Owl City: Minnesota’s Own Adam Young

By Jeannette Madden
Staff Writer

Owl City, the biggest thing to come out of Owatonna, Minn., since Har Mar Superstar, played two sold-out shows in Minneapolis on May 1. Adam Young, the twenty-something brain child behind Owl City, created his electronic pop music in the basement of his parent’s home as a way of dealing with his insomnia while he worked loading trucks for Coca Cola.

Young used his computer and various instruments to compose his music and then uploaded his songs to MySpace. As his popularity increased, he caught the ear of the recording industry and eventually signed a deal with Universal Republic in 2009. Young’s most popular songs include “Vanilla Twilight,” “Hello Seattle,” and of course, his biggest hit “Fireflies,” from his release “Ocean Eyes,” which became the most downloaded song on iTunes.

An Owl City performance is much different than expected. First, it is packed to capacity with screaming fans. And not your ordinary group of seat-sitting folks waiting for one guy to come out and start playing the keyboard, either. There are guys and girls, teenagers and adults, going crazy as soon as the lights go down and the drum solo starts.

And out comes Adam Young. Elfin, with his straight hair falling over his face, wearing black skinnies, a white dress shirt and a skinny tie, he is cute as heck as he dances around the stage, occasionally stopping to say something sweetly into the microphone, like his favorite part of coming home to Minnesota is Taco John’s and home really is where the heart is. Someone said that two years ago his shows consisted of him walking onstage, sitting down and singing, thanking whoever came to see him and running for the exit. This is not the case now. He is made to perform, keeping every eye on him even when the spotlight is on someone else.

Musicians onstage include a violinist, a cellist, two keyboardists (including Burnsville, Minn. vocalist Breanne Düren), a drummer and Young, who also plays guitar. If the audience expects boring, forget it. The show includes a variety of music, with Owl City’s slower tunes mixed with a rocking light show to keep the fans excited. And for those that think all of Owl City’s songs sound the same, the addition of the cello and violin add much-needed texture and richness, giving every song an originality and depth only heard live.

Because Minnesota is Young’s home, he agreed to answer a few questions for HPR prior to his May 1 show and give his fans a glimpse into the mind of Owl City:

High Plains Reader: Are you going to write an ode to Owatonna, or any other city in Minnesota, like you did for Seattle?

Adam Young: Perhaps!

HPR: Was your parent’s basement really “unkempt,” like it says in your bio? Or was it like most Minnesota basements—the TV, older sectional, 1/2 bath, deer antlers on the wall, beer signs, maybe a homemade computer room…

AY: Well, thankfully my parents don’t drink so I never had to look at beer signs on the walls, and our family has always found hunting a pretty barbaric, ruthless, obscene thing, so no antlers either. It’s just one small unfinished room with cement walls, a loud furnace, and a sump pump in the corner. When I lived there, I made it pretty cozy.

HPR: You’ve moved out of your parent’s place in Owatonna. Was that the most awesome thing ever? I’m assuming you are no longer in Owatonna ...or are you?

AY: Yes, I’m still in Owatonna these days. It was a big feeling, suddenly having a place of my own, but one that I quickly grew to love. Owatonna is definitely the place for me right now.

HPR: What is the absolute best part of being Owl City?

AY: The owl pellets.

HPR: Where is your favorite place to shop in Minnesota?

AY: Uh, WalMart.

HPR: Is there anything in particular that you would like to say to the good folks of Minnesota?

AY: I would like to say, I’ve never thrown my mashed potatoes up against the wall, nor have I ever painted daisies on a big red rubber ball. I’ve also never sniffed a stink bunk. That is all.

Owl City is currently touring in Germany.

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