September 19, 2008 - Pensacola News Journal - Maegan Outzen
Mo Jiles gets even mo' gigs
Mo Jiles has come off of a very successful summer season, playing 134 gigs in four months. The band has every weekend booked until the end of the year, and is already beginning to schedule gigs for 2009.
On top of that, Michael Jenks (guitar and vocals), Skip Chatterley (bass, synth and vocals) and Sims Chadwick (drums, percussion and vocals) have added a fourth member to their established trio.
"With the three-piece [band] we're kind of hitting the ceiling with it, which is why we're going to the next step," Chatterley said. "John (Kott) has a very energetic stage presence, which we like a lot. He fits in with our maniacal skills, as well as the fact that he is an established songwriter. He's just new to us not the game."
Kott (guitar and lead vocals) will be playing with Mo Jiles at 9 p.m. today and Saturday at Seville Quarter, 130 E. Government St. The band will also play at 4 p.m. Sunday at the Sandshaker Lounge, 731 Pensacola Beach Blvd.
"The first time I saw these guys (I noticed) they get respect from musicians," Kott said. "Usually, some bands are respected by musicians and some are respected by the crowd, and it's probably everybody's favorite to have a room full of musicians, because it's very rare that that ever happens. But musicians give them respect and the party people who are there drinking their asses off love them, too. So it's a pretty good mix that they've made."
Mo Jiles is also getting ready to release a three-song EP. The music is R&B and hip-hop oriented, with added elements of country and rock. Once released, the songs will be available for download from the band's MySpace page at www.myspace.com/mojiles, and from other various online music outlets.
"It's dance-oriented and high energy," Chatterley said. "We're interested in how it comes off in live performance. That was kind of one of our missions, our goals. We want to take these songs and put it out there and have people react to them in the audience and turn it into a big party. At this point right now, we're not trying to make any huge statement. The statement that's made is, pretty much, have a good time. It's music you enjoy listening to and move you but to. We're not really trying to save the world or anything."
The band has a "unique writing style" where they all go into their writing room/pool house with all their instruments, recording devices and ideas ready. No one person is assigned an instrument, and they all switch off constructing rhythms on various instruments and writing lyric ideas in a notebook that gets passed around between them.
"(The songs) are likely analytical, in fact, you can interpret them any way that you want," Chadwick said. "This EP is generally kind of party music. If there is any analytical nature it's just looking at characters in society and expounding on that. There's one song where we talk about a pervert in the bushes, but it's really not even about that."
Mo Jiles is an original band within the boundaries of a cover band, in which they put a spin on cover songs by "using our abilities to do improve," as well as doing montages. Once the band finishes their full record, due out next year, they will devote some shows entirely to original music.
"I'm just really stoked about playing with this band, because for the first time in a long time, I don't have to sing," Jenks said. "There are four singers in the band. I'm not the front man. I can concentrate on my guitar playing, which is really exciting. I can get back to my roots. I'm so stoked about it. Everybody in the band has some extreme talent and I see us doing some great things."
Check out Mo Jiles at hot spots around the area, including Hemingway's, Seville Quarter, The Fish House and the Sandshaker Lounge.
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