ODESZA - Who are they?

We have decided to use ODESZA as our artist for our media project. Personally I have known about this duo for a number of years and enjoy their music. When it came to deciding on a video, Charles and I both wanted to do a video along similar lines of the Justin Bieber 'I'll Show You' video, including major landscape shots and sharp editing, and this style of music allows us to do this in a way which works to great affect.


Name:
Odesza is the Hungarian spelling for the city of 'Odessa', Ukraine. The band's name, however is taken from the name of Mills' uncle's sunken vessel. 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 the Hungarian spelling.

Individually Mills is known as Catacombkid, and Knight is known as Beaches Beaches. 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, Knight got his nickname when, "...I was high in my bedroom making music one day…"

On Spotify alone they are placed 429th in the world based on views per month.

BACKGROUND
Both members of ODEZSA are from Seattle, and formed in 2012 just before graduation from Western Washington University. Harrison Mills (Catacombkid) and Clayton Knight (Beaches Beaches) have known each other since freshman year at college, yet didn't form until their senior year. Since graduation things moved very quickly and in 2012 they released their debut album, Summer's Gone.

Two songs - "How Did I Get Here" and "iPlayYouListen" - instantly leapt to No.1 on the Hype Machine popular chart. ODESZA began to gather fans and word of their music spread rapidly.

The duo were playing to larger and larger crowds when 'Pretty Lights' asked them to be the support act on his tour and to remix 'One Day They'll Know", which also reached No.1 on Hype Machine and No.8 on iTunes Electronic Chart. In 2013 following their tour with Pretty Lights, which helped them to grow significantly, ODESZA selected their favourite producers for a follow up remix EP, launching the ambitious mixtape and eventual party series, 'NO SLEEP'. 

February 2014 brought the release of their new single Sun Models, taken from the duo's forthcoming album. It too, along with previous EPs and albums hit No.1 on Hype Machine. In March 2014 ODEZSA's remix of Pretty Lights, "Lost and Found" was released on the Divergent movie soundtrack, which also reached No.1 on hype machine.

The two of them got back in the studio and finished their second album. In spring 2014 they did a sold out North American tour, including playing at Coachella. They then released a remix of ZHU's "Faded" taking their No.1s to double figures on the Hype Machine.

Summer 2014 saw them appear in Australia for live dates and North American festivals along with finishing and mastering their sophomore album.

On September 9th 2014, In Return was released. A start-to-finish stunner of pop-infused, electronic wonder, littered with infectious hooks and potent atmosphere.

They developed a new live performance to do their new album justice and their work ethic and constant evolution resulted in sold out headline tours of North America last autumn, Australia this winter and North America again this spring sold out in advance, but also in the biggest venues they've headlined at yet.

Their current website.

This image showcases the information they provide on their website.

STATISTICS, AWARDS AND FACTS

• 21 Hype Macine No.1's.
• 66 million SoundCloud streams.
• Over 29 million Spotify plays in the last 90 days.
• Over 34.5 million Pandora plays in the last 30 days.
• Licensed by Adidas, Target, GoPro, Royal Caribbean, The North Face, Piz Buin and many more.
• Collaborated with BuzzFeed and Tumblr.
• In Return debuted at No.1 on BillBoard electronic chart and spent 13 weeks top 10.
• No.42 on BillBoard top 200 charts.
• No.1 on iTunes electronic chart (15 days in a row)
• iTunes Electronic chart top 10 in 7 countries outside the USA.
• No.20 iTunes overall albums chart.
• 'Say My Name' hit No.1 on the Hype Machine popular chart twice.
• No.1 on Spotify US viral chart.
• No.2 on Spotify global chart.
• Currently No.1 most played song on 8 tracks.
• ODESZA have been commissioned to make remix's for Sia, Charlie XCX, Angus and Julia Stone, Slow Magic, Ki:Theory and many more.