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1. How did you create your stage name Almost Owen? What inspired it?

I struggled for a while trying to pick a name that felt right. I even had a notes page on my phone with an ever growing list of bad (but kind of amazing) ideas. I had a few favorites — Tragic Johnson, Bob Villain, Mad Daemon. But none of these felt at all serious, and more importantly, they didn’t feel like they had anything to do with me or the music that I make.

At some point, I was catching up with my brother on the phone, recalling some of several names that I had almost gone with. “Well, you were almost named Owen,” he said. “Why not go with that?”

Almost Owen was the first, and incidentally the last name that’s stuck. 

2. How did you get your start in the music industry?

I grew up wanting to be a drummer. When I was 12 or 13, I started going to a club in the South End of Boston called Wally’s Jazz Cafe. It was just a small and dingy hole in the wall, but they had great live music every night. Each Saturday and Sunday through my teens you could find me there in the corner next to the stage.

In my late teens I toured internationally as a drummer for a few years. I ultimately got hooked on writing and recording. I’ve been trying to carve out my way as an artist in the US ever since.

3. What was the creative process like for your newest single “We Out Here”?

The song itself was cowritten with my buddy Cameron Galpin. He’s an awesome artist and performer in his own right, billing under the name Bad Brother. We wrote it in about an hour and a half one afternoon in my bedroom studio just outside of Boston.

I produced the track and vocals for the song in that same bedroom studio in the following weeks. My friend Austin Hull did some additional production on the song, and guitarist Corey Sanchez performed on the record as well.

4. What is the single about?

On the surface, We Out Here is a summer party anthem. It’s ridiculous, fun and hedonistic, the kind of song that you put on the first time you “borrow” your dad’s convertible.

But it’s also about some of the not-so-cool aspects of being a millennial: the great expectations placed on our generation, tempered by the backdrop of a declining American dream.

I have so many friends who grew up being told that “they can do anything they set their mind to”. So many of them continue to live in their parents’ basements, saddled with debt and without any real chance at upward mobility.

Music journalist Chris Porter of stereostickman.com wrote a fantastic review of the song, describing it as “and urban hymn to income inequality railing against the aspirational lifestyle…”

All this being said, I don’t think you have to buy into the deeper narrative to enjoy it. My 2 year old niece thinks it’s hilarious, and I’m pretty sure she’s not all that interested in whatever socioeconomic point the song makes.

5. Do you have an EP or full length album in the works? 

Yes. More news on this soon…

6. Do you have any other projects you’d like to share with us?

I’ll be releasing a new song each month through the end of 2019. I’m also taking on a few more ambitious projects for 2020, but they’re still in early development. I don’t want to get too ahead of myself…

If you want to stay up to date on this kind of thing, you can go here to sign up for the AO family. I also send out a bunch of exclusive content that isn’t available anywhere else. It’s pretty cool.

7. What are your social media platforms?

WS: almostowen.com

YT: youtube.com/almostowenmusic 

IG: instagram.com/almostowenmusic 

FB: facebook.com/almostowenmusic 

TW: twitter.com/almostowenmusic

Spotify : https://open.spotify.com/artist/0cx6W9yZSat6dyJqqjNr5Q 

Apple Music : https://itunes.apple.com/us/artist/almost-owen/1267721128

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