By Gabby McIlhinney
If you were tuned into WKDU recently, or packed into the studio, you may have caught DJ Meow’s boiler room-style set. Which, for the blog’s record, we do not usually do here at WKDU, though maybe we should start…
“I only prepared half of that,” she told me right after, also visibly overheating. “The other half was just vibes.”
With only about a year into DJing, DJ Meow, aka Jess Urwiler, is weirdly natural on the decks. Originally, Jess was supposed to come in for an acoustic Fish Food set to spotlight her debut EP Roots, which dropped back on September 26 (and is available on all streaming platforms, nudge, nudge). That project lives firmly in the singer-songwriter world, with acoustic guitar and intimate lyrics from songs she’s been sitting on since high school.
But plans change, and sometimes, for the better. Instead of looking back at Roots, the focus turned forward to what Jess’s newest alter ego, DJ Meow, is building now.
As part of her senior project, Jess is working on not one but two EPs, both under the DJ Meow name. One leans into electronic/hyperpop, and the other pulls from ‘90s dream pop and shoegaze.
“I wanted to try something different,” she said. “I’ve spent all of college working on the Jess project, so this is me branching out.”
And it really is a full reset. Before this, everything Jess made was analog and immediate. What once was writing songs on guitar and recording voice memos is now deep in production, making beats, experimenting, and learning how to build tracks from scratch.
“It’s a lot harder,” she admitted. “But that’s why I’m doing it.”
What’s wild is how recent all of this is. DJ Meow’s first set was only a year ago, at her own birthday party! “It was really lit,” she laughed. “People told me to keep DJing, and I was like… wait, really?”
Since then, she’s been steadily booked and busy with both DJ and acoustic gigs, including multiple sets at Philly’s Christmas market and sharing bills with artists like Cassie Ramone.
A lot of DJ Meow’s current sound traces back to collaborations with Drexel MIP alumni and Jess’s friend, Natalie Nineteen. In one of the first sessions of what would later become DJ Meow, Jess and Natalie made a song using a cat piano Jess had scored at Goodwill for $9.
“That kind of led to DJ Meow being born,” she said.
Outside of performing, DJ Meow has also been building something equally important locally: The Litter Box, a DIY acoustic-focused venue run out of her living room.
“It was hard to find places to play as an acoustic artist,” she said. “I’d get short opening slots, but I wanted to play more.”
So, she made her own space!
It’s small and intimate, intentionally different from the typical basement show setup, and it’s quickly become a go-to for acoustic artists who don’t fit into the loud indie/emo basement circuit.
(Also, I will be playing there in April. Had to plug that…)
Jess has been playing nonstop, but is taking a short breather before her next run of shows. There’s also a lot of unreleased material waiting in the wings, including an eventual debut album under Jess Urwiler.
“I have songs that I haven’t even played live yet,” she told me. “That’s what makes it exciting.”
You can listen to Roots now under Jess Urwiler on all platforms, check out DJ Meow’s collaboration track, “Intertwined,” with Drexel artist YourLocalOddity, and keep an eye out for the DJ Meow EPs, whenever they shall materialize.
And if you missed the set? Go run the live session back on our YouTube. It’s as if DJ Meow is right there in your living room. Perfect for pregaming, partying, etc.
As always, commit radio warfare. Meow.
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