Tycho (musician)

Tycho
Tycho performing in 2012
Background information
Origin	San Francisco, California, United States
Genres	Ambient IDM downtempo electrogaze chillwave post-rock
Years active	2002–present
Labels	Ghostly International Merck Gammaphone
Website	tychomusic.com

Tycho (/ˈtaɪkoʊ/, like TIE-ko) is an American ambient music project led by Scott Hansen (born 1977) as primary composer, songwriter and producer. Hailing from San Francisco, California, he is known as ISO50 for his photographic and design works.^[1][2] His music is a combination of downtempo vintage-style synthesizers and ambient melodies. The style of his music sounds very organic, typically incorporating clips of the human element into his songs (e.g. weather broadcasts, simple talking, or even breathing). His song "Dictaphone's Lament" was used as the track on a music video entitled "Live Life to the Fullest", which was made by and featured on the action cartoon block Toonami. His song "Cascade" (originally made for an Adult Swim and Ghostly International compilation called Ghostly Swim) was played during the final moments of the original 11-year run of Toonami in 2008.^[3] As of December 2014, Tycho is signed to and has released under Ghostly International, but has also released music on Merck Records and Gammaphone Records.

Sound

Hansen's music project Tycho is influenced by and has been compared to artists such as DJ Shadow, Ulrich Schnauss and Boards of Canada.^[4] His music captures the sound of lo-fi analog media while remaining both progressive and futuristic in composition and style. Themes of nostalgia, longing, childhood and the natural world are interspersed throughout Tycho's work. Brief interludes or vignettes also feature in his earlier work. In Past Is Prologue, Hansen selected and included excerpts from broadcasts accompanied by atmospherics to capture a specific moment or mood. Overall, the mixture of electronic synths, live instrumentation, and old school sound clips creates a very relatable, organic sound.

Until the release of the album Dive, Hansen worked as a solo artist and used the digital audio workstation, Cakewalk Sonar, to work with analog, virtual analog hardware, digital hardware and VSTI synthesizers as well as samples derived from live instrumentation, played by Hansen himself. While creating the album, he switched over to REAPER, a more dynamic program which he credits with allowing him to finish Dive. The album tour had a live band for the first time, hybridizing the electronic music experience with the dynamic energy of a performance featuring live instrumentation. After touring, Hansen decided to permanently open up the solo project, and work both on tour and in the studio alongside two other band members, Zac Brown on bass guitar and guitar and Rory O'Connor on drums. When performing, all the guitars are live, played either by Hansen or Brown. Bass guitar is also always live, with the exception of the song "Hours". Drums are played live by O'Connor, and lead synthesizers are also live. Hansen often plays guitar while triggering samples with his foot. His goal is to find the balance between the fluid nature of a live show with artists playing physical instruments and the precision and ability to stay true to the album of electronic music.^[4]

Live members (tour)

Tycho performing at Hopscotch Music Festival in Raleigh, NC in 2015.

Since July 9th, 2010 in San Francisco, California, Tycho performances have included a live backing band.^[5]

• Scott Hansen - synthesizers, guitar, bass guitar, visuals, programming
• Zac Brown - bass guitar, guitar
• Rory O'Connor - drums
• Billy Kim - bass guitar, keyboards, synthesizers

Discography

Studio albums

• Past Is Prologue (2006, Merck Records)^[6]
• Dive (2011, Ghostly International)^[7]
• Awake (2014, Ghostly International)^[8]
• Epoch (2016, Ghostly International)^[9]

EPs

• The Science of Patterns (2002/2007/2014, independent/Gammaphone re-release/Spotify re-release)^[10]
• Fragments / Ascension (2013, Ghostly International, split w/ Thievery Corporation)^[11]

Singles

• "Past is Prologue 12" sampler (2006, Merck Records)^[12]
• "The Daydream/The Disconnect" (2007, Ghostly International)
• "Adrift/From Home" (2008, Ghostly International)
• "Coastal Brake" (2009, Ghostly International)
• "Hours" (2011, Ghostly International)
• "Dive (Radio Edit)" (2011, Ghostly International)
• "Dive" (2012, Ghostly International)
• "Awake" (2013, Ghostly International)
• "Montana (Tycho Single))|Montana" (2014, Ghostly International)
• "Spectre" (2014, Ghostly International)
• "See" (2014, Ghostly International)^[13]
• "Division" (2016, Ghostly International)^[14]
• "Epoch" (2016, Ghostly International)^[15]

Remixes

• Little Dragon - "Little Man" (Tycho Remix)^[16]
• Ulrich Schnauss - "I Take Comfort In Your Ignorance" (Tycho Remix)^[17]
• Thievery Corporation - "Fragments" (Tycho Remix)^[18]
• Spoon - "Inside Out" (Tycho Remix)^[19]
• Death Cab for Cutie - "The Ghosts of Beverly Drive" (Tycho Remix)^[20]
• Awake Remixes (2016, Ghostly International)^[21]

References

External links

• Official website
• Tycho at Ghostly International
• Wired Tours Tycho Studio