Yacht (stylized as YACHT, Y△CHT or Y▲CHT) is an American

dance-pop Dance-pop is a popular music subgenre that originated in the late 1970s to early 1980s. It is generally uptempo music intended for nightclubs with the intention of being danceable but also suitable for contemporary hit radio. Developing from a ...

band from

Portland, Oregon Portland (, ) is a port city in the Pacific Northwest and the largest city in the U.S. state of Oregon. Situated at the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers, Portland is the county seat of Multnomah County, the most populous co ...

, currently based in

Los Angeles, California Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

. The core group consists of

Jona Bechtolt Jona Bechtolt (born December 2, 1980) is an electronic musician and multimedia artist based in Portland, Oregon, Portland, Oregon, United States, best known for his band Yacht (band), YΔCHT. He is a former member of The Badger King, Dirty Project ...

and Claire L. Evans, and when touring expands to include Bobby Birdman. Yacht has released albums on States Rights Records,

Marriage Records Marriage Records is a small, independent record label formed in Portland, Oregon. It was founded in 2001 by Curtis Knapp and Adrian Orange. The label has released a number of albums by musicians such as Adam Forkner, Dirty Projectors, Little Wings ...

DFA Records DFA Records is an American independent record label founded in 2001 by Mo' Wax co-founder Tim Goldsworthy, musician James Murphy, and manager Jonathan Galkin. They previously had a production team called The DFA, consisting of Goldsworthy and ...

, and

Downtown Records Downtown Records is an American record label based in New York City with offices in Los Angeles. Owned and operated by Josh Deutsch and Terence Lam, the label is distributed by Geffen Records (formerly Interscope Records and The Orchard) in the ...

History

Early history

Bechtolt chose the name YACHT in reference to Y.A.C.H.T., an alternative school in Portland, Oregon. Bechtolt told ''

Spin Spin or spinning most often refers to: * Spinning (textiles), the creation of yarn or thread by twisting fibers together, traditionally by hand spinning * Spin, the rotation of an object around a central axis * Spin (propaganda), an intentionally b ...

'', "It stands for Young Americans Challenging High Technology. It refers to an education program that was held in Portland, Oregon. I was enrolled when I was 16, back in 1996."

2002–2007

YACHT was Bechtolt's solo project from 2002 to 2008. During this period, he released three albums, ''

Super Warren MMIV ''Super Warren MMIV'' is the debut studio album from YACHT, released on States Rights Records States Rights Records is an independent record label founded in 2001 by Steve Schroeder. The Portland, Oregon label's premier release was "Come Along ...

'', ''

Mega Mega or MEGA may refer to: Science * mega-, a metric prefix denoting 106 * Mega (number), a certain very large integer in Steinhaus–Moser notation * "mega-" a prefix meaning "large" that is used in taxonomy * Gravity assist, for ''Moon-Eart ...

'' and '' I Believe in You. Your Magic Is Real'', on record labels in the Pacific Northwest area. In January 2006, YACHT was commissioned for two performances for the

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

based art and technology platform

Rhizome In botany and dendrology, a rhizome (; , ) is a modified subterranean plant stem that sends out roots and shoots from its nodes. Rhizomes are also called creeping rootstalks or just rootstalks. Rhizomes develop from axillary buds and grow hori ...

, as part of its ''Crap-tops vs Laptops'' show. In February 2006, YACHT performed at the

Museum of Modern Art The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) is an art museum located in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, on 53rd Street between Fifth and Sixth Avenues. It plays a major role in developing and collecting modern art, and is often identified as one of ...

P.S. 1 Contemporary Art Center MoMA PS1 is a contemporary art institution located in Court Square in the Long Island City neighborhood in the borough of Queens, New York City. In addition to its exhibitions, the institution organizes the Sunday Sessions performance series, the ...

and produced an hour-long Internet radio program with

Clear Cut Press Clear Cut Press was a small press based in Astoria, Oregon. About Clear Cut Press was founded by novelist Matthew Stadler and Up Records co-founder Rich Jensen in 2002. Jensen began talking to Stadler while taking a poetry class in 1997. The ...

, a Northwest-based publisher of new literary work. In April 2006, the Aurora Picture Show commissioned a YACHT performance as part of its Media Archeology Festival in Houston, Texas. For the 2007 release of ''I Believe in You. Your Magic Is Real'' by

, Bechtolt performed a concert on an actual yacht on the

Willamette River The Willamette River ( ) is a major tributary of the Columbia River, accounting for 12 to 15 percent of the Columbia's flow. The Willamette's main stem is long, lying entirely in northwestern Oregon in the United States. Flowing northward b ...

in Portland, Oregon. In October the same year, YACHT played at one of China's earliest music festivals, Yue, organised by

Split Works Split(s) or The Split may refer to: Places * Split, Croatia, the largest coastal city in Croatia * Split Island, Canada, an island in the Hudson Bay * Split Island, Falkland Islands * Split Island, Fiji, better known as Hạfliua Arts, enterta ...

. Live performances during this period included dancing along to music as well as elaborate

PowerPoint Microsoft PowerPoint is a presentation program, created by Robert Gaskins and Dennis Austin at a software company named Forethought, Inc. It was released on April 20, 1987, initially for Macintosh computers only. Microsoft acquired PowerPoi ...

presentations.

2008–2010

Yacht @ Wellington Square (1 3 2009) (3336273343)

In 2008, YACHT became a duo with the introduction of longtime collaborator Claire L. Evans as a full member. She contributed vocals to many of the songs on the 2009 album ''

See Mystery Lights ''See Mystery Lights'' is the fourth album by Portland, Oregon-based band Yacht. It is the first Yacht release to feature the band's eventual frontwoman, Claire L. Evans, as a full-time member. The album's cover art was designed by Boyd Elder. ...

'', YACHT first full-length release on DFA Records. The album cover was designed by the Texas-based artist

Boyd Elder Harold Boyd Elder (January 12, 1944 – October 6, 2018), was an American artist. Born in El Paso, Elder was raised by Hal Elder and Billye Lee Bell Elder with brothers Kenneth Mack Elder and Howard Stanton Elder. Boyd Elder studied at Burges Hig ...

, who had previously designed album art for

The Eagles The Eagles are an American rock band formed in Los Angeles in 1971. With five number-one singles and six number-one albums, six Grammy Awards and five American Music Awards, the Eagles were one of the most successful musical acts of the 1970s ...

. Pitchfork rated ''See Mystery Lights'' an 8.5, calling it "a triumph", and ''Rolling Stone'' wrote that YACHT "split the different between Talking Heads and electro pop, and make a breakthrough album of digital ear candy." It was chosen as a "Critic's Choice" by ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' critic Nate Chinen. During this period, YACHT began publicly discussing their personal philosophy, and published a book called ''The Secret Teachings of the Mystery Lights: A Handbook on Overcoming Humanity and Becoming Your Own God'' which explained their beliefs, a list of which is maintained on their website. In January 2010, YACHT added a live band, The Straight Gaze, consisting of the musicians Rob " Bobby Birdman" Kieswetter and Jeffrey Brodsky to their live show. This incarnation is known as YACHT and the Straight Gaze.

2010–2013

In November 2011, YACHT worked with the Youtuber and longtime YACHT supporter Mitchell Davis on their music video for the song "I Walked Alone". In June 2011, YACHT released ''

Shangri-La Shangri-La is a fictional place in Asia's Kunlun Mountains (昆仑山), Uses the spelling 'Kuen-Lun'. described in the 1933 novel ''Lost Horizon'' by English author James Hilton. Hilton portrays Shangri-La as a mystical, harmonious valley, ge ...

'', their second album on DFA Records. They made a double video for its first two singles, "Utopia" and '"Dystopia (The Earth Is on Fire)", directed by the experimental filmmaker and documentary maker

Rene Daalder Rene Daalder (born René Daalder 3 March 1944 in Texel, North Holland, died December 31, 2019, sometimes credited as Renee Daalder) was a Dutch writer and director. He lived in Los Angeles. Originally a protégé of Russ Meyer, Daalder has worked ...

. In 2012, they recorded "Le Goudron", a cover version of the

Brigitte Fontaine Brigitte Fontaine, (born 24 June 1939) is a singer of avant-garde music. She has employed numerous unusual musical styles, melding rock and roll, folk, jazz, electronica, spoken word poetry, and world. She has collaborated with Stereolab, Mich ...

song (1969). In early 2013, the retailer

Kohls Kohl's (stylized in all caps) is an American department store retail chain, operated by Kohl's Corporation. it is the largest department store chain in the United States, with 1,165 locations, operating stores in every U.S. state except Hawa ...

used YACHT typeface imagery and lyrics from "Shangri-La" on a series of T-shirts made available online, until the band notified the company about possible legal liabilities. In an August 2012 interview with ''New York Music News'', Evans explained the YACHT band, business and belief system: "YACHT is the name we give to all the projects we do together. Usually that’s recording and performing music, but as we emphasize in our axiom of "band, business, and belief system," there are both materialistic and metaphysical dimensions to our work. It's full-spectrum." In December 2012, the band celebrated its 10th anniversary by releasing the single "Second Summer". The video was produced by the Fox animation studio,

Animation Domination Animation Domination (also called AniDom, Fox AD, and AD) is an American animated programming block which has aired in two iterations on the Fox broadcast network, featuring a lineup solely made up of prime-time animation and adult animation carr ...

. This song also appeared in video game The Sims 3. In August 2013, the band released " Party at the NSA," a song satirizing the

National Security Agency The National Security Agency (NSA) is a national-level intelligence agency of the United States Department of Defense, under the authority of the Director of National Intelligence (DNI). The NSA is responsible for global monitoring, collecti ...

's unwarranted surveillance of private citizens, and donated all proceeds from sales of the song online to the

Electronic Frontier Foundation The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) is an international non-profit digital rights group based in San Francisco, California. The foundation was formed on 10 July 1990 by John Gilmore, John Perry Barlow and Mitch Kapor to promote Internet ci ...

. The comedian

Marc Maron Marcus David Maron (born September 27, 1963) is an American stand-up comedian, podcaster, writer, actor, and musician. In the 1990s and 2000s, Maron was a frequent guest on the '' Late Show with David Letterman'' and has appeared more than forty ...

plays the guitar solo on the song. YACHT and the design blog Nothing Major created a T-shirt of the "Party at the NSA" artwork, of which sale proceeds were also donated to the EFF.

2014–2015

In 2014, YACHT signed to

, and released an EP, "Where Does This Disco". To accompany the release, YACHT designed a limited-edition compact disc that served as commentary on the obsolescence of the medium. They discussed the project at

WIRED ''Wired'' (stylized as ''WIRED'') is a monthly American magazine, published in print and online editions, that focuses on how emerging technologies affect culture, the economy, and politics. Owned by Condé Nast, it is headquartered in San Fra ...

's WIREDxDesign conference in October 2014. WIRED called the project "music not as a thing in itself, but the beginning of a chain of experiences which had no edge." On October 16, 2015, YACHT released ''I Thought The Future Would Be Cooler'', their first full-length album on

. The release was preceded by a series of technological subversions, including a drone-captured video of a billboard, a website which sent fans faxes of the album artwork, and video that only played when

Uber Uber Technologies, Inc. (Uber), based in San Francisco, provides mobility as a service, ride-hailing (allowing users to book a car and driver to transport them in a way similar to a taxi), food delivery (Uber Eats and Postmates), package ...

prices were surging in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

. The campaign was nominated for two Webby Awards.

2016–present

On May 9, 2016 it was reported a

sex tape Amateur pornography is a category of pornography that features models, actors or non-professionals performing without pay, or actors for whom this material is not their only paid modeling work. Reality pornography is made porn that seeks to em ...

with Claire Evans and Jona Bechtolt was leaked and the romantically involved couple responded by admitting to making the tape then saying they are taking some control over distribution by selling it for $5 on their website. It was later revealed that the leak of the sex tape was a hoax designed to promote the band. The duo admitted to the hoax and released a video inspired by combining a sex tape with ''

The X-Files ''The X-Files'' is an American science fiction on television, science fiction drama (film and television), drama television series created by Chris Carter (screenwriter), Chris Carter. The series revolves around Federal Bureau of Investigation ...

''. The stunt was criticized by many media outlets. Lizzie Plaugic wrote for ''The Verge'': "By successfully getting news organizations to give coverage to this hoax, they've lent credence to the very real and persistent assumption that victims of sex crimes are doing it only for the attention." Anna Merlan from Jezebel said, "What YACHT did is troll people's innate sense of horror, disgust and compassion when confronted with a terribly violating crime. This is one of the grossest publicity stunts I've ever seen." “We have nothing but regrets about it,” Claire Evans said about the stunt in 2019. “Obviously it was a mistake." After this incident YACHT took time off from music. They co-founded the Triforium Project, an effort to revitalize a piece of "polyphonoptic" public art in Los Angeles called the

Triforium (Los Angeles) ''Triforium'' is a 60-foot high, concrete public art sculpture mounted with 1,494 Venetian glass prisms, light bulbs, and an internal 79-bell carillon located at Fletcher Bowron Square in the Los Angeles Mall at Temple and Main streets in the C ...

. They won a major grant to reimagine the artwork with a temporary installation and a series of live performances featuring dozens of Los Angeles-based artists and musicians. YACHT released the album ''Chain Tripping'' on August 30, 2019, using

artificial intelligence Artificial intelligence (AI) is intelligence—perceiving, synthesizing, and inferring information—demonstrated by machines, as opposed to intelligence displayed by animals and humans. Example tasks in which this is done include speech re ...

processes to help compose the songs, write lyrics, and create artwork, videos, typography, and press photographs, in collaboration with artists including Ross Goodwin, Allison Parrish, Tom White, and

Mario Klingemann Mario Klingemann (born 1970 in Laatzen, Lower Saxony) is a German artist best known for his work involving neural networks, code, and algorithms. Klingemann was a Google Arts and Culture resident from 2016 to 2018, and he is considered as a pione ...

, and machine learning researchers. The album was nominated for a

GRAMMY Award The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pres ...

for Best Immersive Audio Album.

Band members

– vocals, programming, guitar, drums, bass guitar, percussion, claps, synthesizers, keyboards, piano, effects * Claire L. Evans – vocals When performing live, YACHT is accompanied by the following band members: * Rob " Bobby Birdman" Kieswetter – vocals, bass guitar, keyboard * Jeffrey Brodsky – drums, percussion (left band in 2015) * Katy Davidson – guitar, keyboard, vocals (no longer with YACHT)

Discography

Studio albums

* ''

'' (2004) * ''

'' (2005) * ''

I Believe in You. Your Magic Is Real. ''I Believe in You. Your Magic Is Real.'' is an album released by YACHT on Marriage Records in 2007. To promote the album, frontman Jona Bechtolt performed a live show on a yacht. Background While he recorded ''I Believe in You. Your Magic Is Rea ...

'' (2007) * ''

'' (2009) * ''

'' (2011) * '' I Thought the Future Would Be Cooler'' (2015) * ''Chain Tripping'' (2019) * ''Sub Versions'' (2021)

Other releases

* ''Mike's Crest'' (2003) States Rights Records * ''The Winter Is Coming Jam'' (2004) States Rights Records * ''Radio Sessions'' (split CD with

Lucky Dragons Lucky Dragons is an experimental music group consisting of Luke Fischbeck and Sarah Rara. Based in Los Angeles, California, the band are noted for their unusual sound, described as having the ability to make "'everyday sounds' become alluringly ...

) (2004) Ultra Eczema * ''We Float Around, Hang Out On Clouds'' (Black Label collaborative LP with Lucky Dragons)12" split (2005)

* ''Our Friends in Hell'' (August 2007) States Rights Records * ''Instrumentals 2007'' (December 2007) Marriage Records * "Summer Song" 12" single (August 2008) DFA * ''Don't Put Out'' igital 457" single (cover versions of songs from ''

Ladies and Gentlemen, the Fabulous Stains ''Ladies and Gentlemen, The Fabulous Stains'' is a 1982 Teen film, teen Musical film, musical Drama film, drama film about three teenage girls, played by Diane Lane, Laura Dern and Marin Kanter, who start a punk rock, punk band. The film also fea ...

'' soundtrack) (June 2009) Marriage Records * ''See Mystery Lights (Instrumentals)'' (July 2009) DFA * ''Anthem of the Trinity'' (August 2009) States Rights Records * "Psychic City" 7" single (August 2009) DFA - UK Sales No. 71 * ''iTunes Session'' (February 2010) DFA * "The Afterlife" 7" single (May 2010) DFA * ''Utopia (Remixes)'' (July 2011) DFA * "Dystopia (Remixes)" 12" single (October 2011) DFA * ''Shangri-La (Instrumentals)'' (October 2011) DFA * "I Walked Alone (Remixes)" 12" single (November 2011) DFA * ''Shangri-La (Remixes)'' (February 2012) DFA * ''Le Goudron'' (cover version of a

song) (April 2012) DFA * "Second Summer" (single) (December 2012) DFA * "Plastic Soul" single (January 2014) DFA * ''Where Does This Disco?'' (September 2014)

* ''Strawberry Moon'' EP (October 2017)

References

External links

* * blog on TrustYacht.org * * statistics, tagging and previews at

Last.FM Last.fm is a music website founded in the United Kingdom in 2002. Using a music recommender system called "Audioscrobbler", Last.fm builds a detailed profile of each user's musical taste by recording details of the tracks the user listens to, e ...

Claire L. Evans' blog on the ScienceBlogs.com Network

Interview with Claire from The Conversation on October 30,2012

YACHT gave a talk about their creative process and diverse projects at CreativeMornings, a monthly global lecture series
{{DEFAULTSORT:Yacht American dance music groups American electronic musicians Dance-punk musical groups DFA Records artists Downtown Records artists