Owl City out of the shadows and taking center stage

Adam Young started the Owl City music project because he couldn't sleep.

Now, the 27-year-old from Minnesota in the United States, is a multi-platinum selling singer-songwriter, with the songs he has uploaded to the Internet since 2007 having been bought online tens of millions of times by fans around the world.

Young will embark on his second tour of China in August, playing songs from his new album, the third installment of the Owl City project, The Midsummer Station. The first show will take place on Aug 21 at the Mixing Room and Muse in Mercedes-Benz Arena in Shanghai.

"Asia has always been really good to me and it's one of my favorite places to visit," Young said in an e-mail interview with China Daily. "I am so excited to come back since it has been a while since I've been there."

The last time Owl City toured China was in 2009 and the upcoming Shanghai gig is expected to sell out.

"They are masters of the modern day pop songs," says Michael Craig Enoch, general manager of the Mercedes-Benz Arena in Shanghai. "Just like all great song writers, Owl City creates catchy, unique and instantly memorable feel-good songs."

Young began creating music on his laptop, and recording it in his parents' basement while suffering from insomnia. Young was working as a truck loader in his hometown of Owatonna, when he started to upload his music to Myspace and later iTunes.

In 2008, his first full-length album Maybe I'm Dreaming was released independently. In 2009, Young released his second full-length album Ocean Eyes. His third album All Things Bright and Beautiful came out in 2011 and his latest, The Midsummer Station was released in May 2012.

He is working mostly in the same way. "I have a never-ending document on my computer where I jot down ideas as they come to me," Young says. "Sometimes I'll still have trouble sleeping at night because I get into this creative mind-space and I lose track of time."

Lately Young has been engaged in composing music for movies and commercials. Young wrote When Can I See You Again for Disney film Wreck-It Ralph and Shine Your Way for Dreamworks Animation's new film, The Croods.

"I hope to be able to transition that work into the film industry in China and all over the world," he says.