Talking nonsense with Owl City's Adam Young

Adam Young doesn't want to talk. No live interviews, no phone interviews. Under the moniker Owl City and over the Internet, the 23-year-old from Owatonna has become one of the biggest names in electronic pop. Mostly by word-of-mouth and without media support or live gigs, his MySpace page has been viewed over 35 million times, and his three albums (Of June, Maybe I’m Dreaming, and this year’s Ocean Eyes) have been downloaded over 33,000 times. With that kind of success online, it makes a certain amount of sense that Young is more comfortable in the cyber world, pushing for an e-mail interview.

An e-mail exchange with Young, though, is kind of like trying to have a sincere discussion with a texting teenager. In the space of a single answer, Young swung from succinct facts to cartoonish silliness. When asked what inspired him to start writing music, he replied that he “started making music partly out of boredom, partly for fun, and partly because I once began making a hummus sandwich and realized there wasn't any Swiss cheese in the fridge. I was furious so I wrote a song called 'Hello Seattle.'” He also wrote that he aspired to sit “on the couch in a wrestling singlet, eating donuts and watching Monday Night Raw on my laptop that has a huge scratch on the screen. I plan on being overweight, punching holes in the walls whenever the Patriots lose, and listening to a ridiculous amount of speed metal in 10 years.”

Young’s line to reporters isn’t unique to The A.V. Club's conversation. When the single “Strawberry Avalanche” was released exclusively to SPIN this summer, he told the magazine's writers that the inspiration for the tune came from watching an avalanche and eating Cheerios during a trip to Tibet. When asked for the inspiration behind the Owl City name, Young told us that he “grew up on a riverboat and sailed up and down the Mississippi for 15 years. My favorite place in the whole world is a little spot in the middle of nowhere on the Missouri border where the river goes around a bend and there's a little leafy island CRAMMED full of owls.” Elsewhere, though, he has said that the inspiration came from a Scottish castle full of owls. Sure, Bob Dylan told tall tales about his past too, but he came up in an age before everything was on the Internet, and Young, for all his talents, is no Dylan.

Owl City is often—and rightfully—compared to The Postal Service, as Young seems indebted to both Ben Gibbard (for the crooning, melancholic vocals) and Jimmy Tamborello (for the glitchy mix of synthesizers, peppy beats, and pop melodies). Young, however, claims to be more influenced by European dance music and bands like Boards Of Canada, Stars Of The Lid, and Thomas Koner. Asked to describe his favorite music, he said “none of them would have lyrics, they'd all be 15-minute ambient drones and they would bore you out of your mind.” He went on to add with finality, “I've never heard of The Postal Service.”

The tongue-waggling facetiousness may be an appeal to puerile sensibilities, but it's contradicted by Young’s commentary on his MySpace blog, where he effusively thanks fans and God for the opportunity to be doing what he's doing. His writing there is starstruck and hopeful, not attempting to pose as cool or elusive: "If by chance you ever feel as though you've come to know these songs, please consider yourself a friend of mine because in a manner of speaking, you know me. This music is my heart and soul. This is who I am." Young also seems to be growing into his own as a live performer. Although he stated in our e-mail interview that “performing live is like playing one-on-one against Shaquille O'Neal," he's on the road with a full band for a sold-out tour, already earning positive marks from the Village Voice for a show at New York's Bowery Ballroom. Here’s hoping it's the funny, giddy, sweet incarnation of Young who takes the stage at the Cabooze on Saturday, not the posturing one.