The "WHAT?"
Yachtbounce in its purest form is the perfect fusion of Yacht Rock and NOLA BOUNCE music. The beauty of the genre is it takes the whitest music of my lifetime and mixes it with the blackest music of my lifetime, forming the ULTIMATE gray genre. Its smooth music thrown onto the streets and forced to fight for its survival.
The idea for the genre was contrived by a small group of friends on a late night bender. It seemed hilarious at the time to meld these two completely opposite musical styles (it was & still is). Well... I sat on the idea for months, always keeping it in the back of my mind until one day I re-watched the Yacht Rock videos. That was all the inspiration it took for me to kickstart my plan of creating this new sub-genre. Yacht Bounce also had a cinematic influence... the movie "Step Brothers". As you all know the movie has multiple nautical references punctuated by the Prestige Worldwide video, "Boats & Hoes" and the meme "F*ckin' Catalina Wine Mixer".
So I released my first two tracks, "Africa" ~ Toto (Yacht Bounce Remix) & "Boats & Hoes" ~ Huff & Dobach. "Africa" was the confirmation that this genre is valid, and "Boats & Hoes" outlines the philosophy & whimsy of the movement. In a small pocket notebook, lie the scribblings of what was to become Yachtbounce. The music turned into something really fun for me to make and/or playback to myself. I never expected anyone else but these select few people to like it, much less vibe out to it. I'm immensely pleased that I was wrong about that last statement.
The "HOW?"
Yachtbounce is made by combining the Triggerman Break, Brown Beats, and Rock the Beat as is all traditional NOLA Bounce music. I make everything using Ableton Live and my initial tracks were made on a ten inch Asus eee PC netbook. We pull from a specific group of tracks from a specific era: 1975-1983. It has grown to include any retro song that meets either the smoothness quotient or the milquetoast quotient.
For all people thinking of putting out a Yachtbounce remix, ask yourself these questions:
Could I see myself listening to this on a boat?
Have I watched the Yacht Rock series?
Have I seen "Step Brothers"?
Is the original song smooth?
Could you see the finished song being used in an 80's movie?
Are you prepared to buy some boat shoes?
Do you think Hall & Oates is rad?
Does this remix contain Triggerman, Brown Beats and/or Rock the Beat?
If you answered yes to 6 or more of these questions, Yachtbounce just might be for you.
The "WHY?"
The simple answer to this question is "WHY NOT?" People have been remixing popular music pretty much since the "club dj" has existed. If you search for any popular song, you'll find House Remixes, Hip Hop remixes, Dubstep remixes, Bmore remixes, etc... Its time for Bounce to be recognized in this trend. "Why yachtbounce?" Yachtbounce gives NOLA Bounce remixing a genesis for the time-period from which to draw from and the focus on the "traditional" way of producing bounce music. When I go about making a remix, I transport myself back to the beginning of Bounce in the early 90's in NOLA. Its like THAT.
Its time to truly put NOLA Bounce on the map by flipping and remixing old songs in the tradition of BMORE CLUB music which coincidentally was established in the same time period. The major difference between B-More & Bounce at the time were that B-More was a deejay driven genre focusing on remixes, while Bounce was more artist driven genre focused on making original songs. This, to me, is what's significant about Yachtbounce. It is fueling an amazing new wave of deejays "dipping into the pool" and making and releasing new Bounce remixes of older songs.
OK, now let's be real... Not every remix of an older song should be labeled Yacht Bounce. You remixed Marvin Gaye, James Brown, Diana Ross, etc...? You remix Slayer, Helmet, Tool, Metallica? THAT'S NOT YACHTBOUNCE! Its a Bounce Remix. By all means, I WHOLEHEARTEDLY ENCOURAGE ANY AND ALL NOLA BOUNCE REMIXES. LET'S KEEP THIS GOING! TO BE, OR TO YACHT TO BE... THAT is the question.
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Monday, June 20, 2011
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