Owl City Flying to Messiah College
The story behind the musical sensation
Morgan Lee
Issue date: 11/19/09 Section: Magazine
For humanity, they say that death is the great equalizer. For music, how about the Internet? Until six months ago, Adam Young was just another 23 year-old with a passion for music and a MySpace page. However, the past month has demonstrated otherwise for Young's band, Owl City. During the week last week of October and this past week their single, "Fireflies" was number 1 on the Hot Billboard 100 charts, promoted by Taylor Swift on her Twitter account, and he was in the midst of a music tour that included stops in China and Japan.
Not bad for a kid who earned his first trip off of the continent after recording his hit song in his parents' basement.
Not bad at all for Messiah College either. Owl City will be performing in Brubaker Auditorium on February 13. Within the first ten days that tickets went on sale, over 90% of the tickets were sold.
Young's wild success was not predictable. The Owatonna, Minnesota native struggled socially in high school, devoting most of his free time to his acoustic guitar. After he graduated from high school in 2005, Young attended a community college and worked at a Coca-Cola bottling warehouse. He also took a job loading packages at UPS warehouse.
Just like high school, though, it was all about the music. After dropping out of college after a year and a half, Young began working in his parents' basement, dabbling in electronica music. In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, Young explained he had little experience with any of the software he worked on.
"I hadn't really delved into the world of programming and sequencing, and the endless roads that you can take via electronic music, so I thought it would be fun to take a stab at it. I got a sequencing program and wrote what turned out to be seven songs for an EP's worth of music," said Young.
Six months after Young put his first album Maybe I'm Dreaming on MySpace he quit his job at Coca-Cola to work solely on his music. After his first EP, Young put his record on iTunes in March 2008. Several labels were interested and he ultimately signed with Universal Republic.
Much of Owl City's buzz, however was born on the Internet. His music on Myspace has generated over 45 million plays and he has had over a million iTunes downloads. In July of this year, Young released Ocean Eyes, which has currently sold over 50,000 albums.
Young's success has has given a wealth of opportunities. He told USA Today that "growing up, we didn't have a lot of money to take vacations. I'd never seen the ocean until last year when I was visiting relatives in Connecticut."
Many music critics have compared Owl City to Ben Gibbard's The Postal Service for his mellow voice and synthesizer incorporation. Although Young admits listening, he told Entertainment Weekly his music was not particularly influenced by them.
"The more I hear people relating the two, the more I realize that they are pretty similar - even though that wasn't my initial goal or anything… I can totally see it now, but I didn't really then, for what it's worth."
Young was also heavily influenced by inspirations outside of the United States. "I listen to a lot of dance music from Europe and I really admire some of the great trance DJs and how they produce and mix music," he explained in an with Skin Magazine.
Young's hit song Fireflies was inspired by a meteor shower during a camping trip he took during the summer.
"I can remember sleeping out on a dock on the edge of this lake and looking up at the sky. There was a meteor shower that night. I remember thinking, what a cool idea of shooting stars being fireflies, and trying to translate that into music. That's what spurred it on. I was also influenced by the lack of sleep that tends to happen," Young told Entertainment Weekly.
Young keeps his imagination alive by feeding it with eclectic interests. He reads old children's books and watches movies from the '40s and '50's in his spare time. His current taste in music is Taylor Swift, but also the Finding Nemo soundtrack.
Despite the change of pace in his life, Young is appreciative for his roots and his home. He told USA Today that "I like the feeling of leaving, but I love coming back more. It's home; it's a good, quiet place to be."
Owl City will be here at Messiah College on February 13, 2010. Tickets can be purchased at the Ticket Office. Student tickets are $8 and general admission is $15.
Not bad for a kid who earned his first trip off of the continent after recording his hit song in his parents' basement.
Not bad at all for Messiah College either. Owl City will be performing in Brubaker Auditorium on February 13. Within the first ten days that tickets went on sale, over 90% of the tickets were sold.
Young's wild success was not predictable. The Owatonna, Minnesota native struggled socially in high school, devoting most of his free time to his acoustic guitar. After he graduated from high school in 2005, Young attended a community college and worked at a Coca-Cola bottling warehouse. He also took a job loading packages at UPS warehouse.
Just like high school, though, it was all about the music. After dropping out of college after a year and a half, Young began working in his parents' basement, dabbling in electronica music. In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, Young explained he had little experience with any of the software he worked on.
"I hadn't really delved into the world of programming and sequencing, and the endless roads that you can take via electronic music, so I thought it would be fun to take a stab at it. I got a sequencing program and wrote what turned out to be seven songs for an EP's worth of music," said Young.
Six months after Young put his first album Maybe I'm Dreaming on MySpace he quit his job at Coca-Cola to work solely on his music. After his first EP, Young put his record on iTunes in March 2008. Several labels were interested and he ultimately signed with Universal Republic.
Much of Owl City's buzz, however was born on the Internet. His music on Myspace has generated over 45 million plays and he has had over a million iTunes downloads. In July of this year, Young released Ocean Eyes, which has currently sold over 50,000 albums.
Young's success has has given a wealth of opportunities. He told USA Today that "growing up, we didn't have a lot of money to take vacations. I'd never seen the ocean until last year when I was visiting relatives in Connecticut."
Many music critics have compared Owl City to Ben Gibbard's The Postal Service for his mellow voice and synthesizer incorporation. Although Young admits listening, he told Entertainment Weekly his music was not particularly influenced by them.
"The more I hear people relating the two, the more I realize that they are pretty similar - even though that wasn't my initial goal or anything… I can totally see it now, but I didn't really then, for what it's worth."
Young was also heavily influenced by inspirations outside of the United States. "I listen to a lot of dance music from Europe and I really admire some of the great trance DJs and how they produce and mix music," he explained in an with Skin Magazine.
Young's hit song Fireflies was inspired by a meteor shower during a camping trip he took during the summer.
"I can remember sleeping out on a dock on the edge of this lake and looking up at the sky. There was a meteor shower that night. I remember thinking, what a cool idea of shooting stars being fireflies, and trying to translate that into music. That's what spurred it on. I was also influenced by the lack of sleep that tends to happen," Young told Entertainment Weekly.
Young keeps his imagination alive by feeding it with eclectic interests. He reads old children's books and watches movies from the '40s and '50's in his spare time. His current taste in music is Taylor Swift, but also the Finding Nemo soundtrack.
Despite the change of pace in his life, Young is appreciative for his roots and his home. He told USA Today that "I like the feeling of leaving, but I love coming back more. It's home; it's a good, quiet place to be."
Owl City will be here at Messiah College on February 13, 2010. Tickets can be purchased at the Ticket Office. Student tickets are $8 and general admission is $15.
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