Owl City talks Carly Rae Jepsen and Mark Hoppus collaborations

"It kind of just happened all at once," the softly spoken Young begins.  

"My manager grew up with her manager, who also manages Justin Bieber. A few months ago I was producing this track for "Good Time", and I thought this track would be great to have a female lead as a duet.  

"I was aware of Carly but didn’t really know her music that well. My manager was like, “How about this girl Carly Rae? I know her manager… just send her an email”. So I was like “here’s the track, I think you’re good for it, let me know” and she wrote back and was like “yeah, I love it, when can we record it?” so all of a sudden the song was finished and it was out and people are connecting to it in a way that I’m so proud and it was great." 

Jepsen and Young worked together on the track over the internet, sending each other files and completing work on "Good Time" without ever having met face to face. It wasn't until they filmed the summery video for the song that they encountered one another in the flesh - and, according to Young, "had a blast". 

"It was a long day, like 12 hours long, so I got to know her pretty well spending hours standing around and waiting for cameras," Young recalls. 

"It was weird but I felt like I knew her." 

Another big name artist that appears on Owl City's upcoming album, The Midsummer Station, is Blink 182's Mark Hoppus - one of Young's childhood musical idols - who lends his distinct vocals to "Dementia". 

"I’ve been a huge Blink fan forever," he gushes. "Just to be able to work with a guy that I’ve grown up admiring… It taught me a lot.  

"Mark is so gracious and down to earth… He’s a normal guy who’s very kind and interested in what you do, he didn't owe me anything but he was so kind to do that and it was great." 

Though he hadn't met the Blink 182 bassist until they collaborated on the track, Young admits that he also felt he knew Hoppus - "because I grew up with his music, I know how he enunciates words," he shares.  

"When you admire an artist so much, you feel like you know them." 

Confessing that he was nervous to meet both Hoppus and Jepsen for the first time, Young reveals that both were "even more gracious and kind" than he had expected - and hey, he got two killer tracks out of those meetings, too. 

Owl City's new album, The Midsummer Station, is out August 20.