Hedwig and the melancholy bliss

Everyone seems to have friends who sit in their basement late into the night, fiddling with Pro Tools or GarageBand, creating what they consider the future of music, and who, no matter what time it is when they finish said musical creation, will send the obligatory ‘come check this out’ text. Adam Young is one of those friends.

Except, unlike your friends, Young’s combination of dreamlike — yet happy — lyrics and melodies has turned what began as a hobby during his downtime working at a warehouse into a bona fide music career.

Owl City, the name of Young’s project, and its synth-pop sound has been drawing comparisons to Ben Gibbard’s work in The Postal Service, but Young’s musical inspiration for the project has come in a more abstract form.

“Wordless music endlessly inspires me,” Young wrote in an e-mail, citing “a lot of experimental abstract music … a lot of Boards of Canada, Unwed Sailor and Hammock” as his muses.

But it’s not just music that inspires this sonic electronic dreamscape — Young has a great fondness for the popular 1996 video game Wave Race 64.

“There’s something amazing about that game,” Young explained. “It’s the nerdiest thing imaginable but I really wish I lived in this level called Dolphin Park featured in Wave Race 64. The aesthetic/mood/feel looks like the way I want Owl City to sound.”

So with all those inspirations in mind, Owl City took form. The project was small in the beginning; Young recorded songs in his basement and then posted those songs on his MySpace. But then his budding career took a turn that most early careers don’t — he got noticed.

Owl City self-released the Of June EP in 2007, which found online acclaim by way of the frequently-played lead track “Hello Seattle.” Young followed the EP by self-releasing Maybe I’m Dreaming in 2008. This album too, garnered much attention for Young’s burgeoning project, so much so that he signed a deal with Universal to release his third record.

“I kept asking myself what my goal for Owl City was at the end of the day,” Young said, explaining why he stopped self-releasing material. “And the answer kept coming back to the idea of wanting to share my art with as many people as are willing to listen. The label came along and that was that.”

The result of the record deal was Ocean Eyes, which he released at the end of July.

“I wasn’t sure what to expect, but the response thus far has been breathtaking,” he added.

And, really, “breathtaking” is just about the perfect word to describe the response to an album recorded in a basement in Owatonna, Minn.

“Honestly, [the recording process] didn’t change at all,” Young said. “I made the Universal record the same way I made my first two independent records — in my basement.”

Well, let’s start handing out the drinking water in Owatonna, because Ocean Eyes looks to be a certified hit. The album, so far, has peaked at No. 27 on the Billboard 200 chart, and for the week of Sept. 12, it has a solid showing at No. 78.

But what may be the biggest sign of hope for commercial success is the album’s single, “Fireflies,” hitting No. 94 on the Billboard Hot 100. The song is charting even higher on Alternative Rock radio stations and is beginning to see airtime on Top 20 stations — a fact that surprises Young himself.

“I [had] absolutely no idea that song would be as well-received as it’s been. [It’s] completely thrilling,” he said.

And now, Young is taking his show on the road, and in a big way. His North American tour hits 36 cities in two months, including already sold-out performances in Boston, New York, Los Angeles and, yes, Washington.

The always-lively Young describes his excitement for these sold-out shows as making him “feel like eating Taco Bell and not wearing my seatbelt.”

But Young’s joking aside, the ability for Owl City to sell out shows months in advance is yet another amazing feat considering that his first live performance was this past February.
“I wasn’t sure how much I’d like playing live,” Young described. “But [now that I’ve been] touring for a few months, I honestly really enjoy it.”

Well, let’s hope he does. Because at the rate Owl City is going, he won’t be stopping any time soon.

Owl City rolls into the Rock N Roll Hotel in Washington Saturday night. Doors open at 6:30 p.m. Tickets are sold out.

klucas@umdbk.com