Biography
Over a prolonged development, YACHT shifted from Jona Bechtolt's one-man endeavor of lighthearted home-studio rhythms into a tight unit devoted to dancefloor-oriented pop. The project originated with material Bechtolt created while still active in the Blow, the K Records outfit, before vocalist and performance artist Claire L. Evans came aboard as the second member. As a synth-pop pair, they examined technology, dystopian futures, and digital-age commitment across releases that included the 2015 set I Thought the Future Would Be Cooler.
Bechtolt launched his music pursuits as a teenager, leaving high school to drum in a touring punk group alongside his brother before turning to electronics in the late 1990s. He later formed the Blow with Khaela Maricich, whose bright fusion of beats and unconventional melodies earned a devoted audience once the first of their several K Records albums appeared in 2002. That same year he introduced YACHT through the largely instrumental Super Warren MMIV, issued on States Rights Records. The following year he delivered the 10-inch vinyl album Mega 10" via the Marriage label, later reissued on CD with a companion DVD of his digital films. Spring 2007 brought the third YACHT full-length, I Believe in You. Your Magic Is Real.
Outside YACHT and the Blow, Bechtolt has served as collaborator or accompanist to Devendra Banhart, Bobby Birdman, Mirah, Little Wings, the Microphones, and additional artists, while also remixing tracks for Architecture in Helsinki and White Rainbow. He founded the Urban Honking blog collective, directed the online reality-show satire The Ultimate Blogger, and produced commissioned performance works for New York City's New Museum of Contemporary Art and the Portland Institute of Contemporary Art.
By 2008 Bechtolt had expanded YACHT into a duo by enlisting vocalist and science writer/theorist Claire L. Evans, who contributed to the 2009 release See Mystery Lights, which earned strong critical notice. The pair maintained their partnership with the 2011 DFA album Shangri-La and subsequent singles that encompassed “Second Summer” in 2012 plus “Plastic Soul” and “Where Does This Disco?” in 2014. For the follow-up I Thought the Future Would Be Cooler they enlisted Rob Kieswetter—also known as Bobby Birdman and a member of YACHT’s live band—to shape their most overtly pop-oriented recording to date, issued in late 2015 on the Downtown label. In 2016 the group staged an elaborate hoax that revolved around a fabricated sex video supposedly leaked without permission by the couple Evans and Bechtolt; the ruse initially drew wide coverage before its exposure triggered substantial criticism for insensitivity. Although the episode harmed their standing, the band continued and resurfaced in 2019 with the seventh album Chain Tripping on DFA.
Bechtolt launched his music pursuits as a teenager, leaving high school to drum in a touring punk group alongside his brother before turning to electronics in the late 1990s. He later formed the Blow with Khaela Maricich, whose bright fusion of beats and unconventional melodies earned a devoted audience once the first of their several K Records albums appeared in 2002. That same year he introduced YACHT through the largely instrumental Super Warren MMIV, issued on States Rights Records. The following year he delivered the 10-inch vinyl album Mega 10" via the Marriage label, later reissued on CD with a companion DVD of his digital films. Spring 2007 brought the third YACHT full-length, I Believe in You. Your Magic Is Real.
Outside YACHT and the Blow, Bechtolt has served as collaborator or accompanist to Devendra Banhart, Bobby Birdman, Mirah, Little Wings, the Microphones, and additional artists, while also remixing tracks for Architecture in Helsinki and White Rainbow. He founded the Urban Honking blog collective, directed the online reality-show satire The Ultimate Blogger, and produced commissioned performance works for New York City's New Museum of Contemporary Art and the Portland Institute of Contemporary Art.
By 2008 Bechtolt had expanded YACHT into a duo by enlisting vocalist and science writer/theorist Claire L. Evans, who contributed to the 2009 release See Mystery Lights, which earned strong critical notice. The pair maintained their partnership with the 2011 DFA album Shangri-La and subsequent singles that encompassed “Second Summer” in 2012 plus “Plastic Soul” and “Where Does This Disco?” in 2014. For the follow-up I Thought the Future Would Be Cooler they enlisted Rob Kieswetter—also known as Bobby Birdman and a member of YACHT’s live band—to shape their most overtly pop-oriented recording to date, issued in late 2015 on the Downtown label. In 2016 the group staged an elaborate hoax that revolved around a fabricated sex video supposedly leaked without permission by the couple Evans and Bechtolt; the ruse initially drew wide coverage before its exposure triggered substantial criticism for insensitivity. Although the episode harmed their standing, the band continued and resurfaced in 2019 with the seventh album Chain Tripping on DFA.
Albums
2019
2020
Chain Tripping
2019
Breeze Thru
2018
I Thought The Cooler Would Be Future
2016
I Thought The Future Would Be Cooler
2015
Where Does This Disco?
2014
Singles
