Owl City fans (by Chris Lynch)

Absolute Punk: I also read online that when you are a fan of Botch, that seems a little different especially for the music that you make. What kind of role do you feel a heavy band like them play on your music? Do you think you will ever try out heavier music or are you going to stick to the softer stuff for now?

Adam "Owl City" Young: I used to play drums in a heavy band called Isle, largely influence by stuff like Botch, Pelican, Neurosis, Isis. Even though bands like that are generally on the opposite side of the spectrum from the music I put out, I think the thing that inspires me still comes though -- the idea of becoming completely lost in the sound. The idea that imagery can be merely suggestive but not so subjective as to tell you how or what to think. It's far more about what the music says to you rather than somebody telling you how to feel. That's really interesting to me...

...Absolute Punk: You also have listed Mogwai as a musical influence, which shows that you are into a wide array of musical tastes. Do you feel like people overlook that based on your music output?

Adam "Owl City" Young: It's funny how a lot of people might assume a given artist only listens to the kind of music he/she creates. That certainly may be the case for some, but for me, it's nearly the opposite. I have a hard time truly enjoying anything I hear on pop radio, or even pop music in general. It's always been tough for me to draw any kind of inspiration from "conventional" music so to speak. Blame it on the stuff I listened to in high school, but for some reason bands like Mogwai or Rachel's or Telefon Tel Aviv are just way more interesting. They payoff is greater. Their songs hold a mystique that three and a half minute radio singles, in my opinion, often tend to lack. Therein was an exciting challenge when I began creating music for Owl City. It was pop music. I'd never made pop music before, I didn't even listen to it, but I wanted to create it because it was new.

Absolute Punk: You also have a tour coming up with Maroon 5 in about a week, and then John Mayer after that. How excited are you for that?

Adam "Owl City" Young: It'll be new territory and I'm excited to see how touring works at that level. I don't know much about either band but I'm looking forward to the tour to say the least.

The pop star-heavy schedule for this year's free Toyota-sponsored Today Show concerts that bring screaming fans and tourists to Rockfeller Plaza on Friday mornings at 7am, has been announced. The shows kick off with Sting on May 14th (that one should be fairly subdued), and continue with people that include Maroon 5, Maxwell, Lady Gaga, Ke$ha, Justin Bieber (this one will be completely nuts), ....Full lineup, more info and and other Sting shows below...

Continue reading "2010 Today Show Rockefeller Plaza concert lineup, Sting, etc"

The promoter of the more than 30 concerts scheduled for PNC Bank Arts Center this summer has banned tailgating at five of the events, hoping to reduce alcohol consumption, especially underage drinking.

High-ranking representatives of Live Nation Corp., the promoter, told the Senate Legislative Oversight Committee in Trenton today tailgating will not be permitted rock concerts by John Mayer, OAR, 311, Beatstock and a day-long rock festival tagged Projekt Revolution. There will be no Ozzfest tour this year.

Live Nation, which has nine years remaining on a seemingly ironclad 20-year contract to present concerts at the state-owned amphitheater, the New Jersey Turnpike Authority, and the State Police want to prevent a repeat of the last year's concert season when 2 teenagers died, and 615 people were arrested, mainly for heavy drinking, including 437 who were 20 years old or younger at 34 concerts. [NJ.com]

Video from last night's episode of Saturday Night Live below.....

Continue reading "Jack Johnson/Dave Matthews/John Mayer - SNL spoof (video)"

Continue reading "The Police & Elvis Costello - 2008 Tour Dates"

note: Super Tuesday is today, so don't forget to vote.

Wilco and Obama (CRED)

Music blog Hard To Find A Friend contacted a few musicians & industry people, and not surprisingly found out most of them were voting for Obama. Anyone who saw Joanna Newsom at BAM last week knows what she thinks, and Morrissey wears it on his shirt. Craig Wedren, Wilco, The Grateful Dead, and some comedians have also let us know where they stand.

The Guardian also has an article on this very subject today. They report that.....

...On the Republican side... there are not very many famous activist musicians. Ted Nugent, he who once said "We should Nagasaki [Iraq]" has turned out in favour of conservative Mike Huckabee, while moderate John McCain will have Burt Bacharach tickling his ivories. Libertarian long-shot Ron Paul is backed by Krist Novoselic, formerly of Nirvana. Country-singer Pat Boone has loaned his septuagenarian twang to the campaign of Mitt Romney, who can also count on the help of fellow Mormons Donny and Marie Osmond....

Continue reading "who are musicians voting for on Super Tuesday?"

The following short-free-televised shows take place at 7am in Bryant Park in NYC....

Continue reading "Good Morning America 2007 Concert Series"