Biography

Jona Bechtolt is the founder of YACHT, a decades-spanning art project disguised as a band. YACHT has released seven full-length albums and many singles, EPs, and other ephemera.

YACHT stands for Young Americans Challenging High Technology, and asks questions and answers them with records, texts, videos, objects, installations, scores and performances.

YACHT have created an unplayable compact disc, published a philosophical handbook, built a 62-foot video installation, designed an eyewear collection, created a fragrance, campaigned against NSA surveillance, programmed large-scale public art activations, and given presentations in art museums, universities, festivals, tech conferences, and rock clubs worldwide.

YACHT's seventh album, Chain Tripping, composed in collaboration with machine learning researchers and tools, was nominated for a GRAMMY Award for Best Immersive Audio Album in 2020. An accompanying documentary, The Computer Accent, produced by YACHT, premiered at CPH: DOX in 2022.

Jona's music has been placed in films and television; he has made commissioned compositions for brands like Dolby, Apple, Google, Instagram, and MTV.

Jona was co-founder of the app 5 Every Day, which published five things to do in Los Angeles every day for seven years and produced events at The Getty, LACMA, and the La Brea Tar Pits.
- IMDb mini biography by: Jona Bechtolt