Commuter Breaks is Owen's first foray into sample-based electronic music. He had no idea what he was doing. Normally he plays guitar and talks about himself in the first person. For this EP, he decided to try something new–-somewhat under the influence of Panda Bear/Animal Collective–-and made these songs using the iPhone app Beatmaker. The whole thing was written and programmed in 2009 while either on a shuttle on the way to work or holding a baby.

Rebirth Of Salamander

These songs were written and recorded over the course of several years as we moved from California to Zürich, Switzerland and back. Near the beginning I picked up the new “instruments” that formed the core “band” for this apartment production: a sampler, a little 2-octave keyboard, a bottleneck slide, and a hollowbody electric guitar with a tiny amp simulator. In the nooks between traveling, studying German, and long days of work meetings, I managed to disentangle a pile of cables enough to make slow and steady progress toward this installment on the songwriting quest.

(Sometimes I Wish I Could Go To) Church (with You)

Sepia Bones

Sleep On The Way

Not Fooling Everyone

Two Holograms

It's Hard To Be A Star

Sea Glass

Ghosts Are Running

In 20 Years

Waking Life

Owen is a California songwriter who crafts 3-minute tunes about diverse topics like fear of cyborgs or 19th-century philosophers. On a firm foundation of front-porch guitar playing, he builds mini-symphonies of home electronic experiments. He’s on a lifelong quest in pursuit of the perfect guitar hook in the sky, the memorable melody whose hat is somewhat askew, and the fewest words that can conjure a maudlin tale.

Owen Otto

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