In a scene where 90% of bands sound exactly the same, it’s almost impossible to find a diamond in the rough. Well, the gem has been found, and his name is Ryan Osterman.

What is the significance of the band name, Owl & Penny?
Honestly, there’s not really a whole lot of significance to it. I personally feel like too much emphasis is put on band names nowadays. I mean, at one point it was relevant, the title and everything, but I feel like the music should speak more about the band than the names now.

Tell us a secret or something that not many people know about yourself.
Um…I’m sort of like a closet Zelda fanatic. Well, like old school N64 stuff.

What was the recording process like for your new album?
Really, really long actually. I tend to have little like, pockets during the year when I can write like a storm, you know, but most of the year, I’m writing a lot of mini-songs, trying to put things together and nothing really ever happens to them. Before I finished the first EP “Stolen Silver,” that we had out, I probably had close to 70 songs that were just incomplete and only five of them made it onto that EP that we printed. It was a very different process for me, I wrote over half of it in Ohio when I moved there for a little while. It was just really long but it was fun, I got to work with my label, River Jones Music and my friends Matthew Gilbert, my brother Trevor and our friend Susan Fowler who ended up playing violin on all the tracks. It was nice to have a wide variety of people working together all kind of putting their heads together to make this turn out the best way it possibly can.

How would you describe the music you’re making now in Owl & Penny compared to old stuff you’ve done?
My old stuff was a little bit more folky, I guess. I feel like the new stuff is a little more mature and I guess everyone says that and that it’s cliché but the newer stuff is a different kind of process in my head. It has more of a minimalistic kind of folk sound instead of the traditional ones. The old stuff had more of banjos and whatnot. I just feel like it’s a little bit darker and not necessarily upbeat but still positive. You know, a lot of the writing comes from dreams that I’ve had and I’m just obsessed with nature in general and a combination of both of those things kind of creates a little bit more of cryptic lyrics.

So would you say that those things were your inspiration for writing the new record?
Obviously a lot of different things but primarily dreams I’ve had. I keep a dream journal and write everything down in there and I look through that. It’s really a trip for me because I don’t even often remember writing it in there. Other than that, it’s just appreciation of nature and life in general.

What can fans expect from the new CD?
I’m a lot happier with this new record than the last one. I felt like I wasn’t really as rushed. We had like 3-4 months to record it as opposed to the first one which we ended up recording in probably 5 days total. I record right before I moved to Ohio and there was kind of a deadline and a rush to meet it. I feel like the music is a little bit more patient and more organic sounding. I just wanted it to be very earthy and compliment what the songs were about in general.

What song would you say you like the most or what do you remember the most about writing and recording?
Really, I was super excited to have real violins on the record just because originally I had messed around with really synthetic violins through various software and digital programming. It was nice to have a real violin on there. The song that I enjoyed playing the most would probably be either Wooden Rings, which is the last track or a song called Kodiak.  Kodiak is about a dream I had that was kind of like an out-of-body experience kind of feeling, and it was really fun to write cause I feel like I had to dig really deep emotionally to relate to those songs so I enjoy those the most.

Do you have any funny stories about high school experiences?
High school was weird for me. I was constantly kind of changing around. And there was a point when I moved out when I was like 17 and ended up in like my dad’s house but he lived in San Francisco at the time so I had the house to myself. But I used have a bunch of parties over there. I was really like, not a social person at all, and a friend of mine who I used to hang out with a whole bunch would come over and be like “Why do we not have friends over? You have like this huge 3-bedroom house and an endless supply of liquor and we just need to like go crazy on this place.” We ended up doing that it was pretty much like an every night kind of thing, and a lot of…uh… bad habits I guess. It was a lot of fun though. And interesting… I had like a buddy of mine who passed out on the kitchen counter with a pillow and everything. Just various things like that, that no one would think is funny but in my head I find it hilarious.

Do any of you have secret talents?
I used to be able to blow bubbles with my tongue and blow it off but that’s pretty gross and I can’t really do that anymore. I like to paint. I don’t do it a whole lot but I doodle and paint and stuff.

What are your biggest pet peeves?
Oh, I could go on for days! People that don’t know the appropriate proximity to talk to people… Like people who talk way to low or way to close. People who chew with their mouth open, people who just chew loud in general. I don’t think anyone really likes chewing with their mouth open. I hate when instruments are out of tune. I just have terrible OCD with most things and when it comes down to the tuning of a guitar or whatever it is, it has to be straight up perfect otherwise I will keep hearing that and it’ll like faze me so bad. And I don’t know, just your usual pet peeves. Nothing really ever bugs me that much where I have to say something about it. I kind of just coast through life and try to enjoy everything. There’s always something good in everything and it’s just a matter of keeping it positive.

What kind of music would we find in your ipod if we looked through it right now?
You’d probably find a lot of instrumental, Icelandic music. Old Sigur Ros stuff and a lot of metal. I’m a huge metal head, like I obviously don’t play it but I love metal. All kinds of music. It’s pretty much a wide variety of everything, I have old hip-hop like A Tribe Called Quest, to trip-hop like Boards of Canada. I think everyone should have that on their iPod at some point… Mostly everything though, I really enjoy all kinds of music and it depends what mood I’m in. And I try to be prepared as I can to suit whatever mood I’ll be in.

What is your favorite show that you’ve ever played? What makes that stand out from all of your other shows?
They’re all really fun for me but most the ones that really stand out in my head are just playing with friends at a house party or something like that. Pretty much all the shows are just me and some friends basically hanging out playing music and having some drinks. I hate when you go to shows and everyone is so unapproachable and as much as you really like this band a whole bunch, you don’t want to talk to them because you’re afraid to bug them or whatever. It’s not like that at our shows. Although it would be really fun to play a really big show, it’s just good to have a really humble, intimate environment where everyone can get to know each other.

What advice would you give to kids who are aspiring to be musicians like you?
Just fucking play some music. Just do it and believe in yourself. There are so many kickass musicians even out here. Like, I’ll play with them once and I won’t ever hear from them again but they’re fantastic. They just might not believe in themselves or they take into account what everyone else says too much. There is a lot of pressure to be more poppy, more marketable, more radio-friendly and all that but you really just have to tell that shit to fuck off because it’s irrelevant. Just do what you want. Music should never be a job, it should never be a chore. If you’re not enjoying it then you’re either not making music or you’re doing it for the wrong reasons. It’s all about having a good time, making memories… I realize that I’m probably not going to be on TV, or the radio but I’m okay with that. I have fun with it. And I’m gonna bring these memories with me when I’m dead. That’s really all you have when you’re old. You have memories and you get to look back on things. I’m just doing my part to ensure that I have fun memories to look back on.

Where do you see yourself in 10 years?
I’m not sure. My biggest focus right now is trying to get on the road again. Touring is the funnest thing in the entire world. It’s hanging out with friends, traveling and playing music, and that’s the perfect combo. I feel like what I would really like to do is write scores for movies. That would be the coolest job and the coolest thing ever to do just because when you’re trying to find a common ground between visual artwork and audio artwork, the way that they mash up and complement each other, that is a really cool thing. You see a lot of cool movies out there and the emotional moments are totally made by what you’re seeing along with what you’re hearing, producing these emotions. That’s really what tugs on people’s heartstrings and makes it so relatable. Music speaks so much more than anything else. Music and photography and all that speak so much more than actual spoken ideas and they portray so much. I write a whole bunch of instrumental music, and independent films have been using some of the songs which is really cool but I imagine sitting down to write actual music for films would be really taxing.

Are there any big plans besides the album release coming up that we can look forward to?
There’s gonna be an online store with t-shirts, tote bags and fun stuff like that. I have a friend that made bracelets for me like small colorful bracelets that I just gave out with the CDs so I’ll probably end up doing something like that again. I’m assuming a tour in the summer and hoping to go with my friend Courtney if she’s not busy in the summertime.