Odesza
Odesza is an American electronic music duo originating from Bellingham, Washington. It consists of Harrison Mills and Clayton Knight, known individually as Catacombkid and BeachesBeaches. They formed in 2012, shortly before Mills and Knight graduated from Western Washington University. Additionally, Odesza is composed of a complete brass section, drum line, and singers including Naomi Wild and WYNNE.
Their debut album, Summer's Gone, was released later in 2012 to acclaim in the underground electronic music community. After their debut extended play, My Friends Never Die, in 2013, they released their sophomore album, In Return, on September 9, 2014. It was the duo's debut release on Ninja Tune and its imprint, Counter Records. In 2016, "Say My Name" gained the duo their first Grammy nomination at the 58th Annual Grammy Awards. A Moment Apart, their third studio album, was released on September 8, 2017. It reached #3 on the Billboard 200, while topping the Top Electronic/Dance Albums Chart. It was nominated for Best Dance/Electronic Album, with "Line of Sight" also nominated for Best Dance Recording, at the 60th Annual Grammy Awards in 2018.
The duo was also nominated in 2017 for Producer of the Year at the Electronic Music Awards.
The duo have founded and operated their own record label, Foreign Family Collective, which distributes songs as well as visual art from artists.
Furthermore, Billboard named Odesza as #10 on their 2018 ranking of dance musicians, the Billboard Dance 100.
History
Early career
Harrison Mills and Clayton Knight met during their freshman year at Western Washington University. The two did not share the same educational interests. Knight studied physics and mathematics while Mills studied graphic design. They did not begin collaborating musically until their senior year in 2012 after befriending their early influence into music, DJ Maul-IE. As a child, Knight was classically trained in piano and later learned guitar.Name
The band's name is taken from the name of Mills' uncle's sunken vessel, which was named after the Ukrainian city of Odesa. Only his uncle and one other crew mate survived. Since the spelling "Odessa" was already being used by a Scottish synth band, they instead chose to use a form of the Hungarian spelling, replacing the "ss" with "sz". The correct spelling in Hungarian is: Odessza.Individually Mills is known as Catacombkid, and Knight is known as BeachesBeaches. In reference to how Mills got his nickname, he says, "I got into Aesop Rock and he has a song called 'Catacomb Kids.' I thought it sounded cool." On the other hand, the story behind Knight's nickname, he says, "Honestly I was high in my bedroom making music one day…"
2012–2014: ''Summer's Gone'', ''My Friends Never Die EP'' and ''In Return''
The duo quickly released their debut LP, Summer's Gone, on September 5, 2012. On November 9, 2012, Odesza performed their first show, opening for Teen Daze and Beat Connection in Bellingham, WA. Odesza was booked to open for Pretty Lights on his Analog Future Tour in the fall of 2013. Their first headline tour kicked off on March 12, 2014. On October 17, 2014, Odesza's In Return North American tour sold out 28 shows. Thirty-one Odesza tracks have hit #1 on Hype Machine, including "How Did I Get Here", "Memories That You Call", "Lights", "All We Need", among others. Their first festival performance at Sasquatch! Music Festival in George, Washington was followed by slots at over 20 festivals, including Coachella, SXSW, Hangout Festival, Lightning in a Bottle, Governor's Ball Music Festival, Bonnaroo Music Festival, Firefly Music Festival, Free Press Summer Fest, and Lollapalooza.2015–2016: Foreign Family Collective and touring
In March 2015, Odesza launched Foreign Family Collective, an outlet for musicians and visual artists alike. Their goal is to help upcoming artists gain more exposure by releasing one-off singles. As of December 2017, there have been 29 released singles.On November 11, 2015, Odesza launched their official mobile app on iOS and Android.
Following their sold out In Return Fall Tour, Odesza released the video for "It's Only" on January 18, 2016.
2017: ''A Moment Apart'' and 2017 A Moment Apart Tour
On April 25, 2017, Odesza released two digital singles, "Late Night" and "Line of Sight" featuring WYNNE and Mansionair. On June 12, 2017, the duo released two additional digital singles, and announced a September 8 release date for their third studio album, A Moment Apart. An additional single was released after having been leaked online. Following the release of the album, a world tour was announced with dates across Australia, Europe, and North America. The 2017 A Moment Apart Tour was met with great response, selling out large venues such as Staples Center and Barclays Center.Tracks from A Moment Apart have been widely used across the media; "Across the Room" was used on Grey's Anatomy S14E05, "Danger Zone"; "A Moment Apart" in GoPro Hero6's commercial and as a song on a radio station in Forza Horizon 4; "Late Night" for Acura. "La Ciudad" was used as one of the background tracks to EA Sports’ FIFA 18.
On October 26, 2017, Odesza made their debut television appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live! performing "Line of Sight" featuring WYNNE and "Higher Ground" featuring Naomi Wild. On November 28, 2017, A Moment Apart was nominated for Best Dance/Electronic Album at the 60th Annual Grammy Awards; their single "Line of Sight" featuring WYNNE & Mansionair was nominated for Best Dance Recording.
2018-2019: 2018 A Moment Apart Tour, "Loyal" and SUNDARA
On December 4, 2017 Odesza announced the continuation of their A Moment Apart Tour, kicking off February 2, 2018 at Laneway Festival. On January 2, 2018, Odesza announced they would be joining the Coachella 2018 lineup, playing on Sunday night before Eminem. On January 9, "Corners of the Earth" was chosen to be used as the Winter Olympics Anthem.On September 12, 2018, Odesza released their 11th single, “Loyal”. “Loyal” is a stand-alone song not associated with any album. It peaked at 19th on the US dance chart. “Loyal” gained more popularity when it was featured on Apple’s “” advert regarding the release of the iPhone Xs, iPhone Xs Max, iPhone Xr and the Apple Watch Series 4. Apple’s “” advert also premiered on September 12th 2018 suggesting that Apple and Odesza had a contract to co-ordinate releases so as to maximize sales for both parties. Additionally, "Loyal" was used in an advertisement for the Nissan Juke.
“Loyal” was also used in the release trailer for the Fortune Island expansion of the 2018 video game Forza Horizon 4.
On October 16, 2018, Foreign Family Collective announced its first Odesza-curated festival, SUNDARA, to be held at the all-inclusive Barceló Resort in Riviera Maya, Mexico. The four-day festival is set to run from March 13–16, and features major acts like RL Grime, Rüfüs du Sol, Alison Wonderland, Jai Wolf, and many more.
On June 15, 2019, "A Moment Apart" also gained popularity when it was used in a YouTube video titled “I’m Gay - Eugene Lee Yang” by The Try Guys.
2020: Bronson
On April 26, 2020, Odesza announced on their social media that they had completed a collaborative album with Australian DJ Golden Features. On April 27, it was confirmed that both the project and the album would be titled Bronson, and that it would be released on July 17, 2020, with the first two tracks "Heart Attack" and "Vaults" available the following day.On June 30, 2020, the third track "Dawn" Was released, with the duo making the announcement that their album would be pushed back to August 7, 2020.