Owl City to open for John Mayer

A few years ago, Adam Young was writing music in his parents' basement. Now the synth-pop artist's career is skyrocketing and he goes by the name Owl City.

Young's electro-pop tunes quickly became Internet hits, and his 2009 CD, Ocean Eyes cemented his place in mainstream music.

That's why Young scored the prestigious opening slot for John Mayer at Red Rocks on Wednesday night. This will be a great show to close out the summer.

Young's already looking ahead to a new CD and more musical adventures as Owl City.

"My life has changed by leaps and bounds, but only in regard to travel," Young said. "When I'm at home, nothing has really changed -- except the pantry is full of canned food instead of Ramen noodles.

"I was blessed to tour China, Japan, Australia, the UK and a bit of Europe. I must say, I favor Waikiki Beach and the Great Wall of China out of the things I've been fortunate enough to lay my eyes on over the past two years."

Young isn't letting a few hit tunes stop his progress and he's already working on a follow-up album to Ocean Eyes.

"Making a record is a bit of a laborious process, but in a healthy way," Young said. "I do everything aside from mastering, so it's all about time management and making sure things don't feel rushed or forced.

"I always forget how much work it takes to make a record, but once it's all put together, it's tremendously rewarding and worth every minute."

Owl City is just one of Young's projects.

The busy artist also operates an acoustic project called Sky Sailing, and he's been letting fans sample that music online.

"Sky Sailing is a lot more organic in that acoustic instruments are featured throughout," Young said. "No, synths, drum loops, heavy sequencing was done on An Airplane Carried Me to Bed. There's talk of a Sky Sailing U.S. tour at some point in 2011."

That's not all.

Young doesn't sit still for long, so the artist also released a tour documentary called "Road Stories."

"It portrays a taste of what my touring is like, and life on the road for myself and the crew," Young said. "I'm generally pretty afraid of cameras, but the documentary was a lot of fun to be a part of and I think it captures what we do perfectly."

Owl City's career is definitely flying, but Young is staying grounded with all his successes.

"I try to take things one day at a time," Young said. "I don't have a five-year plans or anything. I just think in terms of available time and what I'm most passionate about using that time to benefit."