| Jona Bechtolt | |
|---|---|
| Background information | |
| Birth name | Jonathan Warren Bechtolt |
| Also known as | YACHT |
| Born | December 2, 1980 |
| Origin | Portland, Oregon, United States |
| Genres | Indie rock, Disco, Grunge, Electropop, Glitch |
| Years active | Since 2003 (as YACHT) |
| Labels | DFA Records, States Rights Records, Marriage Records |
| Website | www.teamyacht.com |
Jona Bechtolt (born December 2, 1980) 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.
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Bechtolt was born in Madison, Wisconsin and was raised in Astoria, Oregon. Bechtolt began playing music as a teenager[1]. 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.[1] He started working with electronics in the late 1990s.[1] He has been a vegetarian for most of his life and a vegan since 2000.
In January 2006, YACHT was commissioned for two performances for the New York 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[1] 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[2] on the Willamette River in Portland.
His live performances include dancing to the music that he has created[3] 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.[4]
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 Live.[5] This caused a "nerd flame war" with the makers of Audio Damage.[6]
In 2003, Bechtolt was commissioned to create a full length audio/visual electronic pop opera by the Portland Institute for Contemporary Art (PICA).[1] 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.