# Mike Kinsella

Mike Kinsella (born March 4, 1977) is an American musician and singer-songwriter. Having been involved in many Illinois-based bands, he is best known as the lead vocalist and guitarist of the emo band American Football.

## Career

Kinsella's first musical project was serving as drummer for the band Cap'n Jazz, which he co-founded with his brother Tim. 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.
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. 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. 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.

## Legacy

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".

## Discography

| Year | Title | Band | Label | Format | Additional Information |
| 1995 | Burritos...(AKA: Shmap’n Shmazz) | Cap'n Jazz | Man With Gun Records | LP/CD | Drums/vocals |
| 1997 | A Portable Model Of... | Joan of Arc | Jade Tree Records | LP/CD | Drums |
| 1998 | Analphabetapolothology | Cap'n Jazz | Jade Tree Records | 2×CD | Drums/vocals |
| 1998 | American Football | American Football | Polyvinyl Records | EP/CD | Guitar/vocals |
| 1999 | American Football | American Football | Polyvinyl Records | LP/CD | Guitar/bass/vocals |
| 1999 | Live in Chicago, 1999 | Joan of Arc | Jade Tree Records | LP/CD | Drums |
| 2000 | The Gap | Joan of Arc | Jade Tree Records | LP/CD | Drums |
| 2001 | Owls | Owls | Jade Tree Records | LP/CD | Drums |
| 2001 | Owen | Owen | Polyvinyl Records | CD | Guitar/vocals/drums/bass |
| 2002 | No Good for No One Now | Owen | Polyvinyl Records | CD | Guitar/vocals/drums/bass |
| 2002 | Open Ground | Kyle Fischer | Polyvinyl Records | CD | Drums |
| 2003 | Best of Altan | The Songs Altan | Green Linnet Records | CD | Harmonica |
| 2003 | In Rape Fantasy and Terror Sex We Trust | Joan of Arc | Perishable Records | CD | Bass/drums/percussion |
| 2003 | So Much Staying Alive and Lovelessness | Joan of Arc | Jade Tree Records | CD | Bass/drums |
| 2004 | Anyone in Love With You (Already Knows) | Rainer Maria | Polyvinyl Records | CD | Tambourine |
| 2004 | The Rutabega/Owen Split EP | Owen | Polyvinyl Records | CD | Guitar/vocals/drums/bass |
| 2004 | Total Eclipse of the Heart | The Love of Everything | Record Label Records | CD | Drums |
| 2004 | (The EP) | Owen | Polyvinyl Records | CD | Guitar/vocals/drums/bass |
| 2004 | Joan of Arc, Dick Cheney, Mark Twain | Joan of Arc | Polyvinyl Records | CD | Drums |
| 2005 | I Do Perceive | Owen | Polyvinyl Records | CD | Guitar/vocals/drums/bass/programming |
| 2005 | Association of Utopian Hologram Swallowers | Owen | Polyvinyl Records | CD | Guitar/vocals |
| 2005 | Presents Guitar Duets | Joan of Arc | Record Label Records | CD | Guitar |
| 2006 | At Home with Owen | Owen | Polyvinyl Records | CD | Guitar/piano/vocals |
| 2007 | Many Times I've Mistaken | Joan of Arc | Polyvinyl Records | EP/CD | Guitar |
| 2007 | Owen/The City on Film | Owen | Red Cars Go Faster | 7-inch vinyl | Guitar/piano/organ/vocals |
| 2008 | Boo! Human | Joan of Arc | Polyvinyl Records | LP/CD | Drums |
| 2009 | The Seaside EP | Owen | Polyvinyl Records | CD | Guitar/vocals |
| 2009 | New Leaves | Owen | Polyvinyl Records | CD | Guitar/vocals |
| 2010 | Abandoned Bridges | Owen | Polyvinyl Records | 7-inch EP | Guitar/vocals |
| 2010 | Darling, Darling | Crissi Cochrane | Independent | CD | Drums/guitar |
| 2011 | Oh, Evelyn | Owen | Polyvinyl Records | 7-inch EP | Guitar/vocals/drums/bass |
| 2011 | Ghost Town | Owen | Polyvinyl Records | CD, vinyl | Guitar/vocals |
| 2013 | Their / They're / There | Their / They're / There | Polyvinyl Records | CD, vinyl | Drums |
| 2013 | L'Ami du Peuple | Owen | Polyvinyl Records | CD, vinyl, cassette | Guitar/vocals/drums/piano/bass |
| 2013 | Analog Weekend | Their / They're / There | Polyvinyl Records | CD, vinyl | Drums |
| 2014 | TWO | Owls | Polyvinyl Records | CD, vinyl, cassette | Drums |
| 2014 | American Football (Deluxe Edition) | American Football | Polyvinyl Records | CD, vinyl, cassette | Guitar/bass/vocals Deluxe edition of first LP |
| 2014 | Other People's Songs | Owen | Polyvinyl Records | CD, vinyl, cassette | Guitar/vocals/drums/piano/bass |
| 2015 | Owen/Into It. Over It. Split EP | Owen | Polyvinyl Records | Vinyl | Guitar/vocals/drums/piano/bass |
| 2016 | The Sleep Whose Dreams Are Life | Aleph Eris | HOMHOMHOM Records of the Eternal Now | Vinyl | Drums |
| 2016 | The King of Whys | Owen | Polyvinyl Records | CD, vinyl, cassette | Guitar/vocals/drums/piano/bass |
| 2016 | American Football | American Football | Polyvinyl Records | CD, vinyl, cassette | Guitar/vocals |
| 2019 | American Football | American Football | Polyvinyl Records | CD, vinyl, cassette | Guitar/vocals |
| 2020 | The Avalanche | Owen | Polyvinyl Records | CD, vinyl, cassette | Guitar/vocals |
| 2023 | Lies | Lies | Polyvinyl Records | Vinyl | Guitar/vocals |
| 2024 | The Falls of Sioux | Owen | Polyvinyl Records | CD, vinyl | Guitar/vocals |