Don’t arrive late to the Maroon 5 show or you’re going to miss Adam Young.
You might know Young by the musical moniker Owl City. Or maybe you heard his work as Sky Sailing. Names aside, arguably the best way to think about him is just a prolific electropop — let’s just say it — genius who has wowed critics from Rolling Stone all the way down the line — plus plenty of fellow musicians, too.
“It’s very humbling,” Young said of Taylor Swift being a fan — which she’s spelled out in Twitter posts — and her interest in recording with him. “It’s definitely a dream of mine. I can’t even imagine how busy she is with her new record [“Speak Now,” due Oct. 25], but it’s definitely being talked about.”
Hard to believe this musician who crosses musical formats like almost no other artist that readily comes to mind began his musical career thanks to insomnia. In just a few years, Young went from making music in the basement of his parents’ Minnesota home and posting it on MySpace to signing a record deal and touring the world.
After the release of “Ocean Eyes,” his platinum debut as Owl City, he brought another album to the label. “An Airplane Carried Me to Bed” was written and recorded by Young — as Sky Sailing — a few years ago.
“It was one of those surreal kind of opportunities that I had this record that was completely written and recorded three years ago before this whole Owl City thing happened,” he said. “This summer I knew I’d have a little more downtime than I did in the past, so it was a perfect opportunity. I went to the label … to see what they thought about putting it out as a different project.”
Before Young knew it, “Airplane” was in the final stages and was released last month.
Putting one in mind of the prolific hit makers of the past — including the Beatles and the Rolling Stones — Young continues to work on his next Owl City release. Unlike many artists, he is doing all of the technical part of the album — except for mastering it — himself.
“I’ve been working on it slowly but surely over the past few months,” Young said, speaking of engineering and producing the album. “[The technical part of recording] was pretty inspiring to me early on. … That is what draws me into it, the nerdy side of the process.”
And as far as the writing and early creativity for the album? Well, that goes back to sleepless nights.
“It is pretty much the same as it has always been,” he said. “The irony is that the nights I have trouble falling asleep night I feel most inspired. It’s a blessing and a curse.”
