Read on to learn more about our General Manager, Joey and his love for music! Enjoy his playlist of tunes to enjoy in the summer sun!
Name: Joey O’Kelly (he/they)
Hometown: Kansas City, MO
Year: Senior
Field(s) of Study: Social Justice, Arts Entrepreneurship
SCOPE Position: General Manager
Spotify Playlist
Listen to SCOPE Selects: Joey O'Kelly on Spotify
The Deep Cuts
This playlist, put in no particular order other than vibes, is a bit of an eclectic mix. It spans across time, with the oldest song being The Kinks’ 1965 “A Well Respected Man,” which is taken straight from the Juno soundtrack (my favorite movie) and is one of my go-to songs when I hit the jukebox at Foxhead. Moving three years ahead to 1968, I’ve also included the Mama’s and the Papa’s version of “Dream a Little Dream of Me,” which I have fond memories of listening to with my grandpa. He always talked about how much he loved Mama Cass’s voice, so I think about him every time I listen to this song. I get a lot of my music taste from my family, and another, more modern example of that, is First Aid Kit’s 2012 song “The Lion’s Roar.” For a period of time, this was my dad’s morning alarm. My family and I don’t have a lot of artists we all agree on, but First Aid Kit is one of them. They were the soundtrack to much of my coming of age, including a very sentimental experience in which my dad, my sister, and I went to Nashville to see them at the Ryman Auditorium in 2018. I tend to associate most of my music with sentimental memories, which is the reason I’ve included Samia’s 2020 “Stellate.” Samia is my girlfriend’s favorite artist, and her music is one of the things that brought us together. To this day, I can’t listen to anything off of The Baby without hearing Emily’s voice singing along with Samia’s in the back of my mind. Last year’s homecoming show, I listened to “Take Care” by Beach House (2010) as I was driving back to Iowa City after dropping tobi lou off at the airport. It was 6:45 a.m., the sun was just starting to rise, I had just completed the last step of putting on an entire homecoming show and was reflecting on the whole experience, and it was one of the most peaceful experiences of my life.
Most of the songs in this playlist have some sort of sentimental attachment to me. Adrianne Lenker’s entire “Songs” album was the soundtrack to my healing and growing. The Greeting Committee’s “Gold Star” was my senior year of high school. “Day After Day” by Badfinger is listening to music with my dad at 2:00 a.m. on Christmas Eve. “Smalltown Boy” by Bronski Beat is dancing in the beer garden at Gabe’s on a brisk fall evening. All of these songs mean something to me, they have some memory associated with them, or they have some person associated with them. I hope you find some that mean something to you too.
Three Favorite Albums
- This is It//The Greeting Committee
- Stunning & Atrocious//Fleece
- Songs//Adrianne Lenker
Favorite Concert Experience
Ugh, this is always such a tough question. One of the most memorable was this past November (2021), seeing Fleece and fanclubwallet at Schuba’s in Chicago, and subsequently seeing Witching Hour alumni artist Tasha. I went with fellow SCOPEr Eli Pham after having introduced her to the band over the summer and somewhat impulsively buying tickets together. The trip was one of those wonderfully chaotic ones where we hardly planned anything. We were on the drive there and still trying to figure out where we were going to sleep that night, I had about $150 in my bank account ($50 of which would later go to a Chicago parking ticket). The show was fantastic. Fleece was personable and lively, talented and fun, silly and goofy. Pham is a mastermind and, even though we didn’t make it in time for the opener, somehow weaseled us up almost to the front of the crowd. After the show, we sprinted across Chicago to get to Sleeping Village to see Tasha, in a show that was so ethereal and beautiful. It felt weirdly healing. Post-show, we ran into past SCOPErs Tommy McIlhon, Brandon Luong, and Tate Fisher, because you can’t go to Chicago without running into those SCOPE connections. It was just such a wonderful night, and it’s one I won’t soon forget.
Hobbies / Interests / Fun Facts / Campus Involvement
This is my fourth year in SCOPE and my second year as the general manager, and it has become one of my core personality traits. Other than that, I’m a barista at fix! coffee in the Chauncey downtown, and I’m constantly trying to improve my latte art game. I’m a musician and am working on a solo EP that I have given up on guessing a release date, but someday it will be out in the world - mark my words. I am a Spotify playlist aficionado so hit me up if you need a new bumpin’ playlist. I’m really good at throwing popcorn into the air and catching it in my mouth. I sneeze every time I eat anything with mint in it. I would do just about anything for a good dumpling. I have a septum ring.