In case you're wondering, it's pronounced "towers."

Sean Thompson, the 20-year-old wunderkind producer behind the "ttwwrrss" moniker explains: "It's my own fault, really. I wanted to set up a Twitter account under the name 'Towers,' but it was already taken. I tried taking the vowels out ('twrs'), but that was also taken. So I just doubled the letters."

No stranger to defying expectations, the Mississauga-born, Hamilton-raised artist launched his career with a prodigious output. "My first live gig was in December 2012," he recalls. "Around that time, I decided I was going to release one EP per month. I only kept that up for about 6 months," he laughs.

His laughter underscores an unassuming personality. "I've always wanted to be creative," he continues. "When I was a kid, I wanted to be a cartoonist. I still love cartoons — I watch the Simpsons an unhealthy amount," he admits.

Sean's parents bought him a drum kit when he was 8. "I loved it — I went to lessons and everything," he explains. "A few years later I learned guitar, although I was never really good at it."

And then he discovered computers.

"I was 14, and Nine Inch Nails had put all the stems for The Slip up on their website," Sean recalls. "I started messing around with the tracks — just butchering them," he laughs. "Most of my early efforts were just me trying to sound like Nine Inch Nails and throwing in a synthesized bass or drum."

The experience marked the beginning of an obsession with crafting electronic music. "Once I discovered you could make music with programs like Ableton Live, I just tried to make music whenever I could," notes Sean. "In high school, I would sneak my lunch into the library so I could use the whole 70 minutes to make music."

Sean credits the online community for his evolution as an artist. "When I started making electronic music, it was in an EDM (electronic dance music) style. But then I started getting involved in these small internet scenes where people were making something more interesting — still electronic music, but more moody, combining downtempo, hip hop and these other cool things," he explains. "I'd always been into a lot of different kinds of music — not just EDM, but other genres too. That kind of open creative approach really meshed with my own aesthetic. I think that’s when the ttwwrrss thing became more serious. I felt there was this community that I could make these weird, creative electronic dance tracks with. I felt drawn to that type of music."

Sean's ability to craft interesting yet accessible music hasn't gone unnoticed by critics. "Anyone who has attended a 'beat showcase' or a DJ set where the sets have meandered off into a far, far, sonic landscape that only audiophiles can truly appreciate will know what I mean by 'accessible'. You'll want to listen to these songs," notes Hamilton tastemaker blog Cut From Steel.

And ttwwrrss' sound continues to evolve. "My MacBook has crashed twice since I've gotten it — I lost everything both times," explains Sean. "I had to rebuild my entire sample library. It forced me to progress as an artist," he reflects. "Basically my sound is always changing, because I'm growing and getting better at some things and learning and trying new things." Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.