Tycho

Scott Hansen’s Grammy nomination for his fourth Tycho album, Epoch, legitimised his career as a working musician. The closing chapter in a trilogy of releases, beginning with the critically acclaimed Dive in 2011, the producer returned to San Francisco following a relentless touring cycle to embark on a process of self-discovery, rebuilding his home studio and adopting a more streamlined working process.

Prior to recording the latest album, Weather, Hansen rediscovered his love for ’90s dance music and began making a set of demos, but something was missing – a vocalist to spark the next evolution in Tycho’s sound. Hansen eventually settled for Saint Sinner’s Hannah Cottrell, taking Tycho into unchartered waters and reconceptualising a project that had only just reached its peak.

Did your Grammy nomination for Epoch change how you perceived yourself as a musician and your motivation to make music?

“It was definitely a legitimising factor. It was like, ‘Oh, I guess I am a real musician now’. Before, I had that imposter syndrome because I’d never touched a musical instrument until I was 20. It also took a bit of pressure off because I felt I could make whatever I wanted. I never thought in a million years the word ‘Grammy’ would be something I would ever be associated with. I wasn’t shooting for that either, but something about it had a calming effect.”

You subsequently focused on your health and developed different working practices…

“I was burning it at both ends. I’d stay up working until 7am and that mindset is dangerous because you tend to sleep poorly for five hours, wake up and start the whole cycle again. I just tried to create a healthier structure, putting in the same amount of hours but doing it the right way, which helped a ton in terms of being more focused and not having to drink copious amounts of coffee.”

Does the album title ‘Weather’ relate to that sense of change?

“I think it’s about this sense of being helpless to what