AFTER GETTING THEIR START UPLOADING CHILLHOP TUNES FOR FREE ON SOUNDCLOUD, THE DYNAMITE DUO BEHIND THE GENRE-BLURRING ELECTRONICA SENSATION ODESZA EXPLODED ONTO THE SCENE IN THE MID-2010S, SWAPPING THE LATE-NIGHT SIDE STAGE FOR SOLD-OUT ARENAS AT WARP SPEED BY DAN SALAMONE.

BORN: Harrison Mills (June 4, 1989, in Seattle, WA) and Clayton Knight (March 27, 1988, in Pontiac, MI).

SOUND: Odesza’s sound is the modern variant of the classic Ninja Tune (their record label) sound: a kind of moody, sonically dense chillhop (formerly known as trip-hop) that owes a debt to its mammoth influences (Massive Attack, Portishead, Tricky, James Lavelle, Burial, and a legion of lesser known but important ‘00s Ninja Tune acts), while adding a pleasingly modern bedroom-pop sheen.

BIG BREAK: After releasing their debut LP, Summer’s Gone, they became quick Bandcamp self-release superstars (31 of their songs have hit #1 on Hype Machine), leading to Pretty Lights offering them a much-coveted opening act slot for their 2013 tour. By 2014, they were headlining their own In Return tour, selling out 28 shows.

NOTABLE ACCOMPLISHMENTS: By 2017, Odesza had become one of the biggest electronic acts in the world. Their 2017 LP, A Moment Apart, landed them their first TV appearance, performing two songs (“Line of Sight” and “Higher Ground”) on Jimmy Kimmel Live. That year, the LP and “Line of Sight” were nominated for Grammys for Best Dance/Electronic Album and Best Dance Record, respectively. In 2018, their single, “Loyal,” hit the Top 20 on the Billboard Electronic singles chart, and was featured in Apple iPhone ads. Since then, their music has been featured in a wide array of films, including X-Men: Dark Phoenix, and TV shows like Grey’s Anatomy.

ATEST WORK: Their last long-play release was 2024’s The Last Goodbye: Live, a sampling of performances from their triumphant 2022 tour in support of that year’s album, The Last Goodbye.

Odesza odesza.com