For Yacht Club DJs, the last six years have seen five glorious mixtapes, thousands of shows, international tours (not least of which, a sold out run through the US with Mumford & Sons) and hundreds of thousands of plays online.  Not bad for a duo out of Ballarat that have never technically released a song.

The duo are on the eve of releasing their debut EP titled No. 1 (out April 11 on Create/Control), taken from the EP is the lead single Undertow.  Featuring the vocal prowess of Josh Haire (Them 9’s), Undertow took shape in a makeshift mattress fort at Yacht Club HQ, before landing in the ever-capable hands of Woody Annison (Dune Rats, Hunting Grounds) for mixing/mastering.

“We’ve always wanted to release original material, but I think for both of us, it’s never been something we wanted to force,” explains Gaz Harrison. “It’s just something that felt right, and we have finally done something that we both agree on and something that represents what we actually like.  It doesn’t mean we’re changing directions or anything, it just means we’ve got another prong to what we do.”

The band are about to head off on an East Coast tour to celebrate the release of their mixtape The Oddity Number 5 which was released in March as a lead-in to the new EP. Talking about touring we ask Yacht Club member Guy Chappell to list what he believes to be the ‘Greatest Backstage Riders From History’, this could potentially be the only time Bob Dylan and Screech from Saved By The Bell have been mentioned in the same list.

Bob Dylan

“First up, my favourite… Bob Dylan. For the never-ending tour he seems to have been on since the 60s his rider has rarely changed from clean towels, running water and an ashtray.”

Mariah Carey

“For Mariah Carey aka ‘the ultimate diva’ it seems rather unsurprising that she expects 20 white kittens and vitamin water to bathe them in. Also, no busy patterns on furniture or harsh lighting. I think she is holding back for her farewell tour in which she will no doubt insist on a different dressing room every night styled like her favourite TV sitcom living rooms (in chronological order, of course).”

Dustin Diamond aka ‘Screetch’

“Poor old Dustin Diamond, better known as ‘Screetch’ from Saved By The Bell stipulates that his eponymous character must never be mentioned in any any press related to his appearances, and especially not around him. Failure to enforce this rider will result in him personally issuing a $100 fine per offence!” Though not ‘technically’ a rider, this fact is wild enough we’ll let it slide.

Love Eminem?

Get the latest Eminem news, features, updates and giveaways straight to your inbox Learn more

Iggy Pop

“Iggy Pop and the Stooges have had a long-running list of ridiculous since the 70s. Their current rider is entitled, “Marvellous and most informative document: Including utterly confusing comments and asides”. It suggests they be greeted with seven dwarves (size not important as “attitude”), broccoli to promptly throw in a bin, a life-sized cut out of Ron Howard or “you know, the ugly, baldy one out of Happy Days”, sensible chairs with “a grip on reality / feet on the floor”.

Finally the following is expected of lighting: “I can promise you that our singer (Iggy Pop, by the way) will make it look like all your lights are attempting to jump off the front of the stage like a gang of par 64 lemmings. He’ll be all over the place, like a mad woman’s shit, so you don’t have worry about moving lights.”

Eminem

“Eminem currently needs a wooden pond to be built before his arrival to house his special touring Japanese koi fishes.”

M.I.A

“Finally, M.I.A. insists on having three dancers dressed in head to toe black burkas. They are instructed to simply, ‘groove to the music.”

Yacht Club Djs’ Best Rider So Far…

“One night on the Mumford & Sons tour we did last year, they left a local school in charge of all the artist riders – so we received the following: An enormous banner with our name on it covered in pictures of Spongebob and Patrick and boat stickers, at least 30 different types of candy, a 5kg bag of carrots, all inflatable furniture, a marmalade and jam gift basket and a slab of silly string.”

Yacht Club Djs’ ‘Ultimate Rider’ request

“That Mumford one was pretty close. I can go deep on tea so some weird tea flavours is always a win. Fresh donuts from Glazed in New York was an even bigger win. Karl Stefanovic reading jokes of his that haven’t quite landed would be the ultimate.”

Yacht Club Djs ‘Oddity Number Five’ East Coast Tour

Friday April 11 – Elsewhere, Gold Coast
Saturday April 12 – Oh Hello, Brisbane
Sunday April 13 – Beach Hotel, Byron Bay
Thursday April 17 – Karova Lounge, Ballarat
Friday April 18 – Prince Bandroom, Melbourne
Thursday April 24 – Oxford Art Factory, Sydney

Get unlimited access to the coverage that shapes our culture.
to Rolling Stone magazine
to Rolling Stone magazine