Since first breaking onto the alt-pop scene in 2007, Owl City has built a global following on the strength of his heart-on-sleeve songwriting and endlessly inventive sound. Along with earning a monumental hit with the diamond-certified “Fireflies”—a 2009 release that reached No. 1 in 26 countries—the Minnesota-bred artist otherwise known as Adam Young has made waves with smash singles like the double-platinum “Good Time” feat. Carly Rae Jepsen and brought his exuberant live set to sold-out shows around the world. With total album sales of over three million and single sales surpassing 20 million globally, Owl City has now delivered the highly anticipated new album Coco Moon: a wildly imaginative body of work revealing his deepened devotion to the strange magic of creativity.

I am a musician (guitars, synths, samples, vocals) who has dabbled in everything from alt country to indie rock to electronic music. Lately, I've been interested in what I call psychedelic folk music - mostly acoustic with little flourishes of effects and synths - and have done some demos to that effect. Maybe its just my version of alt country.

There are lots of collaborators on this page - and the songs range in quality from Lofi demos and home recordings to studio recordings. There is about ten years worth of music on here - some of the older stuff is pretty amateurish.

If you like what you hear, I'd like to find a singer/musician to collaborate with up here in the DFWA-Z area - maybe work on originals together and play out some.

Some of my favorite bands are Radiohead, the Pixies, Wilco, Grizzly Bear, Moby, Gang of Four, LCD Soundsystem, U2, 1980s new wave, the Beatles, Stones, etc., and you'll hear a lot of those influences in my music.

Equipment: My primary instruments are a Gibson Hummingbird, Gibson J45, Takamine EF341sc and a Korg Microsynth - and any 52 style Telecaster and Gibson Les Paul Special with P90s I can get my hands on. There are tons of guitars, amps, and effects used on these songs - everything from a Gibson RD to Fender Strats to a Takamine Glenn Frey. For amps, I stick with Vox AC15s and 30s, and Fender Deluxe Reverbs, Champs, and Blues Juniors. In the studio (The Storms songs) the recording is done with ProTools. At home, I mostly use Sony Acid Pro for the more electronic stuff and Audacity for the demos. I'm also a big fan of the POD 2.0 by Line 6, and you'll hear a ton of its amp modeling sounds on here.

Enjoy!

Josh Garrels is a singer-songwriter from Portland, OR where he lives with his wife Michelle and their three children.

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