Jona Bechtolt (born December 2, 1980) is an electronic musician and multimedia artist based in

Portland Portland most commonly refers to: *Portland, Oregon, the most populous city in the U.S. state of Oregon *Portland, Maine, the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maine *Isle of Portland, a tied island in the English Channel Portland may also r ...

Oregon Oregon ( , ) is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is a part of the Western U.S., with the Columbia River delineating much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while t ...

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

, best known for his band YΔCHT. He is a former member of The Badger King,

Dirty Projectors Dirty Projectors is an American indie rock band from Brooklyn, New York, formed in 2002. The band is the project of singer-songwriter David Longstreth, who has served as the band's sole constant member throughout numerous line-up changes. The b ...

, and The Blow. YΔCHT began in 2003 as a vehicle for his solo work, but in 2008 became a duo with the addition of singer Claire L. Evans.

Background

Bechtolt was born in Madison,

Wisconsin Wisconsin ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest of the United States. It borders Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Michig ...

and was raised in Astoria,

. 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 or punks may refer to: Genres, subculture, and related aspects * Punk rock, a music genre originating in the 1970s associated with various subgenres * Punk subculture, a subculture associated with punk rock, or aspects of the subculture s ...

band, Allegro. He started working with

electronics Electronics is a scientific and engineering discipline that studies and applies the principles of physics to design, create, and operate devices that manipulate electrons and other Electric charge, electrically charged particles. It is a subfield ...

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 York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

based art and technology platform

Rhizome In botany and dendrology, a rhizome ( ) is a modified subterranean plant stem that sends out roots and Shoot (botany), shoots from its Node (botany), nodes. Rhizomes are also called creeping rootstalks or just rootstalks. Rhizomes develop from ...

, as part of their "Crap-tops vs Laptops" show. In February 2006, he performed at the

Museum of Modern Art The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) is an art museum located in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, on 53rd Street (Manhattan), 53rd Street between Fifth Avenue, Fifth and Sixth Avenues. MoMA's collection spans the late 19th century to the present, a ...

's P.S. 1 Contemporary Art Center and produced an hour-long internet radio program with Clear Cut Press; a

Northwest The points of the compass are a set of horizontal, radially arrayed compass directions (or azimuths) used in navigation and cartography. A '' compass rose'' is primarily composed of four cardinal directions—north, east, south, and west— ...

-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 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. Flowing northward ...

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.

Software infringement

In early 2009, Bechtolt stated during an interview that he uses unlicensed copies of audio software for music production. He claimed to possess unauthorized copies of software made by Audio Damage and

Propellerhead Software Reason Studios (formerly known as Propellerhead Software) is a music software company, based in Stockholm, Sweden. Founded in 1994, it develops the studio emulation digital audio workstation and audio plug-in Reason (software), Reason. Histor ...

, and to have previously used copied versions of

Ableton Live Ableton Live is a digital audio workstation for macOS and Windows developed by the German company Ableton. In contrast to many other software sequencers, Live is designed to be an instrument for live performances as well as a tool for compos ...

. 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 Art The Portland Institute for Contemporary Art (PICA) is a contemporary performance and visual arts organization in Portland in the U.S. state of Oregon. PICA was founded in 1995 by Kristy Edmunds. Since 2003, it has presented the annual Time-Bas ...

(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.

Discography

Solo (as Yacht and Y.A.C.H.T.)

*''Mike's Crest'' (2003, States Rights Records) *'' Super Warren MMIV'' (2004, States Rights) *''MEGA'' (2005, Marriage Records) *''Our Friends In Hell'' (2007, States Rights) *'' I Believe in You. Your Magic Is Real'' (2007, Marriage) *''Summer Song EP'' (2008,

DFA Records DFA Records is an American independent record label based in New York City. The label was originally founded in 2001 by Tim Goldsworthy, musician James Murphy (electronic musician), James Murphy, and manager Jonathan Galkin. Goldsworthy and Mur ...

) *'' See Mystery Lights'' (2009, DFA) *''

Shangri-La Shangri-La is a fictional place in Tibet's Kunlun Mountains, Uses the spelling 'Kuen-Lun'. described in the 1933 novel '' Lost Horizon'' by the British author James Hilton. Hilton portrays Shangri-La as a mystical, harmonious valley, gently ...

'' (2011, DFA) * '' I Thought the Future Would Be Cooler'' (2015, Downtown Records) * ''Chain Tripping'' (2019, DFA)

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 Wings, ''Magic Wand'' (2004,

K Records K Records is an independent record label in Olympia, Washington, founded in 1982. Artists on the label included early releases by Beck, Modest Mouse and Built to Spill. The record label has been called "key to the development of independent mu ...

) * The Blow, ''Poor Aim: Love Songs'' (2004, States Rights/ Slender Means Society/K Records) *Various Artists, ''Own Zone'' (2004, States Rights) *

Devendra Banhart Devendra Obi Banhart (born May 30, 1981) is an American singer-songwriter and visual artist. Banhart was born in Texas and raised in Venezuela and California. In 2000, he dropped out of the San Francisco Art Institute to pursue a musical career. ...

, ''Cripple Crow'' (2005,

XL Recordings XL Recordings is a British independent record label founded in 1989 by Tim Palmer and Nick Halkes. It has been run and co-owned by Richard Russell since 1996. It forms part of the Beggars Group. It releases an average of six albums a year. T ...

) * Mantar, ''Classic Battles'' (2005, Marriage) * Calvin Johnson, "Before The Dream Faded..." (2005, K Records) *

, "The Getty Address" (2005, Western Vinyl) *Various Artists, ''Bro Zone'' (2005, States Rights) * Bobby Birdman, ''Giraffes and Jackals'' (2006, States Rights) * The Blow, '' Paper Television'' (2006, K Records) * Architecture in Helsinki, '' We Died, They Remixed'' (2006, Inertia) * David Shrigley, ''Worried Noodles'' (2007, Tomlab) *Various artists, ''Grown Zone/Groan Zone'' (2007, States Rights) *Panther, ''Secret Lawns'' (2007, Fryk Beat)

References

External links

Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bechtolt, Jona American electronic musicians Dirty Projectors members Musicians from Portland, Oregon Artists from Oregon People from Astoria, Oregon 1980 births Living people