Andy Bothwell is Astronautalis — one of the many artists breaking stereotypes and defying genres lately. His music is a mix of indie rock, rap, folk and country, but he said he will always consider himself a rapper.

The 23-year-old skinny, pale boy from Jacksonville, Fla. has a strong resemblance to Chris Martin of Coldplay and raps to electronic indie rock beats. Think Death Cab for Cutie with Eminem replacing Ben Gibbard on vocals and you might come within range of Astronautalis' sound.

His first album, "You and Yer Good Ideas," was released independently by Bothwell more than two years ago but was only available at live performances. The album was just re-released by Fighting Records this summer.

Bothwell has a slight southern drawl and his soft rapping is clever and catchy at the same time. In "Gaston Ave.," the first track, he sings/raps/speaks the lyrics set to a dreamy pop-rock beat.

"Oceanwalk" has a great melodic chorus, which repeats a few times throughout the song. Astronautalis is evidence that rap can be melodic, folksy and pretty and still be considered rap.

Bothwell has been performing as Astronautalis for about eight years, ever since he came up with the name as a sophomore in high school.

"Picking a name that's unique that no one has been using before is a struggle every rapper goes through," he said. "I went four names and was frustrated as hell in 10th grade. I just ended up looking through a dictionary and crammed 'astronaut' and 'alis' together."

He said he's not too happy with the name now, but isn't famous enough "to change it to a figure like a dollar sign … maybe one day. It's a goal to shoot for."

Once Astronautalis was born, Bothwell began participating in as many freestyle battles as he could and built up a name for himself when he won several. He began touring extensively via Warped Tour. He did it for three summers and said it was the best way to get his music out there.

"The mentality of punk rock kids at Warped Tour is usually to be open and accepting as fans," he said. "It's like a carnival atmosphere and you have to hustle to get people to watch you, draw people in."

He said once people start listening, they get excited about the music because he's "the little guy, the unknown band, the band no one knows. They get to introduce friends to 'their' band. It works pretty well."

Astronautalis' fans vary from city to city, he said. "We'll get nothing but crazy inner city rap kids in Baltimore then all punk rock kids in Boston and then some places there will just be indie rock kids. It's all over the place, but it's how we got our foot in the door."

Bothwell doesn't like putting his music into any category but insists he thinks of all his music as rap music.

"I write like a rapper, think like a rapper, but I know a lot of people listen to it and it won't even come across their minds as rap music," he said. "My music has obvious genre differences though, I don't think there's a classification for everybody."

Bothwell describes his live show as just himself and a DJ. "It's pretty over the top," he said. "There's a lot of freestyle and frenetic energy. I like to get it all out on stage."

He wants to begin incorporating a band and has every intention of touring with a full band for his next album, which will come out in February or March, he said.

His new album will go even further from rap with more singing and instruments, but he said, "It's tough to get away from rhyming, it's like pulling teeth."

Once Astronautalis finished his first album, he said he got bored with it and wants to take things in a different direction this time.

"It's much more exciting for me and everyone in the audience," Bothwell said. "The new record will be a lot bigger and more full with a band."