Performing under the name Tycho, Scott Hansen creates thick, swirling electronic music with his many synthesizers. Hansen also works as an independent graphic designer, and often weaves the two together to create a unique experience that engulfs the audience in light, color and sound.

Assistant Diversions Editor Allison Hussey talked to Hansen about his design work, his music and how he integrates each into the other.

Diversions: You’re very heavily involved in both music and graphic design, which one of those came first for you?

Scott Hansen: They kind of grew out of each other to a certain extent. I think visual art is a lot more stressful — at least for me it was — I’ve always drawn as a kid, and I didn’t make make music until my early 20s, but that was when I was kind of starting to get into graphic design, so that music came right about the same time.

Dive: Do you have specific processes for creating each of these? How interconnected are they?

SH: I think the process is pretty much one and the same. I can draw a lot of parallels between them, just the softwares for both of those have very similar ways of going about things.

But for me in particular, I think that they’re basically very heavily linked, and I see them as kind of the same process.

Dive: Who are some of your biggest inspirations for your visual art?

SH: Visually, I guess it’s sort of a sum total of a lot of the design that I’ve come into contact with in my early life. Fillmore West style and music posters, things like that that I’ve come across just naturally, just growing up in California.

Then, later — I didn’t go to school for design, I just started studying on my own, through the Internet and stuff, and just a lot of stuff like the Swiss modernist stuff, and all that sort of work started to creep in and influence me a lot.

Dive: Do you have anyone with whom you really want to collaborate?

SH: I’ve always liked the idea of working more with vocals, and I recently got the chance to do a remix for Little Dragon. I just love her voice.

As far as anybody, it would be working with her again or possibly — I’m not sure of the name, but the lead singer of Blonde Redhead.
Dive: Of your many synthesizers, what would you say is your favorite?

SH: My favorite is probably the Korg Mono/Poly. I probably use it the most, and it’s just got a really unique sound that helps me.

But I have a Minimoog too that just has a really classic sound. So, those two in a sense, a “desert island” sense, I think.

Dive: What can an audience expect when they come to see you live?

SH: Now there’s a band. There’s a bassist, guitarist — it’s one guy, Zac Brown, he was on some of the album as well. He plays bass and guitar, I play guitar and keyboards, and then we have a drummer, Roy O’Connor.

And then we have a large screen with projections, I’ve created visuals and music from my design work and footage and photography, that’s kind of all wrapped together.

What I want them to experience is sort of this submersive audio-visual experience, to kind of get transported away and see the music and the visual work come together. That’s the whole idea of the live show, is to have those things merge.