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Laptop-music magician YACHT, otherwise known as Jona Bechtolt, was previously half of the infectious duo The Blow. Now, Bechtolt is breaking out on his own, taking his unique mix of clap-happy sunshine and grunge-y beats on a long worldwide tour. Recently, Bechtolt performed to a tightly packed crowd at Williamsburg record store SoundFix's intimate, dimly lit lounge. A dangerous, microphone-wielding Bechtolt bumped and thrashed through the audience in a short set post-McCarren Park performance, which included "See a Penny (Pick it Up),” a scream-battle performance of "The Summer Song" assisted by gal-pal Claire Evans, and striking up conversation about his one-eyed, 21-year-old cat Whiskers. Taking us out with an encore grunge tune from his debut solo album, I Believe in You, Your Magic is Real, the cramped crowd managed to move their feet and toss their hair around in a throwback-to-Nirvana way.

~Text by Leann Peterson and film by Garrett Pruter

Special thanks to Sound Fix