A Conversation With Katie Jo And The Mijos.
We recently had the pleasure of meeting the beautiful and talented Katie Oberthaler of Katie Jo and The Mijos. Right before their set at Casa, a charming speakeasy in Costa Mesa, CA, we met up with Katie to talk about the band’s most recent EP, released days prior to meeting her, as well as many other topics. Katie’s passion for music and the band is so inspiring to us that we hope it inspires you to do what you love!
Seeing Katie Jo and The Mijos master their craft on stage was such a special privilege! They’re a must see — check their website out to see where they’ll be playing next! katiejoandthemijos.com
Congratulations on releasing your EP! Talk about your experience recording it.
The process was really cool and interesting because we’d only been a band for about six months before we decided that we needed to record some of our music. Initially, it was done to book gigs, you know? We needed proof of our sound because you can only email people so much describing your sound — The proof is in the pudding, right?
Our friend, Louis Conway, owns his own home recording studio and he actually bought all of his equipment to our house and we tracked everything live at the house. I wasn’t really sure how it would turn out but it ended up sounding pretty good! For us, this experience was perfect because, frankly, we didn’t have the money to go to a big fancy studio or the time to really prepare to spend all that money. Louis understood us and spend the time helping us foster our sound in an organic way. The first two tracks of the EP he recorded and then my friend Kurt Jordan, his another singer-songwriter from Long Beach that I’ve known for a while, also has a makeshift recording studio who helped us with the other tracks.
How are the writing duties and arrangement responsibilities split amongst everyone?
I wrote all the songs and for the most part, did a lot of the arrangements as well. Daniel definitely helped me with figuring out the different sounds for each instrument and everyone brought in their own ideas that lead to our sound in the EP. I had been in a previous band, a folk trio actually, called the Lovely Outlaws, and we had played some of these songs. But they were simple folk arrangements and I always wanted more power behind them. George started playing with us in September of last year and he’s helped to really rounded out the sound.
Talk about your music video, it seemed like it was a lot of fun to record.
[Laughs] Yeah, it was and it was also very DIY. So a little bit of background: 7 years ago, I went to this bluegrass festival called Del Fest that’s based around a group called The Del McCoury Band and they have a song called Ashville Turnaround, it’s a campy bluegrass love song about a man who drives from Ashville, North Carolina to Nashville to see is sweetheart. Flash forward to a year later: I loved out to Long Beach and was dating someone who lived in Costa Mesa at the time. I was kind of traveling back and forth and I would listen to that song many times when I was driving down. I got so jaded and began writing the LA version of this song. So that’s kind of how that song came about.
One of our friends offered to shoot the video for us. It was all done in one day and of course, was like the hottest day in August but overall so fun!
‘Pawn Shop Queen’ is such a beautiful song — give us it’s backstory.
I took a songwriting class once, I had had that idea floating around in my notebook for a long time, and I knew I wanted to write a song to. It’s essentially playing with the idea of being a castaway in a relationship, trying to figure out your own value, and being amongst all these relics but still being able to find beauty in everything. I actually wrote it because I was down to the wire and had to write something for that class I was taking. I sat down and wrote it pretty quickly, actually. It ended up kind of flowing out of me and I was very surprised. So I can’t say it was based on a specific relationship because it would be really sad to tap into that every time I sing [laughs] but I definitely feel really emotional when I do sing it.
What gear do you specifically use?
For banjos, I play a Deering Eagle II, which is very heavy and loud! It’s what I play on stage and record with. I also have a Deering Goodtime for campfire jams and travel. Banjo is my primary instrument. I’ve been playing banjo for about 8 years now, and Deering is just the best. Their factory is actually right down the road in San Diego, and the folks there are just so kind.
My acoustic guitar is just a cheap-o model called a Flinthill that my dad picked up at a local store in Wichita years ago. It has a ton of sentimental value to me, though. One of my favorite places in the world is a remote area in Kansas called the Flinthills, which is this huge, beautiful prairie reserve that has been completely untouched by development and was partly the inspiration for “Prairie Flower.” So even though the guitar isn’t a professional model, the name is a special reminder of home. I also really only started playing the guitar in earnest probably about three years ago, I’m kind of waiting until I improve my skill level a bit more before tempting myself with new gear.
I also use a LR Baggs DI preamp for both instruments, which really streamlines our stage setup, makes the guitar sound much nicer than it actually is and helps me control the wild sound of the banjo.
What has being in a band taught you about yourself?
Fronting a band is something that I never thought I’d be doing in my life! I was pretty content to be a songwriter and side woman banjo player and let someone else do the singing. Starting this band and deciding to put my face to it was a huge leap for me and made me realize just how far outside of my comfort zone I can actually live.
Being in a band has also been a catalyst for a level of personal confidence I never imagined even a year ago. Around the time I wrote the songs on our EP, I was going through a rough patch where the punches were kind of coming from all sides from my health to relationships to my day job. To go from days where simply getting out of bed was a victory, to now leading a band and a crowd that is up playing and dancing to songs I wrote alone in my living room is kind of astonishing to me and makes me feel so, so grateful. It saved me, honestly. It saved me from myself and from a path of inertia. To have a project where I was able to slowly supplant hardship with hard work, and have a whole band of amazing musicians willing to support me, makes me feel so much more resilient no matter what happens. Having other people respond to and like the music is just the cherry on top of the personal purpose I found through playing in a band.
On the practical side, managing a band whips you into a jack of all trades, from booking, promotion, negotiation, PR, event coordination — it kind of never ends! I’ve definitely learned a lot of tertiary skills just by trial and error, mostly motivated by not wanting to pay other people to do things I knew I could learn with some elbow grease and intense Google-ing.
Words of wisdom to aspiring musicians?
I think the most important piece of advice I can give is to be as active as a participant in whatever genre or scene fits your style of music! All of the recent opportunities we’ve gotten as a band have come from years and years of us individually being familiar faces around town. Go to open mics, go see other local and touring acts as much as possible, get to know your peers and local business owners and just be open and kind to everyone! It can feel so overwhelming to put yourself out there at first, but it gets much easier once you find people doing and liking similar things as you. I think it’s so important that people see that you’re serious about music not just as a performer, but as a fan and supporter. Opportunities in the music scene only get stronger the more support there is, you know, all boats rise with the tide. By being involved, you’ll find the best avenue for your music and the right people to play it with!
And definitely just keep working on your craft as much as possible! When you’re starting out it’s so easy to feel like you’re reliant on others for things to happen, but focusing on goals you can personally set and achieve, whether its improved songwriting, singing, technical skill or performing live, will take you a long way. People will see you pushing yourself forward, putting in the hard work and respond to that!
Socials?
Instagram: @katiejoandthemijos
Facebook: @katiejomijos
