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Interview: YACHT

Currently a two-piece, YACHT (they're pretty explicit about the name being capitalized) first cropped up in the Portland scene in 2003 as the moniker of Jona Bechtolt. He was in a punk band before ...
2009-10-29 13:10:00


Currently a two-piece, YACHT (they're pretty explicit about the name being capitalized) first cropped up in the Portland scene in 2003 as the moniker of Jona Bechtolt. He was in a punk band before but decided to get all arty and do a solo Electronica thing. It happens. Throughout the early '00s he was involved in various projects usually on K Records, before getting in some production work with this band called The Blow.

Bechtolt left The Blow in 2007, and after a brief stint with YACHT as a one-man act (he played the Yue Festival in 2007), he's since Voltron-ed with Claire L. Evans, who adds more vocals to group. They've been signed to label-du-jour DFA Records, and in the past year and a half, they've exploded in a big way. If you peruse the MySpace, they've got reviews from people like the New York Times, Rolling Stone, The Guardian, Village Voice, and Vanity Fair characterizing them as the second coming of Christ. Here's some songs:

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And here's a teaser of the Halloween remix of one of YACHT's tracks by local DJ/impresario/bassist R3:

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Want free tickets to their show this Friday? Email us here with "Gimme Free YACHT tickets" in the subject line and we'll set you up on the guest list like a true playa VIP. We've got four slots to give away, but only one per IP addy. Get into it.. All the free tixxxx have been claimed. Thanks to the people who wrote in.

And here's an interview with Jona and Claire in which they discuss various topics, YACHT-related and non.

***

SmSh (to Jona): So it's been two years since you were last in China. What have you been up to? I guess the new YACHT stuff is a significant break with the earlier stuff. We hear you guys are king and queen of the world now...

Jona: Since its inception, we have been working nonstop on YACHT the band, performance, video, writings, and belief system. The past two years have included Claire being added to the fold as a full-time contributor, which was an entirely organic process, and the two of us sharing an experience that has not only shaped all of our output, but our entire lives. This was our viewing and living among the Mystery Lights in the Far West Texas desert of Marfa, Texas.

We approach all we do with great humility, so while we are deeply flattered that you jokingly perceive us as a King and Queen, we remain peasants of the Universe.

SmSh: How are you guys talking the overwhelmingly positive accolades? Onwards and upwards? Conflicted?

Claire: We're very moved by the positive reception our album has had in the press. We don't necessarily believe this to be a detriment to the previous YACHT releases -- they were simply motivated by different ideas, and as such affected people differently. See Mystery Lights is the most visible piece of an entire system of thought and belief that we are only now beginning to fully develop, and we're thrilled that the collective consciousness is willing to embrace it. It makes our work much easier, to say the least.



SmSh: How is the tour going? Do the aliens follow you around?

Jona: Outside of touring, I haven't traveled at all. Each day feels like a blessing and a new beginning in a world of discovery. I hope to never take touring and traveling the world for granted. Our shows are getting more and more out of control and overwhelmingly powerful, both on our end as we find our way as performers, and as the audience grows, becomes familiar with our songs, and participates in ways most concert-goers are afraid to participate.

We aim to provide something like a whole new way of life. A whole new subculture of people sharing ideas, goals, and an alternative spirituality.

We've yet to feel the presence of aliens, but some kind of spirit is definitely with us at all times.

SmSh (to Jona): Are you looking forward to being back in China? What do you remember about the shows you did here in 2007? Anything stick out in your mind as particularly exciting? Good anecdotes?

Jona: I remember very little of 2007. I played over 200 shows, more than a show every other day, for an entire year. I left 2007 completely exhausted and the only memories I have are documented on teamyacht.com as blog entries and videos I produced while on the tour "forever." After Claire and I saw the Lights in Marfa, it was as if all of that exhaustion burned away and we were suddenly armed with the tools to bring YACHT on tour as a duo for all of eternity. 2008 and 2009 have proved this to be true. 2010 will include even more spirits to provide even larger audiences with a familiar "band" mirage that we will use to our benefit as the perfect delivery system to achieve our goals.

SmSh: It seems like Europe has really embraced you guys. Why do you think that is? Do you think that it's because dance music in general has been bigger Europe for the last two decades or so?

Claire: It's difficult to know WHY people like you, if they do. We have had some of the most transcendent, dancing-on-the-tables experiences of our lives in Europe, but we've also stared out into a sea of disaffected faces many times as well. We attribute any waves of positive success to an equal amount of dedication, effort, and repetition. It's like training dogs. You try again and again, until you find the right kind of reward (the "treat") that they want. There are places where the treat hasn't been found. There are others where we arrive with bushels of it, and throw it out into a hungry crowd.

SmSh: How did the two become one? How did Claire join?

Claire: From the moment we met, in 2004, we've been collaborators. Before doing YACHT together, we made videos, performances, bands with other names which shall remain unnamed, websites, and meals. We traveled together and shared our skills with one another as much as we could: each was a resource for the other. The movement for me (Claire) to join the band happened organically, without effort. It simply made sense at the moment to devote my energies more coherently to a project I was already, by virtue of proximity, intimately involved with.

There was a catalyst, however. We came together to make the 2009-era YACHT after sharing a very powerful, supernatural experience together: the Marfa, Texas, "Mystery Lights." We saw them first on a journey across the country, and we were completely devastated by the presence of such a profound mystery. It completely reorganized our belief system, as well as our naive understanding of the Universe. We realized that for centuries of humankind, even the most banal phenomena in the world were inscrutable mysteries, before magic became science. In this information-rich world, and for people like us who grew up with access to computers, whose entire lives have been influenced by constant access to knowledge, the mystery that the Marfa Lights represents is very powerful. It's a perspective-changing experience. YACHT could never be the same afterwards, so we devoted ourselves to making music which reflected what we were feeling, the things we were meditating about in the presence of these Lights.

SmSh (to Claire): I read this in another recent interview:

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