Owl City swoops in to conquer

Fed up with being unable to sleep, Adam Young decided to spend his nights productively

He converted his parent's basement in Owatonna, Minnesota into a studio and in 2007, started his one-man-band project, Owl City. A songwriter, singer, programmer, keyboardist, bassist, guitarist, drummer, accordion and synthesiser player, Young has issued three studio albums and is known for his viral hits "Firefly", "Deer in the Headlights" and "Galaxies".

He chatted with us just before his show at the Silverlake Music Festival.

What did you grow up listening to?

I grew up listening to Enya; she really influenced my style. And I also listened to some rock music.

You already enjoyed quite a big fan base from MySpace. Why did you decide to go with a label?

When I put my music online, I had direct contact with the listeners. They'd ask me how I made a particular sound, or how I put it all together. And that was a nice simplicity of being by myself. At the same time, though, I felt that having the relation with a record company would help my music to get to even more people.

Still determined to go solo?

I started on my own and I didn't really know anyone who could play an instrument, so I just did it from the resources that I had at the time. And I embraced the idea of creating music on my own, and somehow never thought of having other people. The best case scenario is that I get to tour with the best musicians. So at home I'm alone, but on the road I'm with my best friends and tour mates.

Do you like the touring band's versions of your music?

I don't generally tell them how to play and I never ask them not to play it the way they want to. I'm very used to my own sounds when I'm recording or working on my music, but when it comes to playing live, you need the energy and diversity of the musicians to make it work. And as I said they're great musicians, so it works out fine for me.

Is it a lot of pressure handling the music making on your own?

Ninety-five percent of the pressure is what I put on myself. I tend to force myself to work, actually, and I often ask myself "is this the best song or record I can do?" and sometimes I care too much about it. But I don't thrive for perfection or anything; I just think that a song is never really finished. Normally I just take my time, and make sure I'm really happy about my music.

How do you see yourself five years from now?

I'm really looking forward to it, and I hope to keep doing this for as long as I can. I'm not the kind of guy who always comes up with a plan; I'll just keep writing.