Interview: Owl City Creates Light From Darkness

Youthink sits down with Owl City's Adam Young to talk about All Things Bright and Beautiful.

With a small chuckle, Adam Young, the one-man act known as Owl City, tells me over the phone that he’s in Kansas City on a sweltering day wearing a turtleneck sweater. His fashion choice and the weather may not agree, but Owl City’s third studio album, All Things Bright and Beautiful, is certainly agreeing with his fans. Following up the success of his 2009 album, Ocean Eyes, Young’s latest collection of songs stays true to Owl City’s synth-pop roots; however, traces of hip-hop and indie rock can be found throughout the feel-good album. Youthink recently caught up with Adam Young to chat about his latest album, his battle with insomnia and his relationship with Taylor Swift.

YT: With the success of your previous album, Ocean Eyes, did you feel any additional pressure while writing and recording All Things Bright and Beautiful?
AY: Yes, it was very good pressure for me, mainly because I do everything except for mastering. First and foremost, I wanted to make sure that the new album was heartfelt. [I didn't want] to be writing for Billboard, iTunes or anything like that.

YT: Your music is usually described as being very optimistic and the title of your new album reflects that. But how do songs such as Hospital Flowers and Alligator Sky fit in with this theme?
AY: Those songs are sort of rabbit holes on the album that is an overall optimistic listen from top to bottom. I definitely knew that I wanted a few places on the album that veered away from the excessively optimistic songs. Those added real[ness] to it, especially the song Hospital Flowers which I wrote from a more personal place, which I don’t normally do. I love the idea of writing from the imagination a lot more than pulling from my own personal experiences, mainly because I’m a shy kid.

YT: Your insomnia has actually played a large role in your songwriting process. Do you still suffer from it and does it still play a part in your songwriting?
AY: Yes, it’s still very much an issue and I fight with it. It’s both a blessing and a curse for me  because generally, like last night, I couldn’t sleep so I got on my laptop and started programming and writing a few little catchy synth hooks. Those might turn into songs on the next album.

YT: You just spoke about your shyness. How has your success in music impacted this shyness and what advice do you have for youth who are trying to break out of their shell?
AY: I'm an only child. I never had anyone to fight with while growing up and I always had to invent my own entertainment. The shyness thing, it's always been a part of who I am. I never tried to change that or fight [it] or anything. I've always been a quiet guy and it always bug me when people say: “How come you're such a shy guy? What's wrong with you?” That's kind of how I have always been wired. Suddenly, when I started touring and this whole crazy music thing happened to me, I tried to figure out how to do it. I don't love large groups of people, but the nature of what I do has me singing songs in large groups of people. Ultimately, doing it more and more makes me sort of a good actor in the way of putting on that one or two-hour actor mode and really enjoying it for what it is.

I've never been good at giving advice, but if I had to give advice to someone like me… don’t try to second guess the way you were made, as far as being more outgoing or introverted or whatever the case may be. Just stay true to who you are. It's a waste of time to try to act differently than what you really are. That's what I've learned over these two or three years.

YT: How did you feel about the fact that Taylor Swift wrote the song Enchanted about you?
AY: I was blown away when I heard the song… I stayed up all night and bought her new record. I added up all the hidden secret messages in her lyrics and added up my first name, the four letters of my first name. I remember I was blown away and very, very honoured that she’d write [about me]. It’s a beautiful song. Everybody in the world has asked me about it, but it’s cool. It’s a fun thing to be associated with. I really admire who she is and how she deals with life by writing music.

YT: Who would you like to collaborate with on future albums?
AY: [laughs] I have a funny answer that no one understands. Back in the ‘90s, Shaquille O’Neal made rap albums and they were hilarious. I probably would want to collaborate with him.

YT: You've been credited with the revival of synth-pop. What generated your interest in this music scene? And what was it like to collaborate with Canadian synth-pop artist Lights?
AY: The synth-pop thing found me. It was limited to the tools I had for one person, one artist, in front of a laptop. Electronic is the first place to turn in a lot of incidences in terms of an imaginary soundscape you want to create. I'm still kind of very new to it, but it's weird being associated with it – labelled as a pioneer of a new kind of generation of it. It's an honour. Working with Lights was really wonderful; I've known her for forever. She's a great person to work with.

YT: You said that you wanted your new album to sound bigger and to be more dynamic, why?
AY: It was kind of an innate next step, something I think [happened] after Ocean Eyes. I listened back to it before making this new album. I feel like Ocean Eyes was unfinished in terms of its overall cohesive, conclusive listen as one piece. For the new album, it felt like the right way to go. Make it older and wiser, the right follow-up to the first chapter of the story.

YT: On the album, you have a clip of President Ronald Reagan addressing the nation after the tragedy of the Space Shuttle Challenger. Why did you decide to include that?
AY: Yeah, it was six months before I was born. My parents always talked about it growing up. I remember being very connected to that incident through my parents. It is one of those very tragic memories that has been lost in the time continuum. I just want to pay respect to that on the album. There’s something very powerful about the whole story. I just let my mind run to how it would be if I was on that ship and it went up in flames. What would I be thinking? How would I look back upon my life if I was taken out of this world. Ultimately, I wanted to bring this to light.

YT: When we spoke to you a year ago, you said that your ultimate goal for your music career was to be the first artist to perform on a live TV show broadcasted from the moon. Has this ultimate goal changed?
AY: [laughs] No, it’s still definitely on top of the list. It hasn’t happened yet, but I’ll let you know how it goes.