We caught up with YACHT to discuss their new album, See Mystery Lights (DFA Records), the influence of secret societies, their cat Wiki and more!

Name: Claire L. Evans and Jona Bechtolt: YACHT. Age: Together, we’re 57 years old. YACHT is seven years old. Favorite flavor ice cream: Ice cream is unclean.

LISTEN WHILE YOU READ! YACHT | Summer Song Please do not hot link this MP3. Please use this link instead (right-click to copy).

I’m from: We are more “We” than “I.” As such, we have no one single geographic point of origin. However, YACHT keeps all its material possessions and its cat, Wiki, in an apartment in Portland, Oregon.

But I live in: A constant stage of change.

And work at/doing: YACHT.

My first job was:
Jona: Joyfully restocking the candy aisle at my parents’ gas station in Astoria, Oregon.
Claire: Irresponsible, anxiety-ridden babysitting.

My worst job was: YACHT.

Right before we perform we: Repeat our mantra, think of the eternal darkness and picture ourselves as the smallest pinpoint of light, slowly expanding as we walk to the stage until there is a blinding explosion with the first instant of sound.

We know it’s going to be a good show when: We already know, because we can’t go into a show expecting anything less.

While we perform we: Attempt to catalyze the event into something larger than the event.

Right after we perform we: Hold hands and consider what we have done, then try to completely forget it.

My favorite shape is: The Shining Delta, the Masonic equilateral triangle.

My least favorite color is: Grey.

The weirdest thing that’s ever happened during a show: YACHT shows are strange the majority of the time. A recent favorite was an encounter with a doe-eyed practitioner of Transcendental Meditation after referencing Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. She really changed things for us.

Shop at: http://www.modestclothes.com and http://www.shopstandingup.us/

And read: The Secret Teachings of All Ages, by Manly P. Hall. It’s an encyclopedic history of secret societies, esoteric religious groups, and gnostic Mysteries written in the mid 1920s. It’s very long and full of arcane language (and sometimes veers into absurdly dubious Pyramid and Atlantis shit) but it completely changed the way we look at mythology and and religion. Very heavy.

If I’m at a super fun party I really hope I have: One cannabis cigarette, one 12oz. can of Cherry Coke, and some of our pamphlets to hand out.
For those of you who cannot be at the super-fun party (wait, is it happening right now?), here is our most recent piece of literature.

My favorite topic for small talk is: Software piracy or Triangles.

If I had a million dollars I would: Buy the now-defunct Venus Project compound in Venus, Florida, and move all our operations into a modular bubble home surrounded by tropical fruit. Plus we could really build on those decades of futuristic utopian research.

If I was to be stuck on an island indefinitely I would need: Nothing. We have all we need. Well, some Cherry Coke.

If I could only eat one thing for the rest of my life it would be: Raw energy or coffee grounds.

Favorite gadget: The Internet.

I am influenced by: All things honest.