Shortly before Owens' birth his infant brother Steven died of pneumonia due to the reluctance of the church's members to seek professional medical assistance.

Owens learned to play guitar in his early teens and would perform covers of Everly Brothers and The Fleetwoods songs on the street.

[7][8] There he met musicians Matt Fishbeck and Ariel Pink and joined their band Holy Shit as a touring guitarist.

"[11] Owens, along with the seven musicians who appear on the album, performed Lysandre in full at San Francisco's The Lodge at the Regency Center on November 9, 2012.

On July 30, 2024, Owens announced his return to Girls' home label, True Panther, and released his first song in seven years, "I Think About Heaven".

A promotional video was released during Paris Fashion Week featuring multiple black and white images of Owens edited to the audio of Girls' "Just A Song".

[13] Owens shared that these modeling gigs allowed him to recoup the financial loss of touring Lysandre––there were nine people in his band, and to maintain an intimate atmosphere, he had refused to play festivals.