Brightest Young Things

interview by: Robert Winship

It’s hard to figure which element of Scott Hansen is more compelling, his stunning graphic design work as ISO50 or the dreamy coastal soundscapes he births as the musician Tycho.  Much of the draw to his work is the complementary beauty and dark serenity of both. Tycho has been on tour with Beacon since the beginning of January and opened a number of dates for Little Dragon late last year.  For this tour he is bringing more visuals and a three piece band, hoping to expand Tycho’s already-swelling seas of sound.  We caught up with Scott to talk about this new leg of touring (he is @ RNR Hotel TONIGHT), his growth in live visual performance and his relationship with ambient/electronic label Ghostly International.

Brightest Young Things: How are you doing?
Scott Hansen: Great, we’re just driving from..pretty short drive today, we’re going from Athens to Atlanta, where we’ve got a show tonight.

BYT: You’re playing at the Masquerade there?
SH: Yep!

BYT: So, you’ll be up here in two days? I think you’re playing North Carolina next and then up in DC in a couple of nights. Thursday actually.
SH: Yeah, can’t wait, first time.

BYT: Yeah, we’re really excited to have you.  How many dates have you played on the tour so far?
SH: Oh man [laughs] that’s a great question.  I wouldn’t be able to guess...20? 18.

BYT: Nice. You’re well into it.  Are you guys worn out?
SH: [Laughs]  Worn out? I wouldn’t say worn out,.  I mean, every night, the second you get up there, like, just even a sound check, I feel like you’re right back where you started, energy-wise.  Cause that’s just the moment you do all this for.  You can’t help but start thinking about home when you’ve slept in a hotel for 30 days straight.

BYT: So, coming into a live performance, you’ve honed in on some of the video aspects and you’ve got a bigger crew with you this time.  How has that worked out?  How have you added to the live performance?
SH: Well, over the years...I started out doing, kind of, one-offs here and there, doing laptop sets. And I was never really happy with the way that came off as far as an audience perspective.  I wanted to be more engaging to them. So, you know, over time,I ’ve put together this band and now, I think we’ve played with few different configurations, but now I think we have a really good tight set of three guys: Zac Brown on bass and guitar and Rory O’Conner on drums and I play keyboard and guitar.  Yeah, it’s just been great.  We’ve learned a lot on this trip and we’ve gotten really tight and cemented my idea of what I want this to be about for the live context.

BYT: What do you want it to be about for the live context?
SH: Well, on one hand, I want to represent the music faithfully in a certain way, so the songs are recognizable and I think a lot of people who listen to this kind of music, kind of ambient music, a big part of why they go to shows is to hear it on a large sound system and feel it and be with other people and feel that energy of the crowd and all that.  So, I want that to be there.  I also want there to be this visual anchor and I think that’s what the band is about for people, that they’re actually creating the music.  So there’s this visual thing to tie what they’re hearing to.  And I think that goes a long way to engage people and get them into the performance as opposed to just listening to music.  And then the visuals is also a really big aspect of the live show.  This summer, we’ve got a new projector and a larger screen.  So that’s been great to be able to represent it on the original scale I had envisioned.

BYT: I saw the Books play recently and they have always incorporated the same, the visual element ties right into their music, same with Godspeed You! Black Emperor.  It really does change the whole feeling of a show.
SH: I think it becomes more of a cinematic experience.  I think people appreciate that.  If you can pull in the live band thing and have that really mean something and then have the visual aspect.  I think it adds up to a “greater than the sum of its parts” type thing.

BYT: Exactly.  Have you seen a bigger response because of Dive?  How have people reacted to the new album?  Have you seen a bigger crowd coming out?
SH: It’s been really inspiring to see what’s been going on.  Getting out here, we’ve been playing a lot of places we’ve never been before.  So, just to see that there are people there who are supporting and coming out to these shows and the energy has been great. I means something when you feel that come back to you on stage, you know.  I just feel like people have been really passionate this time around about the music and enjoying the show and all that.

BYT: There was another artist, I can’t remember who it was, on Ghostly, that said, they had seen a big response from the Ghostly Swim compilation and I had a lot of friends that listened to that and I loved that compilation.  Have you seen the same thing?
SH: Yeah, it’s probably Mux Mool that you’re talking about.  You know, that came out a while ago and it was one of the first things, one of the earlier Ghostly releases.  I think that whole Adult Swim tie-in...they have a lot of reach in the demographic that appreciates this kind of music.  Yeah, I think that was huge for exposure and I definitely hear a lot of people say that’s where they first heard of me.

BYT: How has it been working on Ghostly?  They seem to fit your aesthetic and they are such a well-curated label.  How has that worked out for you?
SH: It’s been amazing.  I always really looked up to them as a label.  In fact, that was always the ‘if I could be on any label’, that would be it.  So it was a dream to be able to be involved with them and I’ve definitely not been disappointed.  They’ve been incredibly supportive and, like you’re saying, they’re really well curated.  They’ve got really great people making the decisions there, stylistic decisions.  And they make decisions based an art and what makes sense for their aesthetic goals, as opposed to money or other concerns.  So that’s just been great to see, that somebody is still, at some point in the music industry still cares that much.

BYT: Absolutely.  Are you close with or work closely with anybody on that roster, on Ghostly International?
SH: Other musicians?

BYT: Yes
SH: Yeah, I know Shigeto and I know Mux [Mool] and Christopher Willits I’m good friends with him, he lives right by me in San Francisco, so I know him well.  Then Jakub Alexander, he’s the A&R for Ghostly, but he’s now our manager and he also runs the blog with me, the ISO50 blog, so I work really closely with him.  I‘ve just become friends with all of the guys over there, it’s just a great bunch of guys.

BYT: Speaking of the blog and your artistic endeavors, you credit, at least in some your bios, the Bauhaus and art deco eras as providing some of the best art and a real influence for you.  Where else do you draw from these days, at least as far as artistic styles?
SH: Visually?

BYT: Yes
SH: You know, at this point...I never studied design until I started the blog and it was kind of by accident I started learning about all these different movements in design and all these styles that had gone on before and I started realizing things that had trickled down and influenced me and all these ways that didn’t even really realize. That was an interesting experience.  But, at this point, I have this really pretty specific vision for what I want my work to be and I’m always incrementally stepping closer to achieving that. I don’t ever think I will ever really achieve the ideal that I have in my head, but I think it would be hard to pick anything.  I think it’s more the sum total of the backdrop of my upbringing and everything I’ve been exposed to, all the little nuanced bits and pieces from those that have found their way into the work I think is the biggest influence.

BYT: Has spending more time on the road given you more ideas in creating music and creating art?
SH: I think anytime you get pulled outside the studio.  You start to take it for granted when you’re in there and you start to think of it as work sometimes after you’ve been in there for a long time, so being away for this long a time, it’s always inspiring because you really just want to get back and get back to work and you’re always thinking of ideas for what you want to get done.  So, yeah, I’ve definitely been thinking about a lot of stuff and been tweaking around with stuff on the road, working on visuals and all that.  I can't wait to get back and get back to it.

BYT: Occasionally you’ll sample vocals, but you don’t really have any lyrics in the music.  Sometimes artists go back and forth between do you put lyrics in where and which do you write first music or lyrics. It almost feels like you make [visual] art first and then re-interpret that musically.  It’s got this whole other narrative to the way you create.  How do you create the music that you do?
SH: Well, it’s definitely a thing where either comes before the other.  They’re both just expressing another part of a singular vision.  So, with the music, I usually just sit down on that and it’s usually just a small melody or something pretty simplistic that I’ll just build and layer upon.  As far as how that relates to the visuals.  The visuals usually come second or always do come second.  Its more that music creates a space, a big idea of a space or some kind of mood and then I like to fill in the gaps of that or I like to define that a little more with the visual component.

BYT: Well, I think that’s about it.  I did have one other question...do you surf?
SH: No I do not.  A good friend of mine is really into that and he dedicated his whole life to that, so he’s who turned me on to those visuals and those graphics.  That’s kind of the California ideal and that’s something I’ve always enjoyed: surf films and all that stuff.  So that ended up working its way in there, through indirect means.

BYT: Yeah.  Right on.  It definitely seems to carry that quality to it, that endless summer bliss.
SH: Yeah.

BYT: That’s about all I have.  Good luck with the show tonight.
SH: Thanks

*TYCHO will be performing at the Rock & Roll Hotel tonight (2/2/12) with Beacon.

Previously in BYT interviews:

• 5/18: INTERVIEW: Jasmine Solano
• 5/18: Interview: Richard Linklater
• 5/17: Interview: Penguin Prison
• 5/16: Interview: Brian Regan
• 5/15: Richard Davies (Cardinal) Interviewed by Archie Moore
• 5/11: Interview: Horse Feathers' Justin Ringle
• 5/10: Reflections on a Conversation with Mickey Avalon
• 5/9: Inside the STYLELINER
• 5/8: The Politics of Mastodon
• 5/4: Preview: Mucca Pazza @ The Kennedy Center's "Look Both Ways" Festival