owlcitynewzealand: INTERVIEW: A FORT TIME WITH OWL CITY FRONTMAN ADAM YOUNG. OWL CITY frontman ADAM YOUNG is running on two hours of sleep. After flying all night from Indonesia - with a ridiculously long layover in Perth, of all places - he still found time to conduct a live Twitter Q&A chat with his fans, before finding himself sitting inside a Hobbit-themed fort at our interview. “…[Demi Lovato] she’s so talented! And when you listen to someone sing from inside their head, their same mix, and you listen to their voice as loud as they like it, or the track of the band as low as they like it, you can really hear all of the nuances and the mistakes if there are any. And there were like, no mistakes…” COUP DE MAIN: This is your third visit to New Zealand! Are you happy to be back here again?OWL CITY - ADAM YOUNG: Yeah it’s super fun! I’m really tired. <laughs> But it’s good to be here. CDM: We heard that you were feeling a bit under the weather, so we brought you this cake-pop of your face. It’s edible!OWL CITY: Oh wow, amazing! Thank you - very cool. CDM: You seem to have a pretty strong writing partnership with [Relient K frontman] Matt Thiessen, do you think your singles ‘Fireflies’ and ‘Good Time’ would sound different without him?OWL CITY: Yeah, I do. I think he and I are kind of the same guy - we finish each other’s sentences and when I have to write with somebody, he’s the first guy I go to. He’s awesome to write with - I really like what he does and he’s an amazing artist with a career of his own you know, and I think he should have a lot more credit than he’s given. Yeah, he’s a good guy to know. CDM: Agreed. Here, have a bag of jaffas.OWL CITY: Oh wow, thank you. I’ve never heard of these - they look like those peanut butter M&M’s. CDM: They don’t quite taste the same, but they may help energise you! Why did you decide to ask Carly Rae Jepsen to sing on ‘Good Time’? How did that duet come about?OWL CITY: She was the one and only on my list of people I wanted to get to sing on a song - and yeah, I dunno. I don’t think it could’ve been anyone else. I think if it had to have been anybody else, I don’t think I would’ve done it. I think if I would have asked her and she’d said no, I would’ve been like: “Oh I’ll rewrite it and sing myself.” Or figure something else out. Yeah, I was really blessed to work with her, she’s great. OWL CITY ‘DREAMS AND DISASTERS’… CDM: What was it like working with [Blink-182’s] Mark Hoppus on your song ‘Dementia’?OWL CITY: Really cool for me - I’ve been a big fan of Mark for a long time and the stuff he’s been involved with. I didn’t expect it to all happen and come through - because he doesn’t owe me anything and he’s on another level - but he agreed to do it, and it was heaps fun. CDM: For having awesome guest-stars on your latest album ‘The Midsummer Station’, you win three more bags of candy! Snowballs, chocolate fish, and pineapple lumps.OWL CITY: Wow, thank you! Awesome, snowballs. CDM: Why have you decided to no longer tour with an accompanying violinist and cellist anymore?OWL CITY: That was kind of a change that needed to happen - I loved having the strings and those two are amazing people, but it felt like it was time to try a different approach just to the live thing. I wanted to get a little more guitar - features that I can’t play that well - I was looking to have someone who could play really good guitar on stage so we got a new guy, Jasper, who’s amazing. And yeah, it was just something new. There’s more guitar on the [new] record, so I wanted to try and translate that live. CDM: So it’s not quite an owl, but it’s sort of a New Zealand version, being nocturnal and feathery… we’ve adopted you a kiwi bird from the Auckland Zoo! It’s our national bird.OWL CITY: Really? Whoahhh, awesome! CDM: You’re now a father.OWL CITY: I’m now a father - thank you! So cool. ‘THE MIDSUMMER STATION’ BOARD GAME… CDM: What was it like touring with Demi Lovato earlier this year?OWL CITY: That’s a good question, it was cool! I didn’t get to see her very much but we said ‘hi’ a couple of times, and she seemed very nice and she’s a great singer. I figured out how to… after we played our show, I kept my… we wear these little wireless belt-packs, and those hook into your in-ear monitors, and I kept mine and didn’t give it back after the show so I could listen to her - her performance - her mix in her ears, in my ears, down in my dressing room. So I just sat on the couch listening to her set - she’s so talented! And when you listen to someone sing from inside their head, their same mix, and you listen to their voice as loud as they like it, or the track of the band as low as they like it, you can really hear all of the nuances and the mistakes if there are any. And there were like, no mistakes - she is like a machine. So yeah, it was super cool. CDM: Rad. For loving Demi Lovato as much as we do, you win a Hobbit prize-pack!OWL CITY: Wow! Thank you, that’s so cool - you guys are awesome. CDM: You’re very welcome. Lastly, do you have a message for your New Zealand fans?OWL CITY: It’s so cool to come back for very many reasons, but it’s our third time here and I just want to say thank you for your support and for sticking with me for ah, what is it… four, five years now? I hope to keep doing this for as long as I can, and keep coming back as much as I can, so thank you very much for listening and see you soon! OWL CITY’s latest album ‘The Midsummer Station’ is out now - featuring the singles ’Shooting Star’ and‘Good Time’. Click HERE to purchase via iTunes.
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owlcitynewzealand:

INTERVIEW: A FORT TIME WITH OWL CITY FRONTMAN ADAM YOUNG.

OWL CITY frontman ADAM YOUNG is running on two hours of sleep. After flying all night from Indonesia - with a ridiculously long layover in Perth, of all places - he still found time to conduct a live Twitter Q&A chat with his fans, before finding himself sitting inside a Hobbit-themed fort at our interview.

“…[Demi Lovato] she’s so talented! And when you listen to someone sing from inside their head, their same mix, and you listen to their voice as loud as they like it, or the track of the band as low as they like it, you can really hear all of the nuances and the mistakes if there are any. And there were like, no mistakes…”

COUP DE MAIN: This is your third visit to New Zealand! Are you happy to be back here again?
OWL CITY - ADAM YOUNG: Yeah it’s super fun! I’m really tired. <laughs> But it’s good to be here.

CDM: We heard that you were feeling a bit under the weather, so we brought you this cake-pop of your face. It’s edible!
OWL CITY: Oh wow, amazing! Thank you - very cool.

CDM: You seem to have a pretty strong writing partnership with [Relient K frontman] Matt Thiessen, do you think your singles ‘Fireflies’ and ‘Good Time’ would sound different without him?
OWL CITY: Yeah, I do. I think he and I are kind of the same guy - we finish each other’s sentences and when I have to write with somebody, he’s the first guy I go to. He’s awesome to write with - I really like what he does and he’s an amazing artist with a career of his own you know, and I think he should have a lot more credit than he’s given. Yeah, he’s a good guy to know.

CDM: Agreed. Here, have a bag of jaffas.
OWL CITY: Oh wow, thank you. I’ve never heard of these - they look like those peanut butter M&M’s.

CDM: They don’t quite taste the same, but they may help energise you! Why did you decide to ask Carly Rae Jepsen to sing on ‘Good Time’? How did that duet come about?
OWL CITY: She was the one and only on my list of people I wanted to get to sing on a song - and yeah, I dunno. I don’t think it could’ve been anyone else. I think if it had to have been anybody else, I don’t think I would’ve done it. I think if I would have asked her and she’d said no, I would’ve been like: “Oh I’ll rewrite it and sing myself.” Or figure something else out. Yeah, I was really blessed to work with her, she’s great.

OWL CITY ‘DREAMS AND DISASTERS’…

CDM: What was it like working with [Blink-182’s] Mark Hoppus on your song ‘Dementia’?
OWL CITY: Really cool for me - I’ve been a big fan of Mark for a long time and the stuff he’s been involved with. I didn’t expect it to all happen and come through - because he doesn’t owe me anything and he’s on another level - but he agreed to do it, and it was heaps fun.

CDM: For having awesome guest-stars on your latest album ‘The Midsummer Station’, you win three more bags of candy! Snowballs, chocolate fish, and pineapple lumps.
OWL CITY: Wow, thank you! Awesome, snowballs.

CDM: Why have you decided to no longer tour with an accompanying violinist and cellist anymore?
OWL CITY: That was kind of a change that needed to happen - I loved having the strings and those two are amazing people, but it felt like it was time to try a different approach just to the live thing. I wanted to get a little more guitar - features that I can’t play that well - I was looking to have someone who could play really good guitar on stage so we got a new guy, Jasper, who’s amazing. And yeah, it was just something new. There’s more guitar on the [new] record, so I wanted to try and translate that live.

CDM: So it’s not quite an owl, but it’s sort of a New Zealand version, being nocturnal and feathery… we’ve adopted you a kiwi bird from the Auckland Zoo! It’s our national bird.
OWL CITY: Really? Whoahhh, awesome!

CDM: You’re now a father.
OWL CITY: I’m now a father - thank you! So cool.

‘THE MIDSUMMER STATION’ BOARD GAME…

CDM: What was it like touring with Demi Lovato earlier this year?
OWL CITY: That’s a good question, it was cool! I didn’t get to see her very much but we said ‘hi’ a couple of times, and she seemed very nice and she’s a great singer. I figured out how to… after we played our show, I kept my… we wear these little wireless belt-packs, and those hook into your in-ear monitors, and I kept mine and didn’t give it back after the show so I could listen to her - her performance - her mix in her ears, in my ears, down in my dressing room. So I just sat on the couch listening to her set - she’s so talented! And when you listen to someone sing from inside their head, their same mix, and you listen to their voice as loud as they like it, or the track of the band as low as they like it, you can really hear all of the nuances and the mistakes if there are any. And there were like, no mistakes - she is like a machine. So yeah, it was super cool.

CDM: Rad. For loving Demi Lovato as much as we do, you win a Hobbit prize-pack!
OWL CITY: Wow! Thank you, that’s so cool - you guys are awesome.

CDM: You’re very welcome. Lastly, do you have a message for your New Zealand fans?
OWL CITY: It’s so cool to come back for very many reasons, but it’s our third time here and I just want to say thank you for your support and for sticking with me for ah, what is it… four, five years now? I hope to keep doing this for as long as I can, and keep coming back as much as I can, so thank you very much for listening and see you soon!

OWL CITY’s latest album ‘The Midsummer Station’ is out now - featuring the singles ’Shooting Star’ and‘Good Time’. Click HERE to purchase via iTunes.