YACHT’s music may be an infusion of distorted synths and calculated electronic beats, but off-stage the group takes a more organic and hands-on approach.
Sitting in the basement of Ritual Nightclub after a show that ended in an on-stage dance party Feb. 22, YACHT vocalist Claire Evans was cutting a merchandise sign with an Exacto knife.
“We do a lot of things ourselves in a really hands-on way,” said Evans, who joins multi-instrumentalist Jona Bechtolt in the Portland, Ore. electro-dance group.
The group manages itself and makes its own signs, website, T-shirts, and hand pressed posters, Bechtolt said. “We made a fragrance for the first time, which bands our size have never done before,” Evans said. “It’s only been Usher and Britney Spears.”
“The grand fantasy of the perfume is that it’s the morning after a temple ritual somewhere in Los Angeles, in the hazy disconnected reality outside of time, and the temple is on fire and the flowers are all smashed on the ground,” Evans said, after some encouragement from Bechtolt.
Ottawa trio Silkken Laumann were the first to take the stage at Ritual. The self-described “house-punk” band is made up of ex-The Acorn bandmates Rolf Klausener, Pat Johnson, and Carleton music graduate Adam Saikaley, who joined the project a year ago. Concert-goers may have also recognized them from Carleton’s annual architecture event, Milieux, in December.
YACHT’s drummer Jeffrey Brodsky, who performed under the moniker “Jeffrey Jerusalem,” opened for the band. The Massachusetts native breezed through his repertoire of “song-oriented discopop” before the rest of the band took the stage.
Although the event drew a small turnout, YACHT members were taken aback by the fans who came out to catch a glimpse of their work.
After driving for hours through “nothingness,” everything just seemed worthwhile when they arrived at their destination and hung out with their fans, Evans said.
“It’s a labour of love with YACHT,” she said.
