Owl City is an American electronica musical project by singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Adam Young formed in 2007 in Owatonna, Minnesota. Young created the project while experimenting with music in his parents' basement. Like many musicians who achieved success in the era between 2005 and 2009, Owl City developed a following on the music andsocial networking site Myspace in the late 2000s before signing with Universal Republic in 2008.
After two independent albums, Owl City gained mainstream popularity with the 2009 major label debut album Ocean Eyes, which spawned the quadruple-platinum hit single "Fireflies". The album was certified Platinum in the United States in April 2010.
In 2011, he released his third album titled All Things Bright and Beautiful.
Early years (2007–2009)
Suffering from insomnia while working loading Coca-Cola trucks in his hometown, Owatonna, Minnesota, Young turned to composing music. He began uploading songs recorded in his parents' basement to Myspace. He started to receive favorable attention for his music and then helped cultivate this nascent fanbase by being an open and accessible web presence, responding to any messages he received and constantly posting blogs. His manager Steve Burksy later highlighted the significance of Young's engaging online manner in building his following saying: "People feel like they know him, like they've got a direct connection to him because of how he approaches his connection with them online." Through a deal with the digital aggregator CD Baby, he then started making the songs available for sale through iTunes. In 2007, Owl City released an EP titled Of June, followed by the 2008 release of the album Maybe I'm Dreaming. Of Junereached #15 on the Billboard Electronic Albums chart, and Maybe I'm Dreaming peaked on the same chart at #13.
The viral phenomenon that was building through Myspace caught the attention of Universal Republic presidents Avery and Monte Lipman who approached Young with a view to signing the artist. Republic recommended Young partner up with 27-year-old manager Steve Bursky of Foundations Artist Management and the two began working together in late 2008. When later asked by HitQuarters why the label chose him for a major label act given his relative inexperience, Burksy said:
"I think they saw Owl City as representing the future of our business. This idea of a kid in a tiny town in rural U.S. being able to make songs in his basement that sound like Top 40 radio could never have happened ten years ago. By hiring a young management company who understands the business circa 2011 over a seasoned industry vet, who might not understand the online spaces well, showed a lot of understanding of where this kid was going to end up having success."
Owl City's label deal with Universal Republic was finally confirmed in February 2009. According to Bursky there was initially some disagreement about the direction Owl City should follow, telling HitQuarters: "They were ready to send him into the studio with big producers and polish him up to try to become this thing that he wasn't. But we put our foot down and said, 'Look, the reason you signed this kid is because it’s working. Whatever it is about him - his music, his interaction with his fans, his brilliance in the online space - these things are connecting with people, and as soon as you change that you lose what’s special about this artist.' To their credit, they really listened and they got it."
Ocean Eyes (2009–2010)
Ocean Eyes, Owl City's second full-length album and major label debut, was released on iTunes on July 14, 2009, with the physical release following on July 28, 2009. The album debuted at #27 on the Billboard 200. Owl City has released three official singles from this album: "Umbrella Beach", "Vanilla Twilight" and "Fireflies". "Fireflies" topped the US and Canadian charts and became the most-downloaded song on iTunes in the US. Ocean Eyes reached the top ten on the US album charts, topped the US electronic charts, and also reached Amazon MP3's top 10 most downloaded album list. By December 2009, it was certified Gold in the United States. On January 24, 2010, Owl City reached the number 1 spot in the UK Top 40 Singles chart with "Fireflies". The song "Tidal Wave" also received significant airplay on Christian music radio stations.[citation needed] On January 2, 2011, it was revealed "Fireflies" was the 20th most downloaded song of all time in the UK.
Young is joined by Breanne Düren on several tracks; the most noted being "The Saltwater Room". Owl City's live band consists of Breanne Düren (background vocals/keyboards), Matthew Decker (drums), Laura Musten (violin), Hannah Schroeder (cello), and Daniel Jorgensen (vibes).[citation needed]
Relient K vocalist Matt Thiessen has toured and collaborated with Owl City on several tracks, including "Fireflies", where Matt can be heard providing the backup vocals. Young also produced Relient K's song "Terminals".
"Fireflies" was released as a free download on the game Tap Tap Revenge 3 by Tapulous. Prior to the July 14, 2009 internet release ofOcean Eyes, and the "Fireflies" single, Steve Hoover was hired as a director for a music video for "Fireflies". The video was to have had an exclusive premiere on MySpace, but had been leaked onto YouTube and Dailymotion hours earlier. "Fireflies" became a big sleeper hit, topping the Billboard Hot 100 in the United States for the week ending November 7, 2009.
Owl City is featured on Soundtrack 90210 with a song titled "Sunburn", which was released on October 13, 2009. Owl City has toured withThe Scene Aesthetic, Lights, John Mayer, Maroon 5 and Brooke Waggoner. He was also guest featured in the soundtrack to Tim Burton'sAlice in Wonderland with a song entitled "The Technicolor Phase" that had already been featured in his debut album.
In 2010, Young revealed a new musical project known as Sky Sailing, which moved away from his usual electronica genre of music and introduced acoustic guitar and piano accompaniments into his work. The unrefined tracks were recorded in the summer of 2007 before he began making music as Owl City. His first album under this new project is entitled An Airplane Carried Me to Bed, and was released July 13, 2010 via iTunes.
In May 2010, Adam Young collaborated with high-profile British electronic composer, producer, musician, and songwriter Nick Bracegirdle. Under his Chicane alias, Bracegirdle released the single "Middledistancerunner" on August 1, 2010 featuring Adam Young on vocals. This is the first single from the fourth Chicane album Giants. He also worked with famed Dutch producer Armin van Buuren, appearing on a track called 'Youtopia' from the forthcoming van Buuren album Mirage on September 10, 2010.
On September 21, 2010 "To the Sky" was officially released via iTunes on the soundtrack for Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga'hoole.
On October 25, 2010, Young released a cover version of the praise and worship song "In Christ Alone" as a streaming mp3 on his website,
On November 13, 2010, a new album was also released for one of his other musical projects, "Windsor Airlift", called "Flight" on iTunes.
On November 23, 2010, a new Christmas single called "Peppermint Winter" was released. A preview had been released the previous week onFacebook.
All Things Bright and Beautiful (2011–present)
On Valentine's Day, 2011, Young released a cover/reply song to Taylor Swift's "Enchanted". and it was announced that All Things Bright and Beautiful would be released on May 17, although that date was subsequently pushed back to June 14.
On March 1, he announced via his website the All Things Bright and Beautiful Tour featuring recording artist Mat Kearney and Unwed Sailor.All Things Bright and Beautiful presale and tour ticket presale started March 22.
The album is also a hit, reaching #1 on the iTunes American album chart and #8 in Canada.
On March 22, 2011, the debut single off the album called Alligator Sky was released on iTunes. Two versions have been released so far, with a version featuring only Adam Young on vocals and another featuring Young as well as guest rapper Shawn Chrystopher, and each version having different lyrics in the verses. Adam Young also released a song "Lonely Lullaby," available through The ipod Touch app, Owl City Galaxy. Previews of 3 songs (Honey and the Bee, Dreams Don't Turn to Dust, and Deer in the Headlights) could be heard in a making-of video posted on the official website. People were also able to pre-order his album All Things Bright and Beautiful on iTunes starting then.
On April 6, 2011, Adam Young released a statement on his website, along with lengthy previews of four of his songs (Dreams Don't Turn to Dust, Alligator Sky Ft. Shawn Chrystopher, Galaxies, and Deer in the Headlights), that the release date for All Things Bright and Beautifulwould be pushed back to June 14. His song 'The Yacht Club' features electropop singer Lights, who opened for him during his 2010 tour.
On April 19, 2011, Galaxies was released as the second single from the album. Since the release of "Ocean Eyes" in 2009, Galaxies became Owl City's second highest charting single of all time, Fireflies being the highest.
On May 6, 2011, Owl City released the music video for "Alligator Sky". Young discussed the concept in a making-of video, "So the concept is basically about these two guys who are leaving Earth. Rather than it being this very dark post-apocalyptic vibe, it's very optimistic, and so it's like people are excited to leave earth."
Beginning on May 16, 2011, Adam Young released different parts of his new song 'Deer in the Headlights' each day.
On May 20, 2011, almost all of All Things Bright and Beautiful leaked onto the internet, "Shy Violet" was not among the leaked tracks.
On May 23, 2011, 'Deer in the Headlights' was released on iTunes.
On June 14, 2011, 'All Things Bright and Beautiful' was released on iTunes.
On June 30, 2011, the music video for 'Deer in the Headlights' was released. It features Young driving the DeLorean featured in "Back to the Future" and Lights appears as a special guest. Young sees himself at the end, in the space suit that he wore in the Alligator Sky music video. This is after he drives the DeLorean to 2015, the year Doc and Marty traveled to in Back to the Future Part II.
On July 19, "Lonely Lullaby" was released as a single on iTunes. This makes the track available outside of Owl City Galaxy members.
For press for Young's latest album, he was featured in the August. Giving an interview, and gracing the cover. The article also features some of Young's very own art work.
Owl City's music is described as indietronica and synthpop and is often described as belonging under the broad "alternative music" label.Young has stated that he is inspired by disco and European electronic music, as well as instrumental genres such as drone, ambient, and post-rock. He cites his biggest influences as Johnathon Ford of Unwed Sailor and Thomas Newman. Young also incorporates a large amount of his Christian faith into his music, since he is a vocal Christian. Young's faith is evident on the new album, "All Things Bright and Beautiful", especially in "Galaxies". Explaining why the faith-filled song was added to the mix, he said, "I feel like if I were ever to hide the fact that that’s what’s so important to me, it would be a crime, that I should probably be put in jail for that."
Owl City also has been compared to The Postal Service, often critically, for his combination of fuzzy synths, ironic lyrics and use of female guest singers.Pitchfork.com goes far enough to say that "The surprise No. 1 single in the country, Owl City's "Fireflies", jacks the Postal Service in such a bald-faced, obvious manner that getting into specifics feels redundant at best and tacky at worst.". In response to this comparison, Adam Young suggested in a 2009 interview with The New York Times that Ocean Eyes is perhaps the "next chapter" after American band The Postal Service: "The Postal Service released a record in 2003, and that was it. There was really nothing to compare it to until some one else came along and wrote the next chapter. Maybe that's this record. Maybe that's this band."
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