Owl City talks Fireflies and that Postal Service comparison

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Is it a rip off? "My dad was a mail carrier…"

"Hello Minnesota!": check back tomorrow for the full Owl City interview
"Hello Minnesota!": check back tomorrow for the full Owl City interview (Image credit: Robb D. Cohen./Retna Ltd./Corbis)

With Fireflies, Owl City scored a number one, worldwide acclaim and a rather sizeable comparison to The Postal Service (Death Cab For Cutie's Ben Gibbard's electronica outfit) - see the many cries of 'rip off!' from fans of the latter, and bystanders innocently questioning whether Owl City is, in fact, the same guy.

It's not. Owl City is Adam Young - the Minnesotan bedroom producer-turned-electro-pop starlet who, while admitting to being a Death Cab fan (via EW), claimed he never really 'got into' The Postal Service until after the comparisons were made.

Tomorrow on MusicRadar you'll find our exclusive interview with Adam, who talks us through his hit-making studio setup. While we concentrate on gear, there was also a question we just had to ask…

MusicRadar: I have to ask about the early slamming you got from some critics, especially Pitchfork, comparing you to The Postal Service. Unfair? Do you hear why they might lump you together? Are you totally sick of the comparisons and wish people could just move on?

"Owl City: My dad totally used to be a mail carrier and he got to drive around one of those sweet trucks with the steering wheel on the wrong side."

Sounds like Adam is a bit sick of this particular line of questioning so we'll leave him be and get back to talking gear. Check back tomorrow for the full interview.

Tom Porter

Tom Porter worked on MusicRadar from its mid-2007 launch date to 2011, covering a range of music and music making topics, across features, gear news, reviews, interviews and more. A regular NAMM-goer back in the day, Tom now resides permanently in Los Angeles, where he's doing rather well at the Internet Movie Database (IMDB).