Interview: Owl City

13 September 2011

Touring in support of his latest album All Things Bright And Beautiful, Owl City is looking forward to being back on the road.

We chatted to Adam Young about touring, his film music ambitions and the new record.

-Are you excited about being back in Europe?
Yeah, really excited. I was here about a year and a half ago, and unfortunately I was a bit sick, so I didn't do a lot of anything outside of lying in my bunk on the tour bus.

This time around, I'm as healthy as an ox! We've had a few days off, and it's been so cool to point my camera in every direction. I love everything about the UK to death, so it's great.

-So you're getting to see a lot of the cities rather than rushing around?
Yeah. A little bit more than last time. There's nothing I love more than to have a bit of extra time before sound-check every day to go out an explore. Even if it's just around the venue, it's awesome.

-Does that help life on the road, being able to do that?
Definitely. It does get a little bit mundane if every day is being here at this time, there at exactly this time, and you know what's gonna happen for the next two weeks. It gets a bit old, so just having this various spontaneous moments exploring and taking time for yourself, it's wonderful.

-Is touring something you prefer to being locked up in the studio?
Yeah, definitely. There is qualities about both that I do love. As long as there is a healthy balance between studio and life on the road...by the end of a long tour, there's nothing better than going hope and spending time in the studio.

Just letting your mind run wild, and the same at the end of making a record, there's nothing better than going out and touring. As long as there's both of them, I'm great.

-Apparently you used to get quite nervous going on stage. Is that still a problem, or are you over that?
You know, that definitely is still a thing for me! It's one of those things where if those pre-show butterflies ever went away completely, it would probably stop being as fun.

For a shy kid, there's always this moment before I walk out on stage where I'm thinking "I don't know if I can go out there and sing for 90 minutes!" Then at the end, it's like...I just did that, I poured my heart out.

I gave it my best, and even though it wasn't perfect, it was still so fullfilling and satisfying. As long as it keeps feeling that way, I'll want to do this as long as I can.

-On this UK tour you're playing Shepherd's Bush Empire. How does it feel to be playing to rooms that big?
It's so surreal for me. I'm playing this venue I've always heard about, ever since I was a little kid. It keeps me thinking...wow, is this real life? It keeps me rubbing my eyes every day and not taking any of this for granted.

-How was the US tour earlier this year?
It was great. It was a long stretch, but it was a lot of fun. It's always exciting to put out a new record at the top of a tour, and see progressively every night how kids start to know the words. As they learn the new songs, they sing louder every night. That's really endearing.

-You have some dates in Europe with some non-English-speaking countries, so how is it hearing those crowds sing back your lyrics?
That's such a thrill, to think about how in some places there's people who don't speak English very well, and yet they know the words to every song. It's very humbling.

-What can people expect from your live show?
I think overall the live show is a quaint, thematic evening, going hand-in-hand with the new album and the album cover, which is this English countryside, rolling hills.

We tried to create that on stage, so we've got fake trees, a big backdrop. We've got ambient recordings in the background, bird songs. It's a cool experience overall.

-Do you think it's important to make it a full show, rather than someone stood on a stage singing?
Yeah. When I first started, I was this kid by himself on stage with his laptop. I found early on that it was the most boring show you could ever watch! I try to make things a bit classy, more exciting.

-Shifting away from touring, how's the reaction been to your latest album?
So far, so good. It feels great to have it done, finished and out. It took me a long time.

I always forget how long it takes to make a record for one guy. It takes for ever, especially for a perfectionist like myself. It's good to have it out, and thus far people have responded well to it.

-Do you manage to retain full control over it, without too much influence from the label?
You know, surprisingly yeah. That was something I never expected when I first signed. I expected them to say...this is how it's going to be. Go away and do your thing, come back and make sure it lines up with our expectations.

It's been the opposite. They said go away, do your own thing, come back and we'll follow your lead.

-How does it compare to your earlier material?
It's kinda matured a little bit. These new songs sound older and wiser. There's a lot going on in terms of studio stuff, where myself as a producer...the more time you spend in the studio, the more you know what's going on. The more you get to know the geer and what not. Overall, the whole sound is polished up a bit.

-I was reading about Sky Sailing. Could you tell us a bit about that?
Yeah, that was a fun project. About 6 or 7 years ago I wrote this 12-song record that was acoustic guitar, piano and bass recording, less electronic.

That was the first experience I'd had as far as writing music at all. Two years ago I thought it'd be great to put this out, airbush it a bit, make sure the mixes are good and put it out. It was a fun thing to do.

-Could you see yourself doing something like that again, something more acoustic-based?
Yeah, I would love to see where that rollercoaster would take me. There's nothing planned yet, but who knows?

-You also did work on Legend of The Guardians last year. Would you ever consider going into film music a bit further than that?
That's definitely one of my dreams, for sure, to be able to work on film music. Whether that's assisting a composer, or maybe someday scoring an entire feature film, I would love to do that.

That's the way my mind tends to work, being able to crank out the music a bit faster than lyrics. If I was given a script and asked what it sounded like to me, I could run down to the studio and come up with that a lot faster than if I were to write lyrics.

-What do you have planned after the European tour?
After this tour, we've got a week off, and then we do three weeks in Asia. It'll be a fun trip, all these places I've never been. There's something special about going somewhere you've never been before. I'm so blessed to do this.