / There, a project featuring Evan Weiss of Into It. Over It. and Matthew Frank of Loose Lips Sink Ships.{{cite web|url=http://www.polyvinylrecords.com/artists/index.php?id=1057 |title=Polyvinyl Record Co. – Their/They're/There |publisher=Polyvinylrecords.com |date= |accessdate=May 17, 2013}} He has also been part of the band The One Up Downstairs, alongside American Football drummer Steve Lamos.

Many of his albums, including Owen and No Good for No One Now, were recorded at his mother's home.{{cite web|url=http://www.polyvinylrecords.com/artists/index.php?id=284 |title=Polyvinyl Record Co. – Owen |publisher=Polyvinylrecords.com |date= |accessdate=May 17, 2013}}

John Hill of Loudwire wrote, "It's not often a guitarist is credited for being the progenitor of an entire style of music; however, you'd be hard-pressed not to give Mike Kinsella his dues for what he's given to the worlds of mid-west emo and math rock", adding that "emotion bleeds into every note he plays".{{Cite web |last=Hill |first=John|date=May 29, 2024 |title=The 10 Greatest Guitar Gods of Emo |url=https://loudwire.com/best-emo-guitarists/?utm_source=tsmclip&utm_medium=referral |access-date=March 11, 2025 |website=Loudwire}}

{{Reflist}}

{{Wikiquote}}

• [https://web.archive.org/web/20070307072733/http://www.joanfrc.com/mike.html Biography on a Joan of Arc fan site, archived]
• [http://www.owenmusic.com/ Owen official website]
• [http://minnesota.publicradio.org/display/web/2007/04/05/owen/ Owen live on The Current]
• [http://www.myspace.com/mybandowen Owen Myspace page]
• [http://www.myspace.com/theshirtsandskins The Shirts and Skins Myspace page]

{{Owen}}

{{Joan of Arc (band)}}

{{American Football (band)}}

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Category:Living people

Category:American rock drummers

Category:People from Buffalo Grove, Illinois

Category:Drummers from Chicago

Category:1977 births

Category:American male drummers

Category:20th-century American drummers

Category:21st-century American singers

Category:21st-century American drummers

Category:20th-century American male musicians

Category:21st-century American male singers

Category:American Football (band) members