JJ: How long have you been with MP3.com? Also, what does "Tycho" stand for?

Tycho: I'd have to say almost four years--almost right when it started. I've actually been making music for about five, or six. My early stuff under a different name, it was nothing I'm really proud of. I switched over to the name Tycho, and did some House songs early on, then Trip Hop, so it's changed over time. As for the name, Tycho Brahe was a 16th century Danish astronomer. I was reading books that talked a lot about him, and my Dad's side of the family is of Danish lineage, so the name just worked at the time.

JJ: Interesting...I'm curious...what's the scene in Sacto like? Have you connected with more MP3.com artists there, or elsewhere?

Tycho:I'm a Sacramento native, but never really knew there was much of a scene there. Actually, through MP3.com, I'd look through the sites, see who else was here, check out their music and say, "I like your stuff, check mine out, let's trade sites." There are some I'm in touch with. Chachi Jones (mp3.com/ChachiJones) and Dusty Brown, and a few other artists.

I plugged into the scene that way, collaborating with them. There's a nice, tight-knit community in Sacramento of like-minded artists doing some really cool stuff. I wound up living a couple miles from those people, even though I met them through the Internet, and it's been a great influence. It's also been a great way to meet people all over the world.

JJ: What's the significance of the title of your latest release ("The Science of Patterns")?

Tycho: Well, it's literally the definition of mathematics: "the study of patterns." And music, itself, plays on the same idea. I want to put the organic, natural feeling into the music. At the same time, everything in nature is a pattern. Everything is dictated by science. The music I feel is a melding of science and nature. In reality, they are both the same thing.

JJ:Very true...on the music thread, what's in your CD/MP3 player right now?

Tycho: I've been listening to a lot of Air and Zero 7, and Elliott Smith. I've gotten really big into him. He actually inspired me to go out and buy an acoustic guitar, just a couple of months ago.

Hopefully I'll be incorporating that into the music in the near future.I've been playing piano since I was a kid, just messing around for fun, but I was never really serious about music until I was about 19 and that's what really pushed me and gave me the desire to create.