{"id":61459,"date":"2015-12-09T11:23:31","date_gmt":"2015-12-09T11:23:31","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.wonderlandmagazine.com\/?p=61459"},"modified":"2017-09-05T14:30:25","modified_gmt":"2017-09-05T14:30:25","slug":"profile-yacht","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.wonderlandmagazine.com\/2015\/12\/09\/profile-yacht\/","title":{"rendered":"Profile: Yacht"},"content":{"rendered":"

Following the release of their album\u00a0I Thought the Future Would Be Cooler<\/em>,\u00a0we sit down with conceptual-pop twosome, YACHT.<\/p>\n

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\"yacht-sweet-dream<\/a><\/p>\n

YACHT\u00a0aren’t your average LA pop-group. It all\u00a0began as the solo effort of Jona Bechtolt – as, of all things, a design studio operating under the acronym Young Americans Challenging High Technology – and when occasional Vice<\/em> contributor and polymath Claire L. Evans came aboard, took various guises throughout the 00s. The duo have been performance artists, electronic comedians, and even a “two-piece avant-garde karaoke group” \u00a0(no, me neither…).<\/p>\n

In their current form, though, they’ve released a string of critically acclaimed\u00a0albums (Shangri-La\u00a0<\/em>and\u00a0See Mystery Lights\u00a0<\/em>are particularly special) and spent the last two years recording their latest effort,\u00a0I Thought the Future Would Be Cooler.\u00a0<\/em>It’s an intelligent and self-assured album that’s a sometimes playful, sometimes earnest reminder of why YACHT\u00a0are one of the most exciting groups out there. We got the opportunity to talk to the duo about their artistic method, the weird world of YouTube personalities, and what it’s like to perform on an actual yacht.<\/p>\n

You guys are both vegan, is this an important aspect of your life style?<\/strong><\/p>\n

On a personal level, yes, although we don\u2019t make a big deal about it publicly. The way we see it, everyone will be vegan in 10\u00a0years.<\/p>\n

You refer to yourselves as a group of artists rather than a band, why?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Because \u201cband\u201d isn\u2019t the right word. Everything in the world with our name on it originates from our computers: web projects, essays, image manipulations, GIFs, video, design and merchandise. We make art objects and semi-narrative projects that extend the life of our music beyond the file. We have an app, an edition of neon signs, a fragrance, a line of sunglasses, we program films and throw large-scale events in Los Angeles. We\u2019re deeply passionate about making music, but in practice it is only part of what we do.<\/p>\n

Brilliant Christmas song. Do you find it weird living in LA at Christmas time then?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Los Angeles over the holidays is Los Angeles at its best: bright, crisp, empty.<\/p>\n

How much do you think your home of LA influences your music?<\/strong><\/p>\n

We might be too close to tell. Los Angeles is a wild and expansive place, and its identity is always shifting. We like being in the vertex of change, and the fact that this city is so many different things at once means that it\u2019s never imposed any kind of solid identity on us. What is an \u201cLA band\u201d? What is \u201cLA music\u201d? Nothing and everything.<\/p>\n

You\u2019re very responsive on social media, how much of an effect do you think it\u2019s had on your music.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Jona and I both come from DIY and punk scenes in the Pacific Northwest. We\u2019ve always done everything ourselves, because what we do is deeply personal and built on the idea of uplifting people through connection, and we see social media as an extension of that ethos. That\u2019s the positive part of social media on a small scale, the way it levels us. The negative part, occurring on a large scale, is extensively explored on the album: the way that leveling creates a false equivalence between personal performance, celebrity, geopolitical events, activism, and commerce.<\/p>\n