Synthpop sensation Adam Young has taken his music from his basement in the middle-of-nowhere America around the world at digital speed.
With his Owl City music project Young found a way to escape his insomnia by dreaming without going to sleep.
Residing in Owatonna, MN. -- a town comprised of almost enough people to fill the Gorge Amphitheatre -- Young was working at a Coca-Cola warehouse when his wasn't making music while living in his parents basement.
"My parents were away for the weekend, and wanting to be loud and make some noise I began writing versions of what became my first, self released CD, 'Of June,'" Young states in his press bio.
He put the songs on MySpace, Owl City went viral and Universal Republic came knocking.
Six million profile views and 25 million plays later, Young finds himself with a gold album, a double platinum single and sold out tours across the U.S., China and Japan. His 2009 major label debut full length, "Ocean Eyes" reached No. 1 on Billboard's Hot 100. The single, "Fireflies" is counted as the 24th most-downloaded song on iTunes of all time in a list released by Apple at the end of February.
While Young plays nearly all of the instruments for Owl City's recordings, mainly on synths, laptop and guitar, the live show now features a full band.
At Owl City's sold-out show in October at The Service Station in Spokane during his last national tour, Young was accompanied by a drummer, a violinist, a cellist, a keyboardist/vocalist and an off-stage guitarist. He has a similar lineup for his current tour. Breanna Duren, who sings on several of Owl City's recordings, is also part of the touring band.
Relient K's Matt Thiessen has toured with Owl City and appears on many recordings -- he sings backup vocals on "Fireflies" -- and Thiessen has stated in interviews that he and Young have started a side project called Goodbye Dubai.
Meanwhile, Owl City is scheduled to release a new album in the fall.
Despite Owl City's overwhelming MySpace popularity, substantial commercial success and generally positive critical response, there is an ongoing debate throughout the blogosphere regarding comparisons between Owl City and Postal Service -- a short lived side project that featured Ben Gibbard, from Bellingham-born indie giants Death Cab For Cutie.
Many critics have went as far as accusing Young of flat out ripping off Postal Service. Young has addressed the issue in several interviews, admitting similarities between the two, but denying that he copied Postal Service.
Owl City has partnered with American Red Cross for Haiti, encouraging fans to make donations through the "text Owl to 90999" campaign benefitting Red Cross relief efforts in Haiti.
Check the video panel to see footage of Owl City sold-out show at The Service Station in Spokane last fall.
Owl City performs with Lights and Paper Route on Wednesday at 6:40 p.m. at The Knitting Factory Concert House, 911 W. Sprague Ave. The show is sold out.
