Owl City is the name of a synthpop/alternative dance project formed in early 2007 consisting of one member, Adam Young. He refers to his backing band plus himself as "Owl City." Young started out making music in his parents'
... Owl City is the name of a synthpop/alternative dance project formed in early 2007 consisting of one member, Adam Young. He refers to his backing band plus himself as "Owl City." Young started out making music in his parents' basement, which he claims is a result of his insomnia.
Among Young's influences are disco and European electronic music. 1980s synthpop, J-Pop and New Wave music is also heard in Owl City's sound.
After two independent unsigned albums, and increasing popularity through Owl City's MySpace profile, Owl City gained mainstream popularity from his 2009 major-label debut album Ocean Eyes, which spawned the US #1 hit single "Fireflies", which became the fastest-selling electronic/alternative track ever. "Fireflies" topped the US and Canadian charts and became the most-downloaded song on iTunes in the US, and the album Ocean Eyes reached the top ten on the US album charts and topped the US electronic charts.
History:
Early years (2007–08):
Owl City found early popularity through its own MySpace profile, which has received more than 6 million plays on tracks, such as "Hello Seattle".
In 2007, Owl City released an EP titled Of June and in 2008, the album Maybe I'm Dreaming was released. Of June reached #20 on the Billboard Electronic Albums chart, and Maybe I'm Dreaming peaked on the same chart at #16.
Owl City's first two records were released while Young was unsigned. In early 2009, music industry website "Crazed Hits" leaked that Owl City signed with the major label, Universal Republic.
Ocean Eyes and Owlmania (2009):
Owl City's third album Ocean Eyes was released on iTunes July 14, 2009, with the physical release following on July 28, 2009. The album debuted at #27 on the Billboard 200. Ocean Eyes went on to reach #2 on the Top Albums section of iTunes during the iTunes week of July 14. After two weeks the album had received over 2,600 ratings on iTunes with an average score of five stars. Owl City has also released four singles, "Hello Seattle", "Hot Air Balloon", "Strawberry Avalanche", and "Fireflies", leading up to the release of Ocean Eyes.
Young is joined by Breanne Duren on several tracks; the most noted being "The Saltwater Room." Relient K vocalist Matt Thiessen has also collaborated with Owl City on several tracks. He may also collaborate with Lights in early 2010.
"Fireflies" was released as a free download on the iPod/iPhone game Tap Tap Revenge 3 made by Tapulous. Prior to the July 14, 2009 internet release of Ocean Eyes, and the "Fireflies" single, Steve Hoover was hired as a director for a music video for "Fireflies". The video had an exclusive premiere on MySpace, but was leaked onto Dailymotion and YouTube hours earlier. "Fireflies" became a big sleeper hit, topping the Billboard Hot 100 in the United States on October 29, 2009 (chart date November 7, 2009).
Owl City is featured on Soundtrack 90210 with a song entitled "Sunburn", which was released on October 13, 2009. It was also announced that Owl City would undertake a concert tour in November 2009 at China and Japan with Cobra Starship.
Young produced Relient K's song "Terminals". Relient K vocalist Matt Thiessen stated that it is very likely that he and Adam will produce a side project called "Goodbye Dubai" in the future.
Owl City is currently on tour with The Scene Aesthetic and Brooke Waggoner. In January-February of 2010 he will tour with contemporary synthpop singer Lights and Christian rock band Deas Vail.
Influences and contemporaries:
Adam cites Imogen Heap, Relient K, Boards of Canada and Armin Van Buuren as some of the influences to his music. His music is also inspired by 1980s new wave music, though he does not claim any particular band of the era as an influence.
Owl City has often been compared to The Postal Service, and also to Ben Gibbard's main act Death Cab For Cutie to a lesser extent. The comparisons come from the similarities of Adam Young and Ben Gibbard's voices, the 1980s influence to their electro-pop, and both bands using guest female singers on some of their songs. Though Adam takes this as a compliment, saying the album Give Up made electronic music popular again and that he does like their music, the question has been asked so often that he has become irritated with answering it, saying sarcastically "I do not know who the Postal Service are".
Owl City is also strongly associated with Lights, who became popular in Canada in 2008 with her hit songs "Drive My Soul" and "February Air". Both musicians are fans of each others' music and follow each other's Twitter accounts, have seen exponentially increasing success as the 2010s approach, make airy, 1980s-influenced, new urban synthpop music, and have significant overlap in their fanbase. Additionally, they have plans to tour together in early 2010.
