This is the 29th post in our Musician of the Day series.
Owen Pallett was born in 1979 with the full name of Michael James Owen Pallett. He began studying the violin when he was a toddler and even composed music by the time he was 13. His musical compositions can be heard in the game Traffic Department 2192, and he has also scored two films and composed two operas.
In 2002, when he graduated from college he released an album with the band Les Mouches and released two more albums with them before they went defunct in 2004.
He began creating his own style of music under the name of Final Fantasy because of his admiration for the video game. He released his first album in 2005 entitled Has a Good Home. Adventure.exe from this album might be familiar because it was used in a number of Orange commercials in 2006. Owen reportedly did not authorize this but the company was given rights through a misunderstanding with his label. Because of the mix up Owen gives all money earned from Orange to Doctors without Borders.
His second album, He Poos Clouds was released in 2006 and it is composed entirely of string quartet arrangements. Eight of the ten songs on the album relate to the different schools of magic in Dungeons and Dragons. The album won the coveted 2006 Polaris Music Prize, but Owen was uncomfortable receiving money from a competition run by a cell phone company, and donated all the money to bands who were struggling.
In 2007, his song This is the Dream of Win & Regine was used without permission in a Wiener Stadtwerke commercial. Instead of going to court he approached the company to sponsor a music festival of their creation. The Maximum Black Festival played Vienna, Berlin and London in 2007.
Currently Owen continues touring and working on his music. His third album Heartland is set to release in the first week of 2010. Whatever happens it is certain that Owen Pallett is one of the most morally bound in the business
To learn more about Owen Pallett visit his Official Website or last.fm.
