New soul rock band Me Oh My makes a name for itself with Chill Fest

click to enlarge Me Oh My (Photo Dylan Johnson / provided)
Photo Dylan Johnson / provided
Me Oh My

A day of music from popular local bands like Annie Oakley, Space4Lease, Bowlsey, Limp Wizurdz and Flock of Pigs sounds like a successful trip to Norman Music Festival, not a house show thrown together by a band not even a year old.

Yet Chill Fest, a large evening and late-night concert event organized by Oklahoma City-based soul rock quintet Me Oh My, is here to make a splash before the host band even puts out its debut album.

Music runs 6 p.m.-2 a.m. Saturday at the house venue Mom & Dad’s Club, 1007 McNamee St., in Norman. A recommended donation of $10 is suggested for admission.

A s’mores kit, pizza, popcorn and other food options will be sold inside the venue. Alcohol will not be sold, but those 21 or older can bring their own. Anyone entering with booze will have their ID checked at the door.

Music will be outdoors through 11 p.m., when the action moves inside. Spray paint and henna artists and music from DJ Cool Guy will keep guests entertained between sets.

The show might be at a house, but Me Oh My vocalist Megan Wiggins said the band wants the event to feel like something much bigger. Me Oh My, by the way, is scheduled to perform 10 p.m. on the outdoor stage.

“We really wanted to bring that whole festival feel,” Wiggins said. “That’s why I wanted to call it Chill Fest, because it’s not your ordinary crazy show.”

Chill Fest features an all-local lineup, an intentional move by Wiggins and Me Oh My to highlight the quality acts the area has to offer.

“What I’ve noticed with a lot of shows recently is that they try to pull bands from out of state to get more money, which is cool,” she said. “But I wanted to put more of a limelight on our local bands and help that community grow.”

Me Oh My has only existed as a group for just a few months. Its Chill Fest set will mark the band’s first gig since expanding to a five-piece.

Organizing an event like Chill Fest would be intimidating for other bands in Me Oh My’s position, but Wiggins is welcoming the challenge — an attitude that will serve the band well as its bright future unfolds.

“I really love planning things, and I really love bringing the community together,” she said.

Sound growth

As of now, Me Oh My’s publicly released oeuvre includes just one single. The promising but short debut track, “Carousel,” was released in April.

The song is sparse and grassy with striking acoustic guitar and strong vocals from Wiggins. It is a good starting place for the band, which describes itself as “groove grass rock,” but Wiggins said the group has already evolved in sound.

“It’s kind of like Alabama Shakes, kind of like Portugal. The Man and a little bit like Modest Mouse,” she said.

Me Oh My started as a duo with Wiggins and guitarist Kyle Pennypacker, who is also Wiggins’ boyfriend. Both were born and raised in Oklahoma City. They share songwriting duties, with Wiggins primarily handling lyrics and Pennypacker taking charge of the guitar parts.

In the past, Wiggins could be found performing in the pop punk band The Good Fight, which also included current Me Oh My bassist Zachary Wright. She has also been performing as an acoustic soloist since she was a teenager. Pennypacker has past experience in the band Red Panda Junkies.

The rest of Me Oh My’s lineup includes rhythm guitarist Ryan Morain and drummer Chase Thompson.

Though the band certainly carries a soul rock feel, Me Oh My is a group open to many types of sound.

“We’re not set to any one genre,” Pennypacker said. “We have so many songs that are so different [from ‘Carousel’].”

Wiggins said she has noticed the band taking on a folkier feel as it has progressed. It is not uncommon for the band to jam and practice and surprise itself with what kind of sound materializes out of the session.

“It’s nice to know that I’m in a band where we can all still surprise ourselves and not only think where we are is what we are,” she said.

Showing promise

Pennypacker said after Chill Fest, Me Oh My will likely focus its attention on completing its debut EP.

Whereas some bands choose to record a lot of music first and then worry about promotion, Me Oh My is instead making its name known before it puts much work out there. It is a strategy the band members say has so far paid dividends. The band has a music video in production and said several blogs and media entities have expressed interest in covering its EP release.

“It seems like when people see us at shows, some of them see a lot in us that we don’t even see ourselves,” Wiggins said.

She is somewhat surprised by how well the band has been received by the local community since it began. The positivity she has encountered is making her optimistic for the future.

“Now we’re like, ‘Hey, we can do this,’” she said. “We believe in what we can do.”

Visit facebook.com/meohmyokc or meohmy.bandcamp.com.

Print headline: Cool start; New soul rock band Me Oh My makes a name for itself with Chill Fest.

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