She plays turbulent rock-star wannabe Mia in teen drama One Tree Hill, but actress and musician Kate Voegele couldn’t be more different from her on-screen persona. Alan Corr talks to her
Mia Catalano is a rough diamond in the overly polished world of One Tree Hill, the drama in which unfeasibly good-looking, well-dressed young people bicker a lot about their ‘feelings’ and gaze meaningfully into the middle distance.
Miss Catalano is a bit of a drama queen and she lets her complicated love life bleed into the songs she writes for her band on the show but after some hard lessons, she’s learned that music is about talking to people, not making money. Cue another meaningful gaze into the middle distance. Yup, Mia’s a bit of a bad ’un and her storylines are the bread and butter of a drama that thrives on the tortured lives of people with too much money and perfect abs.
Mia is played by 24-year-old Kate Voegele and as is often the case, she couldn’t be more different than her character. A country gal from Ohio, when she’s not grinding out lines like ‘I want you to want me back’, Kate likes to kick back in ripped jeans, second-hand vintage boots and white t-shirt and drink beer in dive bars.
“It’s actually really fun playing Mia”, Kate says on the phone from her adopted home of LA. “I get to do things through that character that I wouldn’t experience in real life. Mia is a fun character and she’s definitely more feisty than I am, more dramatic than I am. Mia is constantly in catfights. It’s funny doing stuff like that because I’m so not that type of girl. I don’t go looking for drama but Mia got bored in One Tree Hill and decided to start some drama. It’s fun, I love being able to go to these different places because it’s hilarious, very entertaining.”
What she does have in common with Mia is a love of music. Music is an integral part of One Tree Hill (individual episodes are named after songs), so it made sense that Voegele joined the cast as the bad girl rocker, but even before she got that break the actress had released several albums that got her noticed for her rootsy, heartland rock sound.
Voegele’s new album Gravity Happens (a line worthy of a quip in One Tree Hill) has just been released and it’s a pleasant mix of country rock and roots ballads. “I grew up on a lot of classic American songwriters like James Taylor and Carole King”, she says. “People whose main strength is in their songwriting and melodies and there’s a beautiful simplicity to them. I love the folk singer Patty Griffin and I think her music is still the best soul food out there.”
But Neil Young is her all-time hero. She shared a stage with him at a Farm Aid concert a few years ago and even namechecks him on her song One Hundred Dollar Bill. “I am obsessed with Neil Young, I love Neil Young”, Voegele says. “When I met him I couldn’t even speak. I was just starting in music and this guy is a legend. I was just overwhelmed with starstuck feelings. I hardly uttered a word. I introduced myself and ran away to the bathroom freaking out.”
She also mentions Mumford and Sons as a favourite but she also raves about Dublin troubadour Paddy Casey. “He is amazing”, she enthuses. “He’s getting better known in the States. I stumbled across his stuff in college and I just fell in love with his music, it’s so beautiful. I’d love to collaborate with him because his voice is really beautiful and his melodies are so haunting.”
So you’re not a Gaga girl then? “Ha! Gaga? You gotta respect what she does. She’s made a huge statement with her music and I think she’s incredibly talented. I’m a fan but I don’t think I could ever put on the outfits that she does and do the type of the show she does. That’s not me but I think she’s amazing and she’s doing a lot of good with her music too.
“She’s a brand, she’s so much more than her music, whereas Rihanna is more about the sound. Gaga has started this avant-garde wave as a musician. It means something different to be an artist now because she has all these aspects of her career. She’s almost more of a brand than an artist and I don’t mean that in a bad way. I like Rihanna. I like to work out to Rihanna!”
Right now, Voegele is in the middle of her European tour (she played Dublin last week) and she’s not sure if she’ll be cropping up in the new season of One Tree Hill. “I love the show but time is always up in the air with me because I’m a guest star, so I may end up coming back. For now I’m not on it, but it’s been four seasons and it’s just been so much fun. It’s a great family of people and I really have enjoyed it.”
Gravity Happens is out now
