Yacht Club DJs bring their eclectic taste in friends and mashup tapes to the stage at the Hotel Great Northern this week.
Whats the mission for Yacht Club DJs?
Well we don’t really have one now. It’s mission accomplished because we have decided to put the project out to pasture. All that’s left is to come say hooroo to everyone and sink half the tins in Australia to celebrate.
Can you pick a mate by his mix tape? What does a mix tape say about a person?
Definitely. You can even pick out the difference between Guy and myself within our mix tapes. Especially the last one. If you’re any good at it and have something to express you should be able to get it out in a mix; that’s what makes good DJs, look up the Avalanches’ Some People mix for a sample, quintessential mix; it’s an absolute bloody clinic.
Could you love a woman with bad taste in music?
If you’re into a girl just because of the music she likes, she mustn’t bring too much to the table. Or you’re a rubbish bloke. People’s quibs are generally something you should grow to like, right?
Tell me how you go about sourcing tunes for your YC shows?
I wasted my childhood. I grew up in a nightclub nicking drinks from the fridge and listening to techno on weekends and playing in punk bands at school during the week. That’s pretty much still the music I like; other than that I just let my mates tell me what’s good and I tell them whether I like it or not. Some where in the middle of that Yacht Club popped out. Stuffed if I know how. But it’s been sweet.
What about ‘weird excessive nudity’? Will you deliver on your promise? It is Byron after all.
This has been part of our press release forever. I’m not sure what constitutes weird or excessive nudity. Maybe it was just our publicist saying I look crap with my shirt off. I tend to agree, but they were probably just looking too hard. Look, there’s always a danger, probably somewhere between the first time a beer touches my lips and the point where someone is stabbing a blowup dolphin, but saying it’s planned would make me a bloody galah.
How do you tailor a show to your crowd’s energy or expectation?
Panic. And luck. A little bit of skill but mostly panic and luck. Fake bravado never hurts, but that’s mostly panic and luck as well.
Has something ever gone horribly wrong at one of your shows? Do tell!
Yeah, I knocked the sound out of phase at a festival in Mackay when we were doing a live set. In layman’s terms we were on stage going off and thinking it was going great but all that was happening out the front was bass and nothing else. People started booing and throwing bottles and stuff. We didn’t realise till too late and it was pretty much the worst show in the history of music. But I’ll take it.
How do you pick your collaborating acts? Do they have to be on the same musical wavelength?
We tend to only work with friends. Makes life easy when they can just come around to your house and chill and something cool happens. Every time we have messed with this formula it’s usually ended up crap.
What should we expect for the Byron Show? Who’s coming with you?
This tour is basically just a big party to say hooroo and cheers to everyone who’s come and partied with us and supported us for the last decade. It’s been the best job ever and we’ve been able to get up to some ridiculous stuff. So yeah pretty much just saying cheers, having a few tins with all our legendary mates we’ve made around the country and having huge hangovers on the flights home. Think of it as a big going-away party that happens 14 times around the country. Byron is going to be massive as well with Surecut Kids coming along. They’ve been pals of ours since our first Queensland show and we couldn’t think of anyone better to come along. There might be others too if we can twist some arms. Then she’s of to Vegas, coupla days, Yiew!
Friday at the Hotel Great Northern with Special Guests Surecut Kids. Tickets from www.moshtix.com.au or 1300 GET TIX (438 849).
