Jona Bechtolt
Encyclopedia
Jona Bechtolt is an electronic musician and multimedia artist based in Portland
, Oregon
, United States
. He is a former member of The Badger King and The Blow
, and has released solo records under the name Yacht
(sometimes printed as 'YΔCHT) since 2003. Nearly all of his recordings have been distributed by both Marriage Records
and States Rights Records
.
, Wisconsin
and was raised in Astoria
, Oregon
. Bechtolt began playing music as a teenager. He never attended high school, instead opting to play drums and tour the U.S. with his brother Joel Bechtolt in their punk
band, Allegro. He started working with electronics
in the late 1990s. He has been a vegetarian for most of his life and a vegan since 2000.
based art and technology platform Rhizome
, as part of their "Crap-tops vs Laptops" show. In February 2006, he performed at the Museum of Modern Art
's P.S. 1 Contemporary Art Center
and produced an hour-long internet radio program with Clear Cut Press
; a Northwest
-based publisher of new literary work.
In 2007, Yacht released I Believe in You, Your Magic Is Real on Marriage Records
. For the release party, Bechtolt performed a concert on an actual yacht on the Willamette River
in Portland.
His live performances include dancing to the music that he has created as well as elaborate PowerPoint
presentations. He documents his professional and sometimes personal life via video, text, and images on his blog.
In 2008, Yacht expanded to a duo with the induction of Claire L. Evans as a full member, contributing vocals to many of the songs on the 2009 album See Mystery Lights.
. This caused a "nerd flame war" with the makers of Audio Damage.
(PICA). He performed with his group The Badger King with bandmate M. Ritchey (a Wolf Colonel and Dear Nora
alumnus who went on to record alone as Manta, and then Mantar).
In 2006, Bechtolt collaborated with Khaela Maricich as half of the pop group The Blow to release Paper Television. Bechtolt toured extensively with The Blow, providing beats
and backup vocals until quitting the band in 2007 in order to focus on his work in YACHT.
He is a co-founder of the Portland-based popular blogging web community Urban Honking
as well as the producer, editor, cameraman and a writer of The Ultimate Blogger.
Portland, Oregon
Portland is a city located in the Pacific Northwest, near the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers in the U.S. state of Oregon. As of the 2010 Census, it had a population of 583,776, making it the 29th most populous city in the United States...
, Oregon
Oregon
Oregon is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is located on the Pacific coast, with Washington to the north, California to the south, Nevada on the southeast and Idaho to the east. The Columbia and Snake rivers delineate much of Oregon's northern and eastern...
, United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. He is a former member of The Badger King and The Blow
The Blow
The Blow is the moniker of Brooklyn, New York-based musician Mikhaela Yvonne Maricich, who has recorded several albums for K Records. Jona Bechtolt, aka Yacht, was also a member of The Blow from 2004 to 2007....
, and has released solo records under the name Yacht
YACHT (band)
YACHT is an American band from Portland, Oregon, Marfa, Texas, and Los Angeles, CA. The core group consists of Jona Bechtolt and Claire L. Evans, but expands to include musicians Rob "Bobby Birdman" Kieswetter, Jeffrey Brodsky and Katy Davidson as touring members.YACHT has released albums on...
(sometimes printed as 'YΔCHT) since 2003. Nearly all of his recordings have been distributed by both Marriage Records
Marriage Records
Marriage Records is a small, independent record label based in Portland, Oregon, USA. It was founded in late 2002 by Curtis Knapp and Adrian Orange. The first release was a cd-r entitled Nothing by Thanksgiving. Marriage releases vinyl records, compact discs, CD-Rs, tapes, skateboards, books,...
and States Rights Records
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" by Little Wings. Later that year, the label released "Tongue and Tooth" by The Badger King. Bobby Birdman, Yacht, Lucky Dragons, The Blow, The...
.
Background
Bechtolt was born in MadisonMadison, Wisconsin
Madison is the capital of the U.S. state of Wisconsin and the county seat of Dane County. It is also home to the University of Wisconsin–Madison....
, Wisconsin
Wisconsin
Wisconsin is a U.S. state located in the north-central United States and is part of the Midwest. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Michigan to the northeast, and Lake Superior to the north. Wisconsin's capital is...
and was raised in Astoria
Astoria, Oregon
Astoria is the county seat of Clatsop County, Oregon, United States. Situated near the mouth of the Columbia River, the city was named after the American investor John Jacob Astor. His American Fur Company founded Fort Astoria at the site in 1811...
, Oregon
Oregon
Oregon is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is located on the Pacific coast, with Washington to the north, California to the south, Nevada on the southeast and Idaho to the east. The Columbia and Snake rivers delineate much of Oregon's northern and eastern...
. Bechtolt began playing music as a teenager. He never attended high school, instead opting to play drums and tour the U.S. with his brother Joel Bechtolt in their punk
Punk rock
Punk rock is a rock music genre that developed between 1974 and 1976 in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia. Rooted in garage rock and other forms of what is now known as protopunk music, punk rock bands eschewed perceived excesses of mainstream 1970s rock...
band, Allegro. He started working with electronics
Electronic music
Electronic music is music that employs electronic musical instruments and electronic music technology in its production. In general a distinction can be made between sound produced using electromechanical means and that produced using electronic technology. Examples of electromechanical sound...
in the late 1990s. He has been a vegetarian for most of his life and a vegan since 2000.
Yacht
In January 2006, Yacht was commissioned for two performances for the New YorkNew York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
based art and technology platform Rhizome
Rhizome (art)
Rhizome is a not-for-profit arts organization, that supports and provides a platform for new media art.-History:Artist and curator Mark Tribe founded Rhizome as a small email list in 1996 while living in Berlin. By August, Rhizome had launched its website, which by 1998 had developed a significant...
, as part of their "Crap-tops vs Laptops" show. In February 2006, he performed at the Museum of Modern Art
Museum of Modern Art
The Museum of Modern Art is an art museum in Midtown Manhattan in New York City, on 53rd Street, between Fifth and Sixth Avenues. It has been important in developing and collecting modernist art, and is often identified as the most influential museum of modern art in the world...
's P.S. 1 Contemporary Art Center
P.S. 1 Contemporary Art Center
MoMA PS1 is one of the largest and oldest institutions in the United States dedicated solely to contemporary art. It is located in the Long Island City neighborhood of New York City...
and produced an hour-long internet radio program with Clear Cut Press
Clear Cut Press
- 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. Their mutual interest in cultural movements and the role of books lead to a discussion resulting in the press...
; a Northwest
Pacific Northwest
The Pacific Northwest is a region in northwestern North America, bounded by the Pacific Ocean to the west and, loosely, by the Rocky Mountains on the east. Definitions of the region vary and there is no commonly agreed upon boundary, even among Pacific Northwesterners. A common concept of the...
-based publisher of new literary work.
In 2007, Yacht released I Believe in You, Your Magic Is Real on Marriage Records
Marriage Records
Marriage Records is a small, independent record label based in Portland, Oregon, USA. It was founded in late 2002 by Curtis Knapp and Adrian Orange. The first release was a cd-r entitled Nothing by Thanksgiving. Marriage releases vinyl records, compact discs, CD-Rs, tapes, skateboards, books,...
. For the release party, Bechtolt performed a concert on an actual yacht on the Willamette River
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...
in Portland.
His live performances include dancing to the music that he has created as well as elaborate PowerPoint
Microsoft PowerPoint
Microsoft PowerPoint, usually just called PowerPoint, is a non-free commercial presentation program developed by Microsoft. It is part of the Microsoft Office suite, and runs on Microsoft Windows and Apple's Mac OS X operating system...
presentations. He documents his professional and sometimes personal life via video, text, and images on his blog.
In 2008, Yacht expanded to a duo with the induction of Claire L. Evans as a full member, contributing vocals to many of the songs on the 2009 album See Mystery Lights.
Software Piracy
In early 2009, Bechtolt stated during an interview published on that he uses pirated audio software for music production. He claimed to possess pirated copies of software made by Audio Damage and Propellerheads Software, and to have previously used pirated versions of Ableton LiveAbleton Live
Ableton Live is a loop-based software music sequencer and DAW for Mac OS and Windows by Ableton. The latest major release of Live, Version 8, was released in April 2009. In contrast to many other software sequencers, Live is designed to be an instrument for live performances as well as a tool for...
. This caused a "nerd flame war" with the makers of Audio Damage.
Other projects
In 2003, Bechtolt was commissioned to create a full length audio/visual electronic pop opera by the Portland Institute for Contemporary ArtPortland Institute for Contemporary Art
The Portland Institute for Contemporary Art in Portland, Oregon, United States was founded in 1996 by Kristy Edmunds, formerly the Director of the Portland Art Museum's "Art on the Edge" program...
(PICA). He performed with his group The Badger King with bandmate M. Ritchey (a Wolf Colonel and Dear Nora
Dear Nora (band)
Dear Nora was an indie pop band formed in Portland, Oregon in 1999 by songwriter, vocalist, and guitarist Katy Davidson, drummer and vocalist Marianna Ritchey, and bassist Ryan Wise. Ritchey and Wise were previously members of Wolf Colonel. They named their new band after Lewis & Clark College...
alumnus who went on to record alone as Manta, and then Mantar).
In 2006, Bechtolt collaborated with Khaela Maricich as half of the pop group The Blow to release Paper Television. Bechtolt toured extensively with The Blow, providing beats
Beat (music)
The beat is the basic unit of time in music, the pulse of the mensural level . In popular use, the beat can refer to a variety of related concepts including: tempo, meter, rhythm and groove...
and backup vocals until quitting the band in 2007 in order to focus on his work in YACHT.
He is a co-founder of the Portland-based popular blogging web community Urban Honking
Urban Honking
Urban Honking is an American webzine and pioneering blogging collective founded in 2001 by Steve Schroeder, Jona Bechtolt and Mike Merrill. The site and the community that has grown up around it are often collectively referred to by the contraction "UrHo" or "URHO."The site is based in Portland,...
as well as the producer, editor, cameraman and a writer of The Ultimate Blogger.
Solo (as YACHT and Y.A.C.H.T.)
- Mike's Crest (2003 States Rights RecordsStates Rights RecordsStates Rights Records is an independent record label founded in 2001 by Steve Schroeder. The Portland, Oregon label's premier release was "Come Along" by Little Wings. Later that year, the label released "Tongue and Tooth" by The Badger King. Bobby Birdman, Yacht, Lucky Dragons, The Blow, The...
) - Super Warren MMIVSuper Warren MMIVSuper Warren MMIV is an album released by Yacht on States Rights Records in 2004.-Track listing:#Jonathan Bechtolt - 0:30#SHTML - 3:45#Remember What This Feels Like - 4:40#I Needed a Change - 1:51#I Asked If We Could Have Sex One Last Time - 3:38...
(2004 States Rights RecordsStates Rights RecordsStates Rights Records is an independent record label founded in 2001 by Steve Schroeder. The Portland, Oregon label's premier release was "Come Along" by Little Wings. Later that year, the label released "Tongue and Tooth" by The Badger King. Bobby Birdman, Yacht, Lucky Dragons, The Blow, The...
) - MEGA (2005 Marriage RecordsMarriage RecordsMarriage Records is a small, independent record label based in Portland, Oregon, USA. It was founded in late 2002 by Curtis Knapp and Adrian Orange. The first release was a cd-r entitled Nothing by Thanksgiving. Marriage releases vinyl records, compact discs, CD-Rs, tapes, skateboards, books,...
) - Our Friends In Hell (2007 States Rights RecordsStates Rights RecordsStates Rights Records is an independent record label founded in 2001 by Steve Schroeder. The Portland, Oregon label's premier release was "Come Along" by Little Wings. Later that year, the label released "Tongue and Tooth" by The Badger King. Bobby Birdman, Yacht, Lucky Dragons, The Blow, The...
) - I Believe in You. Your Magic Is RealI Believe in You. Your Magic Is RealI Believe in You. Your Magic Is Real. is an album released by Yacht on Marriage Records in 2007. The final track is a cover of an Ivor Cutler song.-Track listing:#"So Post All 'Em" – 3:42#"See a Penny " – 3:41#"We're Always Waiting" – 3:02...
(2007 Marriage RecordsMarriage RecordsMarriage Records is a small, independent record label based in Portland, Oregon, USA. It was founded in late 2002 by Curtis Knapp and Adrian Orange. The first release was a cd-r entitled Nothing by Thanksgiving. Marriage releases vinyl records, compact discs, CD-Rs, tapes, skateboards, books,...
) - Summer Song EP (2008 DFA RecordsDFA RecordsDFA Records is an independent record label and production team, launched in September 2001 by Mo' Wax co-founder Tim Goldsworthy, musician James Murphy, and manager Jonathan Galkin. The label has an exclusive distribution deal with major record label EMI....
) - See Mystery Lights (2009 DFA RecordsDFA RecordsDFA Records is an independent record label and production team, launched in September 2001 by Mo' Wax co-founder Tim Goldsworthy, musician James Murphy, and manager Jonathan Galkin. The label has an exclusive distribution deal with major record label EMI....
) - Shangri-LaShangri-La (Yacht album)Shangri-La is the fifth album by Portland, Oregon-based musician Yacht . This is YACHT's second album to include Claire L. Evans....
(2011 DFA RecordsDFA RecordsDFA Records is an independent record label and production team, launched in September 2001 by Mo' Wax co-founder Tim Goldsworthy, musician James Murphy, and manager Jonathan Galkin. The label has an exclusive distribution deal with major record label EMI....
)
Appearances
- The Badger King, The Lighthouse, The Giant (2001, This Heart Plays Records)
- The Badger King, Tongue & Tooth EP (2002, States Rights Records)
- The Badger King, Break Up (2003, States Rights Records)
- Little WingsKyle Field (musician)Kyle Field is the artist behind the band Little Wings.Field was born in Alabama, the son of a college football coach, but his family quickly moved to California where he grew up to love surfing.-Music:...
, Magic Wand (2004, K RecordsK RecordsK Records is an independent record label in Olympia, Washington, co-founded, owned, and operated by Calvin Johnson, formerly of the bands Cool Rays, Beat Happening, The Go Team, The Halo Benders and presently in the bands Dub Narcotic Sound System and The Hive Dwellers...
) - The Blow, Poor Aim: Love Songs (2004, States Rights Records/Slender Means SocietySlender Means SocietySlender Means Society is an independent record label founded in 2004 by Zac Pennington, vocalist for the band Parenthetical Girls. The Portland, Oregon label's premier release was Parenthetical Girls' debut, "", in 2004...
/K Records) - Various Artists, Own Zone" (2004, States Rights Records)
- Devendra BanhartDevendra BanhartDevendra Obi Banhart is a singer-songwriter and visual artist. Banhart was born in Houston, Texas and was raised by his mother in Venezuela, until he moved to California as a teenager. He began to study at the San Francisco Art Institute in 1998, but dropped out to perform music in Europe, San...
, Cripple Crow (2005, XL RecordingsXL RecordingsXL Recordings is a British independent record label owned by Richard Russell. It originated as a 1989 offshoot of Beggars Banquet Records.Though only releasing an average of six albums a year, XL Recordings has worked with The Prodigy, Radiohead, The White Stripes, Dizzee Rascal, M.I.A., Vampire...
) - Mantar, Classic Battles (2005, Marriage Records)
- Calvin Johnson, "Before The Dream Faded..." (2005, K Records)
- Dirty ProjectorsDirty ProjectorsThe Dirty Projectors aka David Longstreth includes Amber Coffman , Angel Deradoorian , Brian McOmber , Nat Baldwin , and Haley Dekle during live performances...
, "The Getty Address" (2005, Western Vinyl) - Various Artists, Bro Zone (2005, States Rights Records)
- Bobby BirdmanBobby BirdmanBobby Birdman is musician Rob Kieswetter's stage name. Kieswetter is originally from Nevada City, California, and currently lives in Los Angeles, California. He has released albums on Hush Records, Not Not Fun, Fryk Beat, States Rights Records...
, Giraffes and Jackals (2006, States Rights Records) - The BlowThe BlowThe Blow is the moniker of Brooklyn, New York-based musician Mikhaela Yvonne Maricich, who has recorded several albums for K Records. Jona Bechtolt, aka Yacht, was also a member of The Blow from 2004 to 2007....
, Paper TelevisionPaper TelevisionPaper Television is the fourth LP from The Blow. It is also the band's first album as a duo consisting of Khaela Maricich and Jona Bechtolt. Previously, Khaela Maricich had been the sole member.-Track listing:# "Pile of Gold" – 2:12# "Parentheses" – 3:33...
(2006, K Records) - Architecture in HelsinkiArchitecture in HelsinkiArchitecture in Helsinki is an Australian indie pop band which consists of Cameron Bird, Gus Franklin, Jamie Mildren, Sam Perry, and Kellie Sutherland...
, We Died, They RemixedWe Died, They RemixedWe Died, They Remixed is a 2006 remix album of Australian band Architecture in Helsinki's 2005 release, In Case We Die. Each track from In Case We Die was remixed, with "Do the Whirlwind" featured twice...
(2006, Inertia) - David ShrigleyDavid Shrigley-Life and career:Shrigley was born in Macclesfield on 17 September 1968, the younger of two children born to Rita and Joseph Shrigley. Shrigley grew up in Oadby, Leicestershire, England...
, Worried Noodles (2007, TomlabTomlabTomlab is a German record label based in Köln. It has released works by bands such as The Books, Casiotone for the Painfully Alone, Deerhoof, Thee Oh Sees, Les Georges Leningrad, and acts associated with Blocks Recording Club, such as Final Fantasy, Ninja High School, and The Hank...
) - Various Artists, "Grown Zone/Groan Zone" (2007, States Rights Records)
- Panther, "Secret Lawns" (2007, Fryk Beat)
External links
- Official website
- Tumblr blog
- YACHT on MySpace
- Flickr Photostream
- Twitter feed
- Page on Marriage Records website
- Flickrblockrs
- AirMail
- YACHT Article at Exclaim!Exclaim!Exclaim! is a monthly Canadian music magazine that features in-depth coverage of new music across all genres with special focus on Canadian and cutting-edge artists...
Press
- Raw Investigations Interview, July 8 2010
- REDEFINE Magazine Interview, February 2010
- XLR8R Magazine interview, 2008
- Tiny Mix Tapes interview, 2008
- CH Video: YACHT, 2007
- Guest List on Pitchfork Media, 2007
- Austinist interview, 2007
- Idolator's 2007 Top 40 of Awesomeness
- Dummymag.com interview, Summer 2009
- Portland Mercury interview, 2006
- Portland Mercury interview, 2005
- TOUR DIARIES: YACHT performs in Brazil
- Interview on Radio Nowhere Ola's Kool Kitchen http://www.archive.org/details/OlasKoolKitchenOnRadioNowhereWithSweetRecipeOfTheWeekYacht