yacht rock jason lee

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Jason Michael Lee (born April 25, 1970) is an American actor and former professional skateboarder. Lee is best known for his roles in the films of director Kevin Smith and the television show My Name Is Earl .

• 1 Roles in View Askew Films
• 2.1 Early life
• 2.2 Skateboarding
• 2.3.1 Television success
• 2.4 Personal life
• 3.1 Upcoming films
• 4 Television work
• 5 References
• 6 External links

Roles in View Askew Films [ ]

• Lance Dowds in Clerks II
• PR Exec #1 in Jersey Girl
• Brodie Bruce and Banky Edwards in Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back
• Azrael in Dogma
• Dennis Pepper in A Better Place
• Banky Edwards in Chasing Amy
• Brodie Bruce in Mallrats

Biography [ ]

Early life [ ].

Lee was born in Orange County, California, the son of Carol (née Weaver), a homemaker, and Greg Lee. [1] He was raised in Huntington Beach and attended Ocean View High School.

Skateboarding [ ]

Lee was a prominent professional skateboarder in the late 1980s and early 1990s. Notable tricks performed by Lee included: 360 flips, kickflip backside tailslides, and curb cut launched Japan airs. He was co-founder of Stereo Skateboards with Chris Pastras in 1992; the pair revived the company in 2003 after it had been defunct for several years. Chris Pastras' first Stereo Skateboard was famously thrown into a sulfur pit as part of the company's edgy advertisement campaign. [2]

Lee and Tony Hawk were the first two skateboarders to receive a pro model shoe with Airwalk and also professional contracts with Element Skateboards. [3] [4] He had a part in the 1991 Blind skateboards video Video Days , shot by Spike Jonze. He also lent his voice and likeness to the skateboarding video-game Tony Hawk's Project 8 .

In 2004, Jason Lee's skateboarding was featured in the video "Way Out East!", a video by his company, "Stereo" Skateboards.

Acting career [ ]

After taking some minor acting roles, including the Jonze-directed Sonic Youth music video for "100%", in 1992 and a small part in Allison Anders' 1993 film Mi Vida Local , Lee left professional skating for a full-time acting career. His first major movie role was in Kevin Smith's Mallrats which became a cult hit. He remained a close friend of Smith and has appeared in most of the director's works, including Chasing Amy , Dogma , Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back , Jersey Girl , and Clerks II . Lee won an Independent Spirit Award for his role in Chasing Amy as Banky Edwards, a comic book inker.

Lee graduated to leading man roles in Heartbreakers (alongside Jennifer Love Hewitt) and Stealing Harvard (alongside Tom Green) as well as A Guy Thing (alongside Julia Stiles). He has had supporting roles in Vanilla Sky , Almost Famous as an egotistical rock star, Dreamcatcher , Big Trouble , The Ballad of Jack and Rose , and Mumford , as well as a minor role in Enemy of the State . Lee also voiced the supervillain Syndrome in the animated movie The Incredibles and its DVD bonus video Jack-Jack Attack . Lee reprised the role as a "robot copy" of Syndrome in the 2006 Disney on Ice play Disney Presents Pixar's The Incredibles in a Magic Kingdom Adventure . He is also the voice of Underdog in Underdog , and plays Dave Seville in the film Alvin and the Chipmunks.

On January 28, 2008, Jason Lee guest appeared as Kevin Bacon on internet rock comedy show Yacht Rock. [5]

Television success [ ]

Lee was offered the lead role in the 2005 NBC sitcom, My Name Is Earl . According to interviews on the first season DVD, he passed on the series twice before finally agreeing to read the pilot. In the series, Lee stars as Earl Hickey, a petty thief who finds karma and sets out to put right all his past wrongs. The series received critical acclaim and strong ratings on its debut (September 20, 2005). A hit for NBC, the show was quickly ordered for a full season — the first sitcom of the season to do so. Several months later, it was renewed for a second season. Lee received a Golden Globe nomination for Best Performance by an Actor in a Television Series — Musical or Comedy as well as a nomination for the Screen Actors Guild Award for Best Actor in a Comedy Series. The third season saw appearances from past cast members as well as celebrities such as comedian Howie Mandel and actress Alyssa Milano and The Incredibles co-star Craig T. Nelson. My Name is Earl ended in 2009 after 4 seasons.

Earl's brother Randy is played by Ethan Suplee, with whom Lee previously appeared in the movies Mallrats , Chasing Amy , Dogma , and Clerks II .

Personal life [ ]

Lee married actress and photographer Carmen Llywelyn in 1995, but they divorced in 2001. August 10th, 2008, Lee and his fiancée Ceren Alkaç gave birth to a daughter. [6]

Lee has a substantial collection of rare motorcycles which he rides daily. He owns a rare post-war custom Falcon Motorcycle which he unveiled on May 3, with its builder at this year's Legend Of The Motorcycle. [7]

Lee is a member of the Church of Scientology and is on the Board of Advisors for the Citizens Commission on Human Rights, an organization founded by the Church of Scientology "dedicated to investigating and exposing psychiatric violations of human rights."

Filmography [ ]

• "Video Days" (1991)
• My Crazy Life (1993)
• Mallrats (1995)
• Drawing Flies (1996)
• Chasing Amy (1997)
• A Better Place (1997)
• Kissing a Fool (1998)
• American Cuisine (1998)
• Enemy of the State (1998)
• Dogma (1999)
• Mumford (1999)
• Almost Famous (2000)
• Heartbreakers (2001)
• Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back (2001)
• Vanilla Sky (2001)
• Big Trouble (2002)
• Stoked: The Rise and Fall of Gator (2002) (documentary)
• Stealing Harvard (2002)
• A Guy Thing (2003)
• Dreamcatcher (2003)
• I Love Your Work (2003)
• Oh, What a Lovely Tea Party (2004) (documentary)
• Jersey Girl (2004)
• Ninth November Night (2004) (short subject)
• The Incredibles (2004) (voice)
• The Ballad of Jack and Rose (2005)
• Drop Dead Sexy (2005)
• Clerks II (2006)
• Rising Son: The Legend of Christian Hosoi (2006) (documentary)
• Monster House (2006) (voice)
• Underdog (2007) (voice)
• The Man Who Souled the World (2007) (documentary)
• Alvin and the Chipmunks (2007) as David "Dave" Seville

Upcoming films [ ]

• Noah's Ark: The New Beginning (2008) (voice)
• The Other Side (2008) (voice)

Television work [ ]

• Hiatus (1996) (unsold pilot)
• Weapons of Mass Distraction (1997)
• My Name Is Earl (2005 – 2009)
• Celebrity Family Feud (2008) as Earl

References [ ]

• ↑ Jason Lee Biography | TVGuide.com
• ↑ Powerful Pro Shoes- What are some of the top-selling skate shoes of all time?
• ↑ My First Paycheck - Jason Lee
• ↑ Episode 11: Footloose
• ↑ EXCLUSIVE: My Name Is Earl Star Jason Lee Has Baby Girl!
• ↑ Legend Of The Motorcycle Press Release

External links [ ]

• Jason Lee at IMDb
• Interview conducted November 2006
• Jason Lee at DMOZ
• LA Weekly interview May 9, 2007
• 1 Superman Lives
• 2 Dante Hicks
• 3 Rebecca Scott

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Confessions of a Cover Band: Yacht Rock Revue croons the hits you love to hate

"I never would've guessed I'd be doing what I'm doing now. The 23-year-old me would punch me in the face."

One night in 2012, a man in a Ronald Reagan mask paused beneath a stop sign in the Old Fourth Ward. Armed with a stencil and a can of white spray paint, he transformed the sign into a tribute to a 1978 hit by a mostly forgotten Canadian pop crooner named Gino Vannelli: “I just wanna STOP & tell you what I feel about you, babe.”

“I Just Wanna Stop” is the kind of song whose words most Americans over 40 know despite never consciously choosing to listen to it. After peaking at no. 4 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1978, the tune never quite disappeared, becoming the aural equivalent of a recurring wart. The song found a second life—an endless one, as it turns out—in the musical nether region where the smooth, soft-rock hits of yesteryear remain in heavy rotation. Yes, that’s “Africa” you’re hearing in the dentist’s office. And “What a Fool Believes” in line at CVS. And that faint melody burrowing into your brain while on hold for the next available customer service agent? That’s “Steal Away.” Songs like these, disparaged by critics in their time then jokingly christened “yacht rock” by a comedy web series in 2005, are now the soundtrack to American tedium.

They’ve also become the source of a very good—if conflicted—living for the man who defaced the stop sign: Nick Niespodziani, the singer, guitarist, and de facto leader of the wildly popular cover band Yacht Rock Revue , which tours the country, headlines 1,000-plus capacity venues, and occasionally even plays with the original artists behind these hits.

At the time of the Vannelli vandalism, Yacht Rock Revue had begun to graduate from a local curiosity to a national one. Niespodziani’s sister videotaped the incident and posted it on YouTube. They then printed T-shirts of the sign and, when Vannelli performed at the Variety Playhouse, they got one to him.

On a gray Monday afternoon not long ago, Niespodziani was standing at this crossroads, looking at the sign, trying to explain the motivation behind the prank. “We had this idea, so we videotaped,” he said. “It was definitely guerrilla marketing.” Also, he was pretty drunk.

The episode seems to capture something ineffable about Yacht Rock Revue—part fandom, part joke, part self-promotion, each element infused with irony. When YRR takes the stage at Venkman’s, an Old Fourth Ward restaurant and nightclub co-owned by Niespodziani and bandmate Pete Olson, the band is fully in character, complete with gaudy shirts and sunglasses. They crack jokes about each other’s moms and theatrically highlight multi-instrumentalist Dave Freeman’s one-note triangle solo during America’s “You Can Do Magic.”

“This music isn’t easy to perform,” Olson says. Yacht rock songs tend to be filled with complicated chord changes. All seven band members are accomplished musicians, and Niespodziani, who trained for a spell as an opera singer, is a rangy vocalist, capable of gliding through the high notes in Hall & Oates’s “Rich Girl,” Michael McDonald’s gruff tenor in “I Keep Forgetting,” and Dolly Parton’s amiable twang in “Islands in the Stream,” without seeming to strain. He, Olson, and drummer Mark Cobb first played together in Y-O-U, a band they formed at Indiana University in the late ’90s. They found scant support for original music there, so they relocated to Atlanta in 2002.

Photograph by Mike Colletta

Y-O-U built a buzz in Atlanta, thanks to Niespodziani’s catchy, Beatles-esque songs and the group’s playful gimmicks. They performed, straight-faced, as Three Dog Stevens, a sad-sack trio playing what they called “sandal-rock” (a made-up, synth-heavy genre defined by its purveyors’ predilection for wearing sandals with socks); they covered Michael Jackson’s “Thriller” entirely on keyboards while dressed as the Royal Tenenbaums; they created a YouTube mockumentary series about a competitive jump-roping team. “Comedy has always been part of what we do,” Niespodziani said. “We were doing anything to get noticed because we felt we had good songs but just couldn’t break through with them.”

“I said, ‘That sounds like hell on Earth.’ He was like, ‘But you’re going to make a lot of money.’ So we did it.”

In 2008, Y-O-U was booked every Thursday at the 10 High club in Virginia-Highland. They’d stage “Rock Fights,” playing dueling sets of covers by artists like Bob Seger, John Mellencamp, and INXS, or rejigger Y-O-U songs as soul rave-ups with horns and backing singers, or do a standup comedy night. Yacht Rock Revue was just another of these goofs: Put on silly clothes, and play songs everybody knows but nobody really likes—or claims not to. It was Cobb and guitarist Mark Dannells who came up with the idea. Dannells thought about calling it “A.M. Gold” but Cobb had recently seen a viral web series called Yacht Rock and felt like the term would resonate. Niespodziani went along because his friends needed his vocals. Two band members wore wigs to that first show, and, at one point, Niespodziani stripped off his shirt. People loved it. The club’s booker invited them back the next Thursday. The gig sold out. He asked them to do it every Thursday.

“I said, ‘That sounds like hell on Earth,’” Niespodziani recalls. “He was like, ‘But you’re going to make a lot of money.’ So we did it.”

Most cover bands are awful. But because they play well-known songs, they often secure regular, paying gigs that bands playing original music can’t. Even for the good ones, there’s a ceiling. Few ever perform further than 20 miles from wherever they played their first gig. What’s more, performing other people’s music for a living carries a degree of shame. Cobb has heard the mutterings about Yacht Rock Revue: “Why are these guys playing covers? They could write their own songs. They don’t need to hide behind a gimmick.”

Most of the guys in Yacht Rock Revue—which also includes bassist/vocalist Greg Lee and keyboardist/vocalist Mark Bencuya—had already spent half a lifetime dragging gear into dank basement bars to play for a few bucks and even fewer people. They did this in an era when the music business was cratering. The rise of the internet taught a generation of consumers that music is free, devaluing the dream to which musicians dedicate their lives.

When Yacht Rock Revue started in 2008, Dannells was nearly 40. “It’s not like the world is beating down the door of 40-year-old rock stars,” he says. Today, Yacht Rock is a business, owing its success partially to the corners of the business that haven’t collapsed: live music and merchandising. Besides their public shows, Yacht Rock Revue plays a steady stream of well-paying corporate gigs. They also sell lots of captain’s hats, T-shirts, and other swag. The success of the franchise means it’s been more than five years since any of them had a day job. Niespodziani and Olson created a company, Please Rock , that provides the bandmembers and their families with health insurance, 401Ks, and all the other trappings of comfortable, upper-middle-class stability few musicians ever achieve. All this grants bandmembers some real creative freedoms. “I just released a whole record of orchestral music,” Dannells says. “I don’t care if it sells. I just do it for enjoyment.”

Niespodziani shuttered Y-O-U years ago but still writes elegant power-pop songs for his other band, Indianapolis Jones . But the difference between his two bands’ profiles is stark. Troy Bieser, who has been working on a documentary about Yacht Rock Revue, says he’s seen this in the juxtaposition of the footage he’s compiled. “I’ve seen Nick going through the journey of being thankful for the success but it also feeling ill-fitting,” Bieser says. “That existential dilemma has followed him.”

Niespodziani knows whenever Yacht Rock plays anywhere, that’s a slot a band like Indianapolis Jones can’t get. “We’re a big part of the problem,” he says. As a 39-year-old father of one, who’s worked hard to get what he has, he isn’t about to give it up, but he’s also honest about the compromises he’s made and doesn’t hide from the question that is a natural byproduct of his own success: When a joke becomes your life, how do you keep your life from becoming a joke?

“I never would’ve guessed I’d be doing what I’m doing now,” he says. “The 23-year-old me would punch me in the face and leave me for dead.”

Yacht rock was mostly made in the late ’70s and early ’80s, but the genre wasn’t named until 2005 when JD Ryznar, a writer and actor, created the Yacht Rock web series with a few friends. The video shorts imagined the origins of songs like the Doobie Brothers’ “What a Fool Believes,” Toto’s “Rosanna,” and Steely Dan’s “FM.” The music, Ryznar says, was well-crafted, like a yacht, and recurring nautical imagery in songs like Christopher Cross’s “Sailing” or on Loggins and Messina’s album Full Sail made the term fit. According to Ryznar, true yacht rock has jazz and R&B influences, is usually produced in California, and frequently involves a rotating group of interconnected studio musicians. The term was never intended to be a pejorative—“we never thought it was silly music,” Ryznar says—but the web series is most definitely comedy, and feelings about the music itself tend to be buried under layers of hipster irony, warm nostalgia, and veiled contempt. Yacht rock songs are finely constructed: They’ve got indelible pop hooks, but they’re decidedly professional, not ragged and cool like punk or early hip-hop, which were canonized among the music of that era.

For the first Yacht Rock Revue gig, much of the set list came from a compilation CD that Cobb had burned titled The Dentist’s Office Mix. It included songs like Player’s “Baby Come Back,” Ambrosia’s “The Biggest Part of Me,” and Rupert Holmes’s “Escape (The Piña Colada Song).” “I’d put it on at parties and just see what the reactions would be,” Cobb says. “It was a weird, guilty pleasure.”

Niespodziani’s initial feelings about the music were uncomplicated. “I wasn’t a fan,” he says. “I was really into music that made people feel something, that had some grit and humanity to it. The ethos I thought was important in rock ’n’ roll was rebellious fun crossed with a heart-on-your-sleeve kind of thing. Yacht rock doesn’t do any of that. It doesn’t rebel.” He found a lot of yacht rock to be technical, clinical, and sterile. “Sophisticated for the sake of being sophisticated.”

Onstage, Niespodziani is the picture of unapproachable retro cool. Tall, with shaggy hair and an angular face, he hides behind large, dark sunglasses and frequently surrenders a thin half-smile. In other words, he personifies the classic, arrogant, coked-up, late-’70s rock frontman. In person, he gives off nearly the opposite impression. Over coffee, he’s thoughtful, earnest, and self-deprecating. His sharp facial features are accentuated by wide-lensed prescription glasses, and, having traded the polyester shirts he favors onstage for a camouflage green hoodie, the vibe Niespodziani exudes is hardcore music geek. Olson, who has known Niespodziani since they were in fourth grade in Columbus, Indiana, says when they met, “Nick was the nerdy kid who was good at math and jump-roping.”

Photograph by Emily Butler

Yacht Rock Revue, for Niespodziani, is a part he plays: “I’m almost more an actor than a musician.” He and his bandmates spend hours prowling vintage stores looking for the retro leisure wear that they don onstage—and then a not inconsiderable amount of money getting those old clothes tailored to fit. “It’s a war of attrition,” he says. “You find something that might work, and then it’s itchy or it smells or holes develop because the shirt is older than I am. You have to be shopping at all times.” They once did a gig in street clothes, but it felt wrong. “Polyester,” he says, “is our armor.”

Sometimes that armor hasn’t been enough for Niespodziani. During the band’s first few years, they played weekly at the 10 High. “I would drink a lot and almost sabotage myself, sometimes onstage, and make fun of it,” he says. “People would ask me about the band, and I’d talk down about it and act like I was too cool. I didn’t lash out at people, but it was strange to get well-known for something that didn’t make me feel good about myself. I’d get drunk onstage to deal with it.”

His bandmates certainly noticed, but, for the most part, they let their friend work through it. “He’s been the moodiest about it,” Cobb says. “He just hates Rupert Holmes’s ‘Escape (The Piña Colada Song).’ Hates it. But he knows it goes over well.” So when Niespodziani’s got to play it, he’ll often deadpan an introduction comparing Holmes to da Vinci and Picasso. “By talking about how great it is, it helps me shed that song’s terribleness.”

Niespodziani believes the ironic distance he puts between the guy he is onstage and the guy drinking coffee at Ponce City Market is fundamental to the band’s success. “Because we thought—or at least I thought—I was too cool to be doing this, everything has keyed off what the audience reacts to, whether it’s the clothes we wear, the sidestep dance we do, whatever. The audience has been the head of the snake. We’ve just been following it.” It helps that with more than 500 songs in their repertoire, the band doesn ’ t burn out too badly on any tune. “The only song we have to play is ‘Africa.’” The 1982 hit by Toto, by a band made up of talented but largely anonymous studio musicians, has become something of an Internet meme itself, with multiple think pieces devoted to untangling its allure. “Part of it may be the audacity of the synthesizer sound,” Niespodziani says. “They’re just so cheesy. The chords are fairly complex and pretty unexpected. The way it goes to the minor key in the chorus is kind of a cognitive disconnect. And when you listen to the words, it’s not really about anything. Maybe that’s why it’s so quintessentially yacht rock. It’s not so much what the words are saying, it’s how they make you feel, this combination of pure joy crossed with reminiscing.”

Despite his ambivalence about the music, Niespodziani is first among equals within the band. He sings lead on more songs than anyone else, and it’s his judgment they trust when adding songs to their catalog. He has a system: “Generally, the more a song annoys me, the more likely it makes sorority girls want to eat each other’s brains. Also, almost every song would be an encore for the band we’re covering. So, those are the basics: Does it annoy me? Are girls going to like it? Would it be an encore for the band we’re covering?”

“I’m almost more an actor than a musician.”

Others in the band are more unabashed about the music. “I’ve always loved all this stuff,” says Lee, the bassist. “You have to love it before you can play with it in that comedy sense and do it right.” This ability to walk that line between having fun with the music and making fun of the music has won over many of the original artists. When the band first reached out to guys like Dupree, Gary Wright (“Dream Weaver”), and Player’s Peter Beckett, some artists disdained the term “yacht rock” and feared being treated as a joke. Dupree was an early convert and evangelized about the band to his peers, touting their musicianship and enthusiasm. He says those who eventually performed with Yacht Rock Revue were “staggered that they were playing in front of 4,000 people who knew every word to their songs.”

The genre’s rise as a cultural touchstone—Jimmy Fallon has been a big booster, inviting Dupree, Cross, McDonald, and others to perform on TV, and there’s now a SiriusXM station devoted to it—has benefited these artists. Their Spotify and YouTube streaming numbers have risen noticeably. “It’s made a big impact financially,” Dupree says. “Even the skeptics have seen the power of it.”

For a while, the band had a bit of a good-natured Twitter beef with the creators of the Yacht Rock web series. Ryznar admits he initially felt like the band had hijacked his idea, but now his only real gripe is Yacht Rock Revue’s liberal definition of yacht rock. “Half their set is incredible yacht rock,” Ryznar says. “The other half, they play way too much Eagles, America, and Fleetwood Mac. Those aren’t yacht rock bands.”

The band makes no apologies. As Niespodziani puts it, “Yacht rock is what we say it is now.” That’s not just bravado. Yacht Rock Revue trademarked the term “yacht rock” for live performances, so other acts can’t use it without permission. The maneuver helped snuff out competition from other cover bands but occasionally puts them in conflict with some of the genre’s originators. When Cross’s manager tried to assemble a “Yacht Rock” tour featuring Cross, Orleans, and Firefall, it ran afoul of the trademark.

“We said, ‘If you want to call it Yacht Rock, we’ve got to be the [backing] band,’” Olson says. That compromise collapsed when Cross’s manager “wanted a piece of the trademark and of all our earnings over three years.” Yacht Rock Revue sent a cease-and-desist letter instead.

The band’s set list is anchored in the classic late ’70s, early ’80s yacht-rock era but can stretch to include songs as old as the late ’60s or as recent as the early ’90s. Of course, there’s a balance to be struck: If they go too far afield, they risk becoming just another cover band, but there are other considerations to take into account, too. As Cobb explains, “Nothing about Whitney Houston is in the genre, but when we play ‘I Wanna Dance with Somebody,’ the chicks go crazy, everybody orders another round, the bar sells out of Tito’s and Red Bull, and they’re like, ‘When can you come back? You broke alcohol records.’”

The band’s audiences have evolved over time. The earliest shows were heavy on hipsters and fellow musicians. Then, those fans brought their parents. At a Buckhead Theatre gig in March, the crowd leaned toward balding guys in button-down shirts and platinum-blond women wearing expensive-looking jewelry. Niespodziani once called yacht rock “the music of the overprivileged,” which was a joke, but also not. Getting older, wealthier fans out to shows is an impressive accomplishment most artists would envy, but it has changed something fundamental about Yacht Rock’s appeal. “When we started, it was people elbowing each other, laughing at this music,” Niespodziani says. “Now, there’s no irony.”

On a night off during a Vegas stand in 2015, the entire band went to see Ringo Starr and his All-Starr Band perform at the Pearl Theater in the Palms Casino. Starr began doing these tours in 1989, fronting a band of aging rockers like Gary Wright, Steve Lukather (Toto), and Gregg Rolie (Santana, Journey), whose names and faces you might not recognize but whose songs you certainly would. Just past the midway point in the show at the Pearl, Lukather stepped to the mic, and Starr began beating out a familiar rhythm on the drums. As Lukather picked out the first few notes on the guitar and the synths pumped out the insistent melody, the song was instantly recognizable: “Africa.” In the theater balcony, Cobb recalls looking across at Niespodziani and seeing something change in his friend. “I just watched Nick’s face and, all of a sudden, it was as if this weight lifted off him.”

The Beatles had always been Niespodziani’s favorite band. “Now, I’m watching Ringo Starr, and he has to play fucking ‘Africa’ every night, too,” Niespodziani says. “He was in the Beatles! That was a life-changing moment for me.” Starr and his band were touching many of the same nerves in the audience at the Pearl Theater that Yacht Rock Revue touches all the time. “When we started Yacht Rock, I didn’t like the music we were playing. I didn’t like myself for being in a cover band. I had some dark times. It’s been a journey for me to get okay with it. That was a pretty key moment. Once you get to a certain point in the music business, everybody’s hustling. I’m not going to look down my nose at anybody for doing anything that makes it possible to feed their family by singing songs.”

Seeing Starr go yacht rock was a significant step that’s made enjoying Yacht Rock Revue’s triumphs a little easier. For years, Olson and Niespodziani waited for interest in yacht rock—and their band—to fade. Opening Venkman’s was a hedge against that. But Yacht Rock Revue’s stock continues to rise. Their touring business has grown 375 percent since 2014. “It’s not a fad,” Niespodziani says. “This is going to be our biggest year by far.” They play increasingly larger venues and have recently started booking dates overseas, including this summer in London.

The question is, where else can they take this, literally and figuratively? Back in 2013, the band quietly released a five-song EP: four original songs and a cover of—what else?—“Africa.” They used to occasionally drop an original tune into their shows, sometimes announcing it as a “Hall & Oates B-side.” The crowds were amenable, kind of. “It’s hard when they know every word to every song,” Niespodziani says. “They don’t come for discovery; they come for familiarity.” That’s a truism any band who has ever had a hit knows all too well. The essential appeal of Yacht Rock Revue—and yacht rock—is a combination of nostalgia and escape, a yearning for the simpler, easier time these songs evoke. Yet Niespodziani has been wondering lately if it’s possible to pivot fans to his own songs, either with Yacht Rock Revue or Indianapolis Jones.

“That’s still my dream,” he says, “to have one song that matters to somebody the way ‘Steal Away’ matters to people. No matter what else I do in life, if I don’t ever get over that bar, part of me will feel like I failed at the one thing I wanted. I don’t know if I can ever let go of that. I don’t know if I’m ready to face that darkness.”

In 2013, during a commencement speech at Syracuse University, the author George Saunders told graduates, “Success is like a mountain that keeps growing as you hike up it.” Niespodziani brought this quote up to me while we were having coffee. He knows his life is nothing to complain about. He lives a rarefied existence where he gets paid a lot of money to play music. But clearly, the mountain grows in front of him, and the hike up isn’t always easy. He’s still prone to self-deprecating asides about his band, he still kinda envies the Robbie Duprees of the world—but, hey, he doesn’t need to get drunk onstage anymore, and he doesn’t lose sleep wondering if he’s a force for good or evil in the world. That stop sign at the crossroads in the Old Fourth Ward isn’t an omen or a cautionary tale. It’s simply a funny story that makes people smile. He’s just working on becoming one of them.

“The way I really made peace with it is, it occurred to me that everywhere we went, everyone was so happy to see me,” he says. “These people, it’s the highlight of their week to come sing along with these tunes. If your job is making people happy, that’s a pretty good calling.” He leans back in his chair and smiles. “My job is to make it okay for everybody else to have fun. That’s kind of cool.” He gets quiet for a moment and shrugs.

This article appears in our  July 2018 issue .

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Yacht Rock Episode 11: “Footloose”

Jason “Holy Jumpin’ Christ” Lee makes a return to fine form in this the (unexpected though kind of expected) eleventh episode of my favorite online series ever, Yacht Rock. How about a brief glimpse of what you’re about to watch:

James Ingram: “It’s mellow, but not smooth. Kind of shitty…” Michael McDonald: “Jimmy Buffet!”

Michael McDonald: “They’re not people James Ingram, they’re Jimmy Buffet fans.”

Kevin Bacon: “Care for a Me.L.T?” Gene Balboa: “I love this sandwich.” Kevin Bacon: “I love that my last name is bacon.”

[This post was first published by Culture Bully .]

Published January 28, 2008 in Blog , Culture Bully / Explore more: # Comedy # Music

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Yacht Rock is an online video series following the fictionalized lives and careers of American soft rock stars of the late 1970s and early 1980s. The series debuted on Channel 101 at the June 26, 2005 screening. It placed in the top five at subsequent screenings until the June 25, 2006 screening, where it placed seventh and was canceled. The show remained a popular download on Channel 101, convincing the creators to make two additional episodes independently. The 11th episode, featuring Jason Lee as Kevin Bacon, debuted during a screening at the Knitting Factory in New York City on December 27, 2007 and was later included with the other episodes on Channel 101. On May 5, 2010, the 12th and final episode of Yacht Rock was released onto YouTube and Channel 101. The series inspired the term "yacht rock" as a musical descriptor for the songs and artists it features.

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Yacht Rock is an 12-part series following the fictionalized lives and careers of American Soft Rock stars of the late 1970s and early 1980s. Created by JD Ryznar, Hunter D Stair and Lane Farnham, it is one of the most successful projects to come out of Channel101 .

J. D. Ryznar and Hunter D. Stair devised the series after noticing the incestuous recording careers of such bands as Steely Dan , Toto , and The Doobie Brothers and the singer-songwriters Kenny Loggins and Michael McDonald . For example, McDonald co-wrote Loggins' "This Is It" and Loggins co-wrote McDonald's band The Doobie Brothers ' "What a Fool Believes" and also performed backing vocals for several other 'yacht rock' artists, including Steely Dan and Christopher Cross. Yacht Rock's episodes were "hosted" by "Hollywood" Steve Huey , a legitimate music critic for Allmusic. It should be noted that the term "Yacht Rock" is never used throughout the series by any characters except for by Huey during his introductions, instead it is always referred to as "Smooth Music". The look of the series was the responsibility of the show's editor Lane Farnham.

The storyline of the series employs a non-linear chronology, jumping back and forth in various points in time. Also, Space.

After the series became a web hit, the term yacht rock was retroactively popularized as the genre name for the style of soft rock featured in the show, marked by high production values, Jazz Fusion and R&B influences, and lyrics about romantic longing and personal follies, acting as an American equivalent to the Sophisti-Pop and City Pop scenes in the UK and Japan, respectively. Ryznar and Stair further specified their definition of the term as encompassing usage of upbeat rhythms, prominent usage of electric piano, and a reliance on elite producers and musicians from Los Angeles . Owed to their discontent with what they saw as the label's dilution, the pair went on to host two podcasts — Beyond Yacht Rock and Yacht or Nyacht? — in which they debate whether individual songs count as being part of their definition of the genre.

Trope examples:

• Arc Villain : Jimmy Buffett, who functioned as an insane cult leader in his lone episode.
• Affectionate Parody : While the show makes fun of the songwriting process, it does still hold the music featured in high regard.
• Batman Gambit : Most of episodes show the "origins" of several yacht rock classics by way of this trope, from " Rosanna " to " Human Nature "
• Big Bad : Gene Balboa runs his entertainment business like a Bond villain.
• Beethoven Was an Alien Spy : Several (real life) characters are revealed to be aliens.
• The Bet : Cartoonishly downplayed in episode 7 where Loggins and McDonald bet a dollar on which one of their songs will end up number 2 on the music charts. McDonald gets the last laugh, though .
• Brainwashed and Crazy
• Carpet of Virility : John Oates, albeit made out of construction paper .
• Canon Character All Along : Hall and Oates' first manager, Gino Basareli turns out to be Gene Balboa after a drastic makeover .
• Cerebus Syndrome : Played for Laughs in the Hollywood Steve host segments for the last two episodes. While Episode 10 ends with him falling in love with the girl he saves from choking, Episode 11 opens with said girl leaving him and Episode 12 with Steve on his death bed.
• In episode 2, when Koko hears Chris Geppert plays his song.
• Happens twice to Ted Templeman, first in episode 8 involving smooth music from a singing walrus being interrupted by two ugly women and in episode 9 with visions of impalement .
• Downer Ending : Episode 2 and 12
• Easy Amnesia : McDonald after he gets run over by Warren G.
• Insistent Terminology : Only Hollywood Steve refers to it as "Yacht Rock" in his introductions. Everyone else calls it "Smooth Music"
• Jerkass : John Oates is depicted as an abusive foulmouthed control freak.
• Jerk Jock : Don Henley and Glenn Frey of the Eagles are depicted as this.
• Halloween Episode : Episode 5, complete with a Vincent Price led exorcism.
• The doo-wop section of Van Halen 's song "I'm the One" is the result of an in-studio scuffle between Koko Goldstein and Ted Templeman.
• " Human Nature " got recorded thanks to Koko's spirit harpooning Michael Jackson 's crotch .
• "I Keep Forgettin' (Every Time You're Near)" got sampled in "Regulate" because Nate Dogg and Warren G ran over McDonald.
• Glenn Frey and Don Henley sang background vocals for Steely Dan's song "FM" because they beat the crap out of them after as revenge.
• The title of "Yah Mo B There" came from a drunk Michael McDonald and James Ingram making fun of Kenny Loggins saying over the phone that he would be by to record some music with them later (with a mouthful of apple so it came out as "Yah Mo Be There")...they kept it up the whole time.
• Hostile Show Takeover : Happens twice in the series, with Hollywood Steve's dad in episode 6 and Drew Carey in episode 9.
• Human Aliens : Giorgio Moroder , who hails from Planet Synthos.
• Impaled with Extreme Prejudice : In episode two, Koko dies by being impaled with his lucky harpoon .
• Manchurian Agent : David Lee Roth and Eddie Van Halen use a magical amulet on Ted Templeman so that he'll produce their debut album when he hears Micheal McDonald's voice.
• Nobody Loves the Bassist : Provides the page quote.
• Origins Episode : Episode 8 shows how yacht rock got started, from McDonald leaving Steely Dan for The Doobie Brothers to Loggins and Messina in happier days.
• Post-Script Season : Downplayed as there were two more episodes made after the "finale" with episode 10.
• The Power of Rock : All over the place, especially the crotch laser Loggins shoots to defeat the Parrotheads .
• Record Producer : Koko Goldstein , Gene Balboa and Ted Templeman .
• The Reveal : Papa Moroder is Koko, and his body was only a vessel.
• Hollywood Steve introducing the episodes in inconvenient moments, like using the bathroom, attending a funeral, killing a homeless woman .
• Descriptors for Loggins and McDonald.
• Gene Balboa makes increasingly bizarre demands to his unseen manservant Manuel.
• Shout-Out : The final battle in episode 12 resembles the Death Star approach from Star Wars . It even has a Big Damn Heroes moment by the Millennium Falcon!
• Special Guest : Episode 11, Jason Lee as Kevin Bacon and Wyatt Cenac as James Ingram.
• Story Arc : Throughout the series, Loggins tries to move away from the smoothness of yacht rock to straight hard rockin' to make his way up to the top. This is shown to be like him sliding to "the dark side", but Rule of Funny of course.
• Storybook Episode : Episode 6 uses the plot of episode 1 to tell a fairytale version of both the historical and modern Jethro Tull .
• Take That! : Most of the parody is affectionate, but the invectives against Jimmy Buffett are particularly strong. James Ingram: "Yah mo murdered a lot of people out here tonight." Michael McDonald: "They're not people, James Ingram. They're Jimmy Buffett fans." Jimmy Buffett: "...with a cheeseburger in paradise..." Gene Balboa: "Fuck you, Jimmy Buffett!" Kevin Bacon : "Your music is shit!"
• The Unintelligible : Donald Fagen , with some exceptions. Donald Fagen: " Eat. Bat. Prick. "
• The Un-Reveal : Koko Goldstein's killer, as Hollywood Steve died while narrating it.
• Vitriolic Best Buds : Michael McDonald and Kenny Loggins
• We Used to Be Friends : Loggins and Messina, especially when Loggins starts going solo and Messina ends up being a drunk.
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Sail Away: The Oral History of ‘Yacht Rock’

By Drew Toal

This story was originally published on June 26, 2015

I n the late 1970s and early 1980s, musical artists like Kenny Loggins , Michael McDonald , Steely Dan , Toto , Hall and Oates , and dozens of others regularly popped up on each other’s records, creating a golden era of smooth-music collaboration.

And on June 26th, 2005, an internet phenomenon was born. In 12 short but memorable episodes — first via the the short-film series Channel 101 and then online — JD Ryznar, Hunter Stair, Dave Lyons, Lane Farnham and their friends redefined an era and coined a term for the sultry croonings of McDonald, Fagen, et al.: “yacht rock.”

As “Hollywood” Steve might say, these guys docked a fleet of remarkable hits. This is the story of Yacht Rock, told from stem to stern — a reimagining of a bygone soft-rock renaissance, courtesy of hipsters with fake mustaches, impeccable record collections and a love of smoothness. Long may it sail.

The Michigan Connection JD Ryznar (Director, “Michael McDonald”): I moved from Ann Arbor to L.A., and ended up making friends with all these other guys from Michigan, like “Hollywood” Steve Huey, Hunter Stair, and David Lyons. Pretty much every weekend I’d have “Chinese Thanksgiving” at my apartment — we’d eat BBQ chicken and burgers, drink beer and listen to records of what I called “yacht rock.” You know, like Michael McDonald is singing background vocals and like there’s guys on boats on the covers; it feels like you’re on a yacht listening to it. And the guys were like, oh, we know this music.

Dave Lyons (“Koko”): You know how, in the Seventies, these big bands started playing arena rock? We liked the idea of these smooth bands playing “Marina Rock.” I thought it was a better name.

“Hollywood” Steve Huey (“Hollywood Steve”): What I mostly remember is JD playing Journey records all the time. He was so into Journey that he had photocopied a photo of Steve Perry and pasted it onto his liquid soap dispenser. He wrote “Steve Perry Soap: Clean as all fuck” on it.

Editor’s picks

The 250 greatest guitarists of all time, the 500 greatest albums of all time, the 50 worst decisions in movie history, every awful thing trump has promised to do in a second term.

Lane Farnham (editor, “Jimmy Messina”): JD and I had talked about Journey for a year before we did Yacht Rock. In the third episode, that whole “you need to fly like a pilot” bit? Those are direct lines from Steve Perry in this crazy documentary we found. He’s coked to the gills, in the Eighties, just blabbering about who knows what. We got a kick out of that stuff. 

Sail Away: The Oral History of ‘Yacht Rock’ , Page 1 of 12

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Keep the Smooth: An Interview With 'Yacht Rock' Creator JD Ryznar

The Best TV Network in the World

by RJ White

In 2003, Dan Harmon and Rob Schrab founded the monthly film festival Channel101 with a simple premise: Make a five-minute pilot and if enough of the audience at the live screening in L.A. votes for it, you have one month to make another episode. If they vote for it again, you make another. Repeat. In 2005, JD Ryznar submitted Yacht Rock , which would go on to become one of the most successful shows in 101's history and, over 12 episodes, create a new notch in the Internet's heart for smooth, smooth music. We caught up with Ryznar for this interview:

NAMag: Why this genre of music? Had you been wanting to do something about this specific time in pop?

Ryznar: Since I first moved to Los Angeles, 10 years ago, a dream project has always been to create a Steely Dan biopic that's completely made up. Then, I settled with what was a more realistic ambition and made a Channel101 show about Michael McDonald.

NAMag: There is a bit of reality behind all of this, right? It's fictionalized and exaggerated, but the people and the groups portrayed here -- they all really did work together all of the time?

Ryznar: Yeah. The collaborations are all real, the connections are real. You got to have some truth as the backbone to all the outrageous places you want to take the characters. The real-life collaborations and connections are also extremely inspirational when coming up with a story.

NAMag: How did you decide on the pseudo-documentary/reenactment format? Were there other ones you'd considered? It seems like it was a really efficient way to get right to the story, by letting those familiar elements do some of the heavy lifting within the five-minute constraint.

Ryznar: I don't think it's pseudo-doc at all; it's completely a straight-up narrative, just with a dude introducing each episode.

We had a ton to do in five minutes. It's super important in Channel101 and storytelling in general, that your audience knows RIGHT AWAY what it is they're watching. The sooner you get them in the loop, the sooner they can relax and enjoy what you've done. When you're working with horrible celebrity characterizations in a five-minute format, in a venue where you want to get votes from a live audience, the chyrons just allowed for the audience to have some instant gratification. Yacht Rock without chyrons would work fine. The characters are almost always addressed as they're introduced, the chyrons are just a punctuation mark.

So again, Yacht Rock isn't a documentary or mockumentary AT ALL. Is Masterpiece Theatre a documentary because some old douche in a library introduces the stories? Is an unrestored grindhouse film a documentary because it's grainy and ambered? Is Walk the Line a documentary because Johnny Cash was a real guy? Yacht Rock is the furthest thing from a mockumentary, and my skin crawls a little whenever it's called that. Incorrect genre labels are a pet peeve of mine, so naturally, something I had a hand in that's been incorrectly categorized is like a seeing-eye peeve.

Collection - Yacht Rock

Ryznar: Co-creator and editor Lane Farnham added that film look. That was all his idea, and all took place in editing.

The VHS glitch is the result of a shooting mistake. We were shooting on a camera that shoots in 24p, which basically tricks your eye into thinking you're watching film by using film's frame rate of 24 frames per second. For that Steve Perry sequence, our camera slipped off of 24p mode, making the footage have the look of something that was clearly shot on video. So, instead of reshooting, we took off the film grain and played it clean w/ VHS glitches. It couldn't have been a happier mistake in a scene about a character being seduced into the more modern times.

Then we wrote the video thing in on purpose when Loggins and Perry duet in episode four.

NAMag: Guest stars like Drew Carey, Jason Lee, Doug Benson, Wyatt Cenac -- how did you get them involved?

Ryznar: I had heard Drew Carey was a fan, so I was emboldened to grab him a few minutes while we were shooting the Acceptable.TV pilot [for VH1] and he graciously went along with us.

Doug Benson was at the Channel101 screening for the first Yacht Rock . This is back when he was doug benson, not DOUG BENSON. [Co-creator and producer] Hunter Stair was a fan and struck up a conversation. He had him booked for episode two before we even knew we were voted back.

Jason Lee's a big fan. I had done some work with him, and he'd quote Yacht Rock at me every day. I knew he'd be honored to appear in an episode, and I love that dude, so I was pumped to give him that honor. He was an absolute blast on set. I want to see him in more roles like this, where he can fly off the rails. Also, I wanted the Kevin Bacon character to make a big splash, so I was pretty determined to cast a celebrity.

Wyatt Cenac was far from famous when we shot Yacht Rock . I think he was almost broke and just about to interview for The Daily Show at that point. I like to think Yacht Rock was his good luck charm, but more likely the only good luck charm he needed was his talent.

NAMag: Have you specifically heard from anyone portrayed in the show? Or has it mostly been from mentions they've made in interviews here and there?

Ryznar: I haven't heard from anyone personally. Hunter Stair has met Steve Porcaro, and Drew Hancock & Wade Randolph, who play Oates and Hall, got to meet Hall & Oates.

NAMag: So, what has Yacht Rock led to for you, mostly?

Yacht Rock led to a career as a "blue collar" Hollywood writer. It's led to more opportunities I can name, and has given me a reputation that gets my foot in a lot of doors.

NAMag: What do you think of this whole thing becoming a bit of a pop cultural phenomenon? You do a google search for Yacht Rock and you find themed bands, parties -- people are still watching this and devoting time to it and the music.

Ryznar: I guess bros needed a new old music to DJ. It's pretty awesome and super satisfying that the term, and in a smaller way, the internet show, hooked into the American psyche. I'm all like "damn" when I find out someone I admire is a fan of the show, which happens more than I could ever dream. I'm so satisfied by the impact, that if Yacht Rock had made me rich, I'd be willing to give up now. And even though Yacht Rock cover bands are prolly making money hand over fist, I luckily haven't made a dime off of it, so I'm still super-motivated to create stuff I love to make and people love to watch. I can only hope that everyone is more excited for the first JD-Ryznar-created TV show than the next Yacht Rock Revue cruise ship gig.

NAMag: What was the actual shooting of episodes like? Watching them -- you see a ton of other 101 people in various roles and it really drives home that sense of it being a community, which kind of also fits in with the way these musicians would work on each others' projects.

Ryznar: You ask other Channel101 people to be in your stuff because they know what they'll be in for: potentially long days, no pay but lots of low-grade glory in an awesome little community. Collaboration like this always happens in artistic communities amongst people of a similar talent level. Whether it's the L.A. rock scene in the '70s or a bunch of high school nerds turned Hollywood nerds in the mid-2000s, it's always a blast to be a part of some kind of movement.

You can see JD Ryznar's current Channel101 show, Canned Beer Cases, at Channel101.com . He also posts other ongoing projects to his YouTube channel.

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By Zettai on Flickr

Yacht Rock is an 12-part series following the fictionalized lives and careers of American smooth rock stars of the late 1970s and early 1980s. Created by JD Ryznar , Hunter D Stair and Lane Farnham , it is one of the most successful projects to come out of Channel 101 .

J. D. Ryznar and Hunter D. Stair devised the series after noticing the incestuous recording careers of such bands as Steely Dan , Toto , and The Doobie Brothers and the singer-songwriters Kenny Loggins and Michael McDonald . For example, McDonald co-wrote Loggins' "This Is It" and Loggins co-wrote McDonald's band The Doobie Brothers' "What a Fool Believes" and also performed backing vocals for several other 'yacht rock' artists, including Steely Dan and Christopher Cross. Yacht Rock's episodes were "hosted" by "Hollywood" Steve Huey , a legitimate music critic for Allmusic. It should be noted that the term "Yacht Rock" is never used throughout the series by any characters except for by Huey during his introductions, instead it is always referred to as "Smooth Music". The look of the series was the responsibility of the show's editor Lane Farnham.

• 1 Channel101.com Summary
• 3 Music in the show
• 4 Artist Acknowledgment
• 5 Real people portrayed in Yacht Rock
• 6 Episode & Song List
• 7 Best Episode
• 8 Production
• 9 Fun Facts
• 10 See also
• 11 External links
• 12 References

Channel101.com Summary [ ]

JD and Hunter having won Channy Awards for Yacht Rock.

What can be said about Yacht Rock that hasn't been said by various magazines, newspapers and disc jockeys across the country? J.D. Ryznar and Hunter Stair's saga detailing the unknown mythical origins of a previously obscure genre of music struck the audience like a lightning bolt on its first episode, much like fellow 101 breakout House of Cosbys. Unlike HoC, however, Yacht Rock was never sued by its iconic characters' real life counterparts. In fact, it is said that at one time or another, just about every musician lovingly portrayed in the series has witnessed and enjoyed it behind closed doors. Yacht Rock enjoyed success on levels and in ways previously unattained by 101 shows, its title becoming a household phrase at radio stations, a bin at your local record store and a category on iTunes. But beneath its pop cultural triumph was an artistic one that often went undescribed: Yacht Rock's stories were always clever and sometimes downright genius in their assembly, weaving trivia, common knowledge, exaggerations and fabrications into a rope strong enough to hold it at the #1 position for an unbelievable number of non-consecutive months, setting audience share records at Channel 101 that are unlikely to be broken any time soon and sweeping the 2005 Channy Awards. Ironically, Channel 101's most memorable show came to its end quietly and unremarkably, not unlike some of the careers it saluted with a smirk. Instead of choking on its vomit in a Paris bathtub or overdosing on a Hollywood sidewalk, Yacht Rock simply told us one last story about Steely Dan, then hoisted its sails and drifted away while a satisfied crowd waved goodbye from the docks, exactly one incredible year after its historical debut. Bye, Yacht Rock. We loved you.

Synopsis [ ]

Ryznar admits to having a fascination with the music of the period. Ryznar explains, "Getting into Steely Dan really started this for me. As did the ability to buy dollar records at Amoeba and put them on tapes for my car. Kenny Loggins has made his way into all the pilots I've been involved with except one. [1] " As Ryznar told Reuters contributor Andy Sullivan, "I'm making fun of the songwriting process, but the music is generally treated pretty lovingly." [2]

The series depicts some realistic aspects of the music, but builds exaggerated storylines around them. For example, main protagonists Loggins and McDonald receive inspiration from a fictional Yacht Rock impresario named Koko Goldstein, whose death in Episode 2 ultimately leads them to go their separate ways musically. Another example is the series' presentation of several real-life characters. McDonald is an idealistic and earnest singer/songwriter, but takes both Smooth Music and himself far too seriously. Loggins is his easygoing friend and frequent collaborator who eventually abandons Smooth Music in favor of commercial rock and roll in the 80s, which strains their friendship. The portrayal of John Oates as the abusive, foulmouthed leader of Hall & Oates , exerting sometimes violent control over the milquetoast Daryl Hall , is clearly different from reality, in which Hall is the main lead vocalist and songwriter with no hint of a rivalry. Christopher Cross is depicted as a wide-eyed, timid newbie whose song "Sailing" is lauded as the "smoothest song ever". Loggins' former partner Jim Messina is a bitter wino who hates Loggins for his success and perceived betrayal. Michael Jackson is depicted as a hard-rock enthusiast who believes his partnership with guitarist Eddie Van Halen will lead to an endless parade of female sexual conquests. Jeff Baxter , the Doobie Brothers' lead guitarist, is seen threatening to kick McDonald "out of the Doobies" if he doesn't write them another hit. The real Baxter did bring McDonald into the band but, as they achieved their greatest commercial success, Baxter left the Doobie Brothers because of his displeasure with their new commercial sound and attitude. The Eagles (portrayed here as jock-like meatheads) and Steely Dan (portrayed as snarky nerds, with Donald Fagen speaking in an incoherent babble of Scat) really did insert lyrical references to each other in their music, as depicted in the show, but these were actually friendly in nature, not part of a longtime grudge involving baseball bats and lunch-money shakedowns. [3]

The series was written, directed, and produced by Ryznar, co-produced by David B Lyons and Hunter Stair, and edited by Lane Farnham. The production has a "bad-on-purpose aesthetic". [4] Ryznar credits lots of people here.

Yacht Rock 2 Behind the Smooth

Yacht Rock debuted on Channel 101 at the June 26, 2005 screening. It placed in the top five at subsequent screenings until the June 25, 2006 screening, where it placed seventh and was canceled.

However, the show remained a popular download on Channel 101, convincing the creators to make an 11th episode independently. This episode, featuring Jason Lee as Kevin Bacon , debuted during a screening at the Knitting Factory in New York City on December 27, 2007. A month later, Channel 101 themselves included it in a screening, and hosted it on their website along with the other episodes on January 28, 2008. [5]

Of the episode, Abed Gheith had this to say:

"Truly a great and wonderful episode in all ways. From the blood bath Footloose scene to the Me-L.T. There were moments in this that restored those awesome memories from what seemed like ages ago. I think Sevan said something that he heard Hunter say that was pretty crazy, about seeing the show up there was like ghosts on the screen. It was a wonderful ride down memory lane of Channel 101's best days."

A 12th and final episode premiered in April 2010.

Music in the show [ ]

"Yacht rock" is a name [6] [7] for the popular soft rock that peaked between the years of 1975 and 1984. Significant "yacht rockers" include Michael McDonald , Kenny Loggins , Christopher Cross , and Toto . In the musical sense, yacht rock refers to the highly polished brand of soft rock that emanated from Southern California] during the late 1970s and early 1980s. In part, the term relates to the stereotype of the yuppie yacht owner, enjoying cocaine and smooth music while out for a sail. Additionally, since sailing was a popular leisure activity in Southern California, many "yacht rockers" made nautical references in their lyrics, videos, and album artwork, particularly the anthemic track "Sailing" by Christopher Cross.

Yacht Rock music is commonly described as, "A little bit better than elevator music!"

The foundation of the yacht rock scene was a local pool of versatile session musicians who frequently played on each other's records. This professionalism often gave yacht rock recordings a high level of sophistication in composition, arrangement, and instrumental skill.

The most popular yacht rock artists enjoyed considerable commercial success. During its peak years, yacht rock dominated the Grammy Awards, with Christopher Cross and Toto sweeping the major awards in 1981 and 1983 respectively, feats consistently derided by Grammy prognosticators. [8] However, yacht rock was not a hit with most rock critics at the time, who dismissed it as being corporate rock that was overproduced, generic, and middle of the road, instead favoring punk and new wave acts such as The Clash , Blondie , Patti Smith , and Elvis Costello . [9]

In developing the show Yacht Rock , creator J. D. Ryznar commented that the term was intended to describe the "more elite studio artists" of the period, such as Michael McDonald and Kenny Loggins. [10] David B. Lyons , who co-produced the show and played Koko Goldstein, noted that a friend of his devised the term "marina rock" in college to describe a more "working-class" group of artists that didn't achieve the same high profile, such as Seals and Crofts, Rupert Holmes, and Looking Glass. [11] However, despite the show's intentions, music journalists have begun using the term yacht rock to describe all of the similar-sounding music of the period, including bands such as Ambrosia, 10cc, Pablo Cruise, Firefall, England Dan & John Ford Coley, Orleans, Ace, and Player. [12]

While Ryznar and the show popularized the term "yacht rock," it's alleged to have existed previously, according to Wikipedia, which states its earliest-known appearance came in 1990 from Dave Larsen, popular music critic for the Dayton Daily News, describing an upcoming Jimmy Buffett concert in Cincinnati.

Artist Acknowledgment [ ]

Hunter D Stair with Steve Porcaro .

John Oates credited Yacht Rock in 2007 with rekindling interest in Hall & Oates and lowering the demographic age of the group's fans. He wrote:

I think Yacht Rock was the beginning of this whole Hall & Oates resurrection...They were the first ones to start to parody us and put us out there again, and a lot of things have happened because of Yacht Rock. [13]

Daryl Hall and John Oates with Wade Randolph and Drew Hancock .

Michael McDonald acknowledged Yacht Rock in 2008:

Have you ever owned a yacht? No, but I thought Yacht Rock was hilarious. And uncannily, you know, those things always have a little bit of truth to them. It’s kind of like when you get a letter from a stalker who’s never met you. They somehow hit on something, and you have to admit they’re pretty intuitive.

Okay. So what’s the craziest thing you ever did with Kenny Loggins? We mostly worked a lot when we would get together. Kenny, he’s one of those guys who was a more serious artist; I was just a schlub. He was like, "C’mon, let’s get this right," and I was like, "Got any beer?" [14]

Real people portrayed in Yacht Rock [ ]

• Ian Anderson
• Michael Anthony (referred to as 'the other guy' in Van Halen)
• Rosanna Arquette
• Jeff "Skunk" Baxter
• Walter Becker
• Jimmy Buffett
• Christopher Cross
• Daryl Dragon
• Donald Fagen
• David Hungate
• James Ingram
• Michael Jackson
• Steve Lukather
• Jim Messina
• Jaye P. Morgan
• David Paich
• Steve Perry
• Jeff Porcaro
• Harold Ramis
• Tanya Roberts
• David Lee Roth
• David Sanborn
• Patrick Simmons
• Ted Templeman
• Toni Tennille
• Charles, Lord Townshend
• Jethro Tull
• Alex Van Halen
• Eddie Van Halen
• Lindsey Buckingham

Episode & Song List [ ]

SPOILERS in the Episode Summaries!

1. " What a Fool Believes "

• SCREENING DATE Sunday, June 26th - 2005
• AUDIENCE SHARE 70.2% (1st at screening with 194 votes)

In the pilot episode, Kenny Loggins, under the guidance of Koko Goldstein, reaches out to a struggling Michael McDonald, who's having trouble writing a smooth hit for his band the Doobie Brothers.

• Michael McDonald-Sweet Freedom
• George Benson-Breezin'
• Loggins & Messina-Sailin the wind
• Kenny Loggins-Whenever I call You Friend
• Doobie Brothers-What a Fool Believes
• Doobie Brothers-Sweet Feelin'
• Doobie Brothers-You Never Change
• Hall and Oates-Alley Katz
• Kenny Loggins - What a fool Believes

2. " Keep the Fire "

• SCREENING DATE Sunday, July 24th - 2005
• AUDIENCE SHARE 95.0% (1st at screening with 233 votes)

Loggins and McDonald pair up against the duo Hall & Oates for a songwriting competition. Koko is accidentally impaled by his lucky harpoon during the ensuing melee, but is at peace before his death by hearing the smoothest song ever sung by a young Christopher Cross.

• Steely Dan: Peg
• Doobie Brothers - What a fool believes
• Hall and Oates-Sara Smile
• Hall and Oates-Portable Radio
• Kenny Loggins-This is It
• Kenny Loggins-Love has come of age
• Also featured in S.O.S. Fantome episode two.

3. " I'm Alright "

• SCREENING DATE Sunday, August 28th - 2005
• AUDIENCE SHARE 68.9% (2nd at screening with 234 votes)

As everyone grieves Koko's death, Loggins lashes out at McDonald and "smooth music" as a whole, causing a rift between the two. An entertainment executive behind the movie Caddyshack demands that the movie's director, Harold Ramis, obtain Loggins' talents to write the movie's theme song. Ramis takes advantage of an angry and confused Loggins and gets him to write and record the hard rock song "I'm Alright" much to McDonald's dismay.

• Bad Caddyshack Theme - Rick Johnson
• Steely Dan-King of the World
• Kenny Loggins- This is it (Live)
• Steely Dan-Time Out of Mind
• Kenny Loggins - Keep the Fire
• Doobie Brothers-How do the Fools Survive
• Journey - Lights
• Journey - Anyway you want it
• Steely Dan - Kid Charlamagne
• Kenny Loggins-I'm Alright

4. " Rosanna "

• SCREENING DATE Sunday, September 25th - 2005
• AUDIENCE SHARE 87.7% (1st at screening with 274 votes)

Steve Porcaro ( Steve Agee ), the keyboard player of the band Toto, is asked by his girlfriend, Rosanna Arquette, to write a song about her, and she wants him to have Michael McDonald sing on the track. Discouraged by McDonald's disdain for his band, Porcaro devises a three-step plan to make it happen.

• Something by Benetictine Monks
• Toto-Hold the Line
• Toto-I Won't Hold You Back
• Toto-Make Believe
• Doobie Brothers - What a Fool Believes
• Doobie Brothers - You Never Change
• Christopher Cross-Ride the Wind
• Loggins & Messina - Sailing the wind
• Kenny Loggins/Steve Perry-Don't Fight it
• Michael McDonald-Love Lies
• Toto-I'll supply the Love
• Toto-Rosanna

5. " Believe in It "

• SCREENING DATE Sunday, October 30th - 2005
• AUDIENCE SHARE 78.6% (1st at screening with 268 votes)

Toto has been commissioned to write a smooth song for Michael Jackson's Thriller, but Jackson rejects the band, believing after working with Eddie Van Halen on Beat It that such material is in his past. Fearing that Jackson will destroy "smooth music" for a decade, Porcaro turns to McDonald, Loggins, Skunk Baxter, Cross, and Vincent Price ( James Adomian ), to summon up Koko's ghost for help writing Human Nature.

• Samuel Barber- Adagio for Strings
• Michael McDonald - Believe in It
• Michael Jackson - Beat it
• Michael Jackson - Thriller
• Kenny Loggins - I Gotta Try
• Michael McDonald - I Gotta Try
• Christopher Cross - Sailing
• Kenny Loggins - This is it
• Van Halen - Eruption
• Michael Jackson - Human Nature

6. " The Seed Drill "

• SCREENING DATE Sunday, January 29th - 2006
• AUDIENCE SHARE 62.1% (2nd at screening with 315 votes)

"Hollywood" Steve's father demands that Steve stop wasting his time on Yacht Rock, and regales a historic tale of Jethro Tull, which is very similar to episode one.

• Michael McDonald - Sweet Freedom
• Jethro Tull - Velvet Green
• Jethro Tull - Thick as a Brick
• Jethro Tull - Witch's Promise
• Jethro Tull - Flute Solo (Live)
• Jethro Tull - Aqualung
• Jethro Tull - Teacher
• Jethro Tull - Jack-In-The-Green
• Jethro Tull - Cold Wind to Vallhalla
• Jethro Tull - Too Old to Rock and Roll, Too Young to Die
• Jethro Tull - Living in the Past
• Jethro Tull - Reasons for Wait
• Jethro Tull - The Whistler

7. " I Keep Forgettin' "

• SCREENING DATE Sunday, February 26th - 2006
• AUDIENCE SHARE 89.1% (1st at screening with 318 votes)

McDonald and Loggins make a bet about McDonald's new song, "I Keep Forgettin' (Every Time You're Near)", that takes a decade to resolve. Ten years later, Long Beach-based rappers Warren G and Nate Dogg struggle with creating smooth rap (yacht rap), and only when they kidnap McDonald, is there a solution to everyone's problems.

• Michael McDonald - I Keep Forgetting
• Kenny Loggins - Swear Your Love
• Michael McDonald - Love Lies
• Dr. Dre - Nothin' but a G Thang
• Dr. Dre - Dre Day
• Snoop Doggy Dogg - G's and Hustlaz
• Dr. Dre - Let Me Ride
• Christoper Cross - Words of Wisdom
• Snoop Doggy Dogg - Who am I (What's My Name?)
• Doobie Brothers - What a Food Believes
• Warren G - Regulate

8. " Gino (the Manager) "

• SCREENING DATE Sunday, March 26th - 2006
• AUDIENCE SHARE 70.9% (2nd at screening with 251 votes)

"Hollywood" Steve returns to the very beginning, where Doobie Brothers producer Ted Templeman explains his dream about the origin of "the smoothest rock [he's] ever heard" to Skunk Baxter over lunch. Baxter suggests seeing Koko about it, and Templeman starts seeing his dream come into fruition as he meets a young McDonald, then a background singer for Steely Dan, being talked into joining the Doobie Brothers by Steely Dan and Koko, Loggins showing signs of his imminent break from Messina and solo stardom, and an effeminate Hall and Oates with a very familiar looking manager named Gino, who tries to bully McDonald and Loggins into employing him as a manager. When they refuse, he plots revenge.

• Steely Dan - Your Gold Teeth II
• Doobie Brothers - Takin It to the Streets
• Hall & Oates - Gino (The Manager)
• Captain & Tennille - Love Will Keep Us Together
• Steely Dan - Any World (That I'm Welcomed To)
• Loggins & Messina - Watching the River Run
• Loggins & Messina - Your Mama Don't Dance
• Kenny Loggins - Love Has Come of Age
• Kenny Loggins - Danger Zone

9. " Runnin' with the Devil "

• SCREENING DATE Sunday, May 28th - 2006
• AUDIENCE SHARE 66.9% (4th at screening with 216 votes)

Van Halen puts a curse on Ted Templeman to force him to produce their hard rock song. In a subplot, Loggins loses his car keys and has everyone in the studio helping him look. Comedian Drew Carey makes a cameo appearance.

• Limewire tricked JD into thinking this was a Cheap Trick song. The original version was from an Ian Hunter (Mott the Hoople) solo album. The one used in the Drew Carey Show was the Presidents of the USA version. His intention for Yacht Rock was to use the classic version, but he messed up. NEVER trust Limewire. Buy your music from the store.
• Michael McDonald "Sweet Freedom"
• Kenny Loggins "Only a Miracle"
• Van Halen "Atomic Punk"
• Van Halen "Runnin' with the Devil"
• Doobie Brothers "Echoes of Love"
• Van Halen "I'm The One"
• Michael McDonald "Playin by the Rules"
• SCREENING DATE Sunday, June 25th - 2006
• AUDIENCE SHARE 44.4% (7th at screening with 155 votes)

Steely Dan and the Eagles settle a long-time, childish feud with a hit song.

• Tori Amos - "Winter"
• Michael MacDonald - "Sweet Freedom"
• Kenny Loggins - "I Believe In Love"
• Eagles - "Life In The Fast Lane"
• Steely Dan- "Everything You Did"
• Steely Dan - "Do It Again"
• Steely Dan - "Peg"
• The Eagles - "Hotel California"
• Steely Dan - "FM"
• Kenny Loggins - "Danger Zone"

11. " Footloose "

• SCREENING DATE Sunday, January 27th - 2008

Jimmy Buffett is convinced by Kevin Bacon and Gene Balboa to trick Loggins into making yet another movie song. He is subsequently kidnapped by Buffett and psychotic "Parrot Heads" and its up to McDonald and James Ingram to rescue him. Jason Lee makes a guest appearance as Bacon.

• Cheeseburger in Paradise - Jimmy Buffet
• I Need a Hero - Bonnie Tyler
• If it's Not What You're Looking For - Kenny Loggins
• Yah Mo Be There - James Ingram & Michael McDonald
• Margaritaville - Jimmy Buffett
• Changes in Latitude - Jimmy Buffett
• I'm Free (Heaven Helps the Man) - Kenny Loggins
• There's No Easy Way to Break Someone's Heart - James Ingram
• Pencil Thin Mustache - Jimmy Buffett
• Why Don't We Get Drunk - Jimmy Buffett
• Footloose - Kenny Loggins
• Boat Drinks - Jimmy Buffett
• Danger Zone - Kenny Loggins

12. "Dangerzone"

Premiered at the Bell House in Brooklyn, New York. Screened at Channel 101 April 24th.

Kenny Loggins and Michael McDonald must fight Hall and Oates to destroy a Black Hole with Smooth Music.

• Sweet Freedom - Michael McDonald * No Lookin' Back - Kenny Loggins * Chase - Giorgio Moroder * No Lookin' Back - Michael McDonald * We are the World - USA for Africa * Adult Education - Hall & Oates * Charm The Snake - Christopher Cross * Out of Touch - Hall & Oates * From Here to eternity - Giorgio Moroder * Danger Zone - Kenny Loggins * Playing With The Boys - Kenny Loggins * Method of Modern Love - Hall & Oates * Sailing - Christopher Cross

Best Episode [ ]

Production [ ].

When asked by Will Hines on the Channel 101:NY forums about how good the production and editing values were on Yacht Rock, Ryznar replied:

"Its just the blessing of living in LA. I work for a company who lets us borrow their 24p and the office itself on the weekend. My next door neighbor is an editor. In LA, EVERYONE's next door neighbor is an editor, although I'm one of the few creators that doesnt do his own editing. Plus channel 101 is just an amazing wealth of acting talent. Yet, everyone is a writer... but everyone can act. Its weird and awesome. The studio is courtesy of Ryan Elder who emailed me after the first Yacht Rock and said "I'm a fan of Yacht Rock. I work at a recording studio wink wink." Its amazing. Someone on Yacht Rock is working on a big movie (MI:3) so we used this huge HOLLYWOOD BLOCKBUSTER greenscreen that they had THROWN AWAY (it was 20 by 20 and scraped!) to shoot the Koko ghost stuff, which we set up in the DV room of my office, lit with the company's lights, etc, etc.

Everyone loves making movies here, and not everyone wants to be in front of the camera or behind a typewriter. Some people just like to work on projects that actually get finished. This town is awesome.

We shot two days on this one, each about 6 hour days. I'm not sure how long the editing took. Lane picks at it here and there while he works on other things. Then I come in after the rough cut and we tighten the shit out of it, usually about 2 4-6 hour sessions with him gets it done.

But really, the secret is the Panasonic dvx100a camera. They're coming out with new models now, so maybe the older, but still awesome, ones will get cheaper. I want to own one soon. Fingers crossed."

Fun Facts [ ]

• Became the second show to make it a year, after The 'Bu , (June to May) with 3 months off. Only to be canceled the next show.

See also [ ]

• Yacht Rock/Quotes

External links [ ]

• The AV Club looks back on Yacht Rock in 2013
• Channel 101 Show Page
• Official Website
• Wikipedia article
• Facebook Page
• Have You Heard About The Lonesome Losers?
• Really Smooth Music
• Knights of Monte Carlo
• A Yacht Rock party how-to.
• Interview with JD about series.
• Yacht Rock Myspace
• The true story of the song "What a Fool Believes"
• Mention at Panopticist.

References [ ]

• ↑ http://channel101.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=54719#54719
• ↑ http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,178467,00.html
• ↑ http://web.archive.org/web/20080531045840/http://www.chicagotribune.com/features/lifestyle/chi-hall-oates-0527may27,0,6549277.story
• ↑ http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/02/02/AR2007020200358_pf.html
• ↑ http://archive.is/20120913063143/www.spinner.com/2008/05/28/yacht-rock-docks-in-sea-of-musical-spoofs/
• ↑ http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/entertainment/2002726917_yachtfix09.html
• ↑ http://www.observer.com/node/52629
• ↑ http://archives.cnn.com/2001/SHOWBIZ/Music/02/23/grammy.albums/index.html
• ↑ http://featuresblogs.chicagotribune.com/entertainment_popmachine/2006/02/u2_vs_kanye_rev.html
• ↑ http://www.seattleweekly.com/music/0549/051207_music_talktalk.php
• ↑ http://channel101.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=69553#69553
• ↑ http://music.ign.com/articles/710/710545p1.html
• ↑ http://www.seattleweekly.com/2007-08-22/music/hall-oats-are-living-harmonizing-proof-that-there-s-no-such-thing-as-ironic-hipster-kryptonite.php
• ↑ http://www.timeout.com/newyork/articles/hot-seat/26823/michael-mcdonald

• 1 Story Structure 101: Super Basic Shit
• 2 2 Girls, 1 Cup: The Show
• 3 Story Structure 104: The Juicy Details

LAist is part of Southern California Public Radio, a member-supported public media network.

This archival content was written, edited, and published prior to LAist's acquisition by its current owner, Southern California Public Radio ("SCPR"). Content, such as language choice and subject matter, in archival articles therefore may not align with SCPR's current editorial standards. To learn more about those standards and why we make this distinction, please click here .

LAist Interview: "Yacht Rock" Creator J.D. Ryznar

J.D. Ryznar is so freaking amazing. Seriously. Just watch his cult Channel 101 Internet television show, " Yacht Rock ." By popular demand, the definitive final and twelfth episode of Yacht Rock will be premiered tonight in Downtown LA at the new home of Channel 101, the Downtown Independent Theater . This ends a saga created from 2005 to 2006, followed by a "Footloose"-themed sequel starring Jason Lee as Kevin Bacon in 2008.

" Yacht Rock " is a music-themed cult smash episodic comedy about the imaginary backstories behind the making of Seventies smooth music hits such as the Doobie Brothers' "What a Fool Believes," the Steely Dan-Eagles musical rivalry "Hotel California" and "FM," and Toto's "Rosanna." The plot revolves around fictionalized versions of ubiquitous Seventies background vocalist and smooth music champion Michael McDonald (portrayed by writer and creator J.D. Ryznar) and eventual rocker and traitor to smooth music, Kenny Loggins (portrayed by Hunter Stair).

Channel 101 is a crowd-sourced web tv network which uses a live audience to vote on which pilots get picked up and can continue as series from month to month. You can be one of the Channel 101 deciders at tonight's free screening at the Downtown Independent. The new Downtown LA venue looks freaking cool, too.

LAist: What do you want to say about the new Yacht Rock ? It's been a couple years since the "Footloose" Episode 11. J.D. Ryznar: We had to do a final episode to put a button on the whole thing. We have lot of great fans out there that deserve a good, worthwhile ending to the show. It just made me feel antsy that it it's open ended. I just had to end it. LAist: Ambrosia played at the screening of the Yacht Rock finale in NY. Ryznar: That was fun. But this is going to be more fun, showing it at Channel 101's home base. It's going to be a typical Channel 101 screening with all the returning shows, the new shows, and then Yacht Rock. Kind of a bonus to get people into the new venue.

LAist: How did you know it was time to move from Cinespace to Downtown LA?

Ryznar: The Cinespace experience was kind of like, have dinner, watch the Channel 101 shows. This new place is more of a movie theater, with a bar open to midnight or 2. This will be the place for Channel 101, the hangout for the people who make the shows, and kind of party all night. Also we're doing it on a Saturday night instead of Sunday. People can come to screenings, vote on screenings, and stay and hang out and chat with the creators of shows. You'll see the same people work on the shows, collaborate on the shows. It's a really awesome family of artists to get to know.

LAist: Can you tell me anything about the new episode? You've done a good job keeping it off the Internet in advance of the premiere.

Ryznar: It takes place in 1985. Yacht Rock has sailed off into the sunset and everybody's struggling for relevance. There's a scene that takes place at the "We are the World" recording. It's in the middle or toward the beginning to move the story along. But it was an incredible shoot. All sorts of people came out dressed like the people they were supposed to be, in sometimes ambiguous home made outfits. We have 90% of actual participants.

John Konesky as Giorgio Moroder and Hunter Stair as Kenny Loggins on the set of the "Yacht Rock" finale. Photo: K. Goldstein. LAist: Yacht Rock is relatively retro. [June 2005 to June 2006] Nowadays, many people are short form web television producers. How did VH1's Acceptable TV come about? Was it the plan to use Channel 101 to get a deal to be on a network?

Ryznar: Honestly, I believe Channel 101 was founded just so that creative people with time on their hands could get together and make things. Channel 101 never had a commercial plan or a plan to become anything bigger. It's been pretty self-sustaining for 7 or 8 years of its existence. People come in and make new things.

LAist: Does Channel 101 have any revenues?

Ryznar: No. Dan Harmon pays any expenses that come up. He pays for the website, which might be a couple grand a year. He supports it out of the goodness of his heart. The venues generally have us for free. We try not to charge admission. When we do the Awards show [the "Channys"], that's where the expenses come up.

LAist: How do you get invited to the Channys?

Ryznar: Anyone can come. If you've made a show that's been in Prime Time in the last year you have nomination rights. Then it opens to a wider pool for the voting, to all people who have made a Prime Time show ever. Sort of an academy deal. If you get into the club, then you can vote.

LAist: You are from Michigan. How did you come to LA and start working with Dan Harmon and the people at Channel 101?

Ryznar: Friends of mine told me about it. They lived in NY and they had written a pilot and they wanted it shot. I rewrote it with them and we put together a crew and we shot it and submitted it, just like anyone else who gets into Channel 101. It's open to anybody. Anybody can submit a 5-minute pilot to Channel 101.

LAist: Was that "The New McGuyver?"

Ryznar: The first one was " Kicking Asteroid ." It got screened on our first attempt, which was awesome. At the time, I think they were getting about 30 submissions a month, so it was really awesome to get screened right away. A lot of people submit, submit, submit, and learn and learn and learn, and it takes them the 4th or 5th try to get screened. Then they get into a rhythym and before you know it, it's getting into the Channel 101 Prime Time and then they're selling the show to Cartoon Network.

LAist: How did you know it was time to move to LA?

Ryznar: I was a year out of college. I always intended, after living in New York City and back in Michigan for a little bit, that I would go to LA to try to write movies.

LAist: You're writing for "Blue Mountain State" and you wrote something called Krater . What is that?

Ryznar: Krater was my first big thing. That is a movie I wrote for Warner Brothers for Jason Lee. It is about a real hard rock band in the 70s that hires a new lead singer so they can get signed. The singer turns out to be a pussy who loves to write mushy ballads and they become really popular because of that. The original guys in the band become miserable and they are rich. It's a fabulous script! We are just waiting for the stars to align.

LAist: Is it a comedy?

Ryznar: Yes.

LAist: Tell us about " Blue Mountain State ."

Ryznar: "Blue Mountain State" is a show on Spike TV. It's a raunchy football show. I got hired as a staff writer last year. The guys who created the show, Eric Falconer and Chris Romano , are also from Channel 101. They did "Shitbusters" and " Terence vs. Reuben ." Then they sold a show to Spike and hired a couple of Channel 101 dudes to write on it. That is one of the benefits of participating in Channel 101. You might get a job one day.

Hunter Stair as Kenny Loggins and J.D. Ryznar as Michael McDonald. Photo: K. Goldstein. LAist: Have you met Michael McDonald?

Ryznar: I have not met him, nor do I want to. I think he's freaking great, but I kind of have a rule against meeting my idols. Michael McDonald has seen it and mentioned it in interviews. He generally has a pretty flattering take on it, which is nice. I think he said it's weird, it's like you have a stalker who happens to know a little too much about you, and how unusually insightful it was coming from people who know nothing about what really happened.

LAist: How did you discover Michael McDonald?

Ryznar: It was a slow burn in high school. I remember friends talking about Michael McDonald, pointing out to me how often he shows up in background vocals of songs of the 70s, and how unique his voice is. Then I got into Steely Dan in college and realized, oh man, this is full of Michael McDonald, and how this guy's reach spread out. Then, just before I made Yacht Rock, he did the Austin City Limits Show. I watched that obsessively. I watched his mannerisms and thought, this guy is great. This guy is wonderful. And I love the song "Sweet Freedom. Love it. It is a solo song, the theme song to "Running Scared," starring Billy Crystal and Gregory Hines.

LAist: Is that your favorite kind of music in general?

Ryznar: No. It's nice. Now that I've made Yacht Rock, I feel self-conscious listening to it too much.

LAist: What do you like listening to?

Ryznar: Whatever. Good music. I just got really into Guided by Voices. I've been catching up on their catalog.

LAist: Besides your own, what other Channel 101 shows do you recommend?

Ryznar: " Laser Fart ." That's Dan Harmon's original great Channel 101 show. Drew Hancock who plays Oates did a show called " Cautionary Tales of Swords ." That show's hilarious. There's been so many great Channel 101 shows over the years, I can't even begin to list them all. It's a great website to so go through and just dig through the history . A lot of great stuff on the web is totally undiscovered.

LAist: You guys do not pimp it out at all, especially compared to many other web series.

Ryznar: Channel 101's been around since since before Youtube. It used to be the only way to get your stuff seen on the Internet as far as Internet shorts go. And now even with Youtube and "Funny or Die," I think Channel 101 is still the best way to hone your skills, because of the selection process. And the fact that you get to show it in front of a live audience in LA. For free. I mean it's incredible. It's a great way to discover talent and to grow your own talent.

Channel 101 screening at the Downtown Independent Theater, 251 S. Main St. Los Angeles, 90012 (near Civic Center Red Line Metro Stop). Doors, 7:00 p.m., Screening, 8:00 p.m. Free.

Photos by K. Goldstein.

The Nauti Yachtys

Yacht Rock was an online video series following the fictionalized lives and careers of American soft rock stars of the late 1970s and early 1980s.…

The Nauti Yachtys At The Vogue

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Yacht Rock was an online video series following the fictionalized lives and careers of American soft rock stars of the late 1970s and early 1980s.

J. D. Ryznar and Hunter D. Stair devised the series after noticing the incestuous recording careers of such bands as Steely Dan, Toto, and The Doobie Brothers and the singer-songwriters Kenny Loggins and Michael McDonald. For example, McDonald co-wrote Loggins’ “This Is It” and The Doobie Brothers’ “What a Fool Believes” and also performed backing vocals for several other ‘yacht rock’ artists, including Steely Dan and Christopher Cross. Yacht Rock’s episodes were “hosted” by “Hollywood” Steve Huey, a legitimate music critic for Allmusic.

Ryznar admits to having a fascination with the music of the period. Ryznar explains, “Getting into Steely Dan really started this for me. As did the ability to buy dollar records at Amoeba and put them on tapes for my car. Kenny Loggins has made his way into all the pilots I’ve been involved with except [one].” As Ryznar told Reuters contributor Andy Sullivan, “I’m making fun of the songwriting process, but the music is generally treated pretty lovingly.”

The series depicted some realistic aspects of the music, but builds exaggerated storylines around them. For example, the series’ presentation of Hall & Oates, in which John Oates, a clear junior partner given his paucity of lead vocals or songwriting credits, rules over partner Daryl Hall in quasi-abusive fashion, is unrealistic. Michael Jackson is depicted as a hard-rock enthusiast who believes his partnership with guitarist Eddie Van Halen will lead to an endless parade of female sexual conquests. Jeff “Skunk” Baxter, the Doobie Brothers’ lead guitarist, is often seen pressuring central figure Michael McDonald to write the Doobies another hit. The real Baxter did bring McDonald into the band but he quit himself after achieving their greatest commercial success because of his displeasure with their new commercial attitude. The Eagles and Steely Dan really did insert lyrical references to each other in their music, as depicted in the show, but these were actually friendly in nature, not part of a longtime grudge involving baseball bats and lunch-money shakedowns.

The series was written, directed, and produced by Ryznar, co-produced by David Lyons and Hunter Stair, and edited by Lane Farnham. The production has a “bad-on-purpose aesthetic”.

Yacht Rock debuted at Channel 101’s June 2005 screening. It placed in the top five at subsequent screenings until the June 2006 screening of its tenth episode, where it placed seventh and was canceled.

However, the show remained a popular download on Channel 101, convincing the creators to make an 11th episode independently. This episode, featuring Jason Lee as Kevin Bacon, debuted during a screening at the Knitting Factory in New York City on December 27, 2007. A month later, Channel 101 themselves included it in a screening, and hosted it on their website along with the other episodes on January 28, 2008 Read more on Last.fm . User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.

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The Vibenomics Holiday Party 2019 featuring The Nauti Yachtys with Josh Kaufman was a beautiful evening full of holiday fun at The Vogue Theatre on Friday, December 20, 2019. Photo cred Melodie Yvonne

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arts entertainment Pop Music

Where to listen to yacht rock in Dallas-Fort Worth -- because, yup, it's a thing

By Tiney Ricciardi

5:20 AM on Sep 7, 2017 CDT

As a kid, John Lefler remembers the sounds of Chuck Mangione and Little River Band. These days, the singer and guitar player is giving new life to those artists through Captain and Camille, a yacht rock tribute band focused on the smooth sounds of the 1970s and '80s.

Captain and Camille's genesis was a product of coincidence. Lefler and and longtime friend Camille Cortinas teamed up with several local musicians for what they thought would be a one-time smooth '70s night at Opening Bell Coffee shop in Dallas. Crowds packed the little venue and sang along to every song; that's when Lefler and company knew they had tapped into something special.

"I think what people respond to is, not only these are the songs that people in their 50s and 60s listened to when they were in their formative years, but a lot of the yacht rock stuff is kind of making fun of it," Lefler says. Not Captain and Camille, though, even with their Tommy Bahama-inspired shirts and captain's hats.

"We all care about this music," says Cortinas. "All of this was founded on something we had affection for."

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Yacht rock has seen a resurgence in recent years, thanks to bands and fans with equal appreciation for the genre. On any given weekend in Dallas-Fort Worth, you're likely to stumble by a bar where tunes from Kenny Loggins or Hall and Oates waft out the door.

What is yacht rock?

The term yacht rock, which generally refers to soft rock of the late 1970s and early 1980s, was coined in 2005 by a group of guys who produced a satirical television series chronicling the "incestuous recording careers" of artists like the Doobie Brothers (specifically, Michael McDonald), Kenny Loggins and Steely Dan, according to its creators . Consider yacht rock the antithesis of disco or hard rock of the era.

"You know how, in the '70s, these big bands started playing arena rock? We liked the idea of these smooth bands playing 'marina rock,'" said David Lyons, who played band manager Koko in the series, in  Rolling Stone in 2015 .

The 12-part  Yacht Rock series , with its endearingly idiosyncratic host Hollywood Steve, later became a YouTube sensation for its hilarious sketches about the genesis of hits like the Doobie Brothers' "What a Fool Believes," Kenny Loggins' "This Is It," Christopher Cross' "Sailing," and Michael Jackson's "Human Nature." It even featured cameos from actors Jason Lee and Drew Carey.

Yacht rock essentials

When it comes to bands, the aforementioned artists are staples. Captain and Camille also covers Gerry Rafferty, Ambrosia, England Dan & John Ford Coley, and a mix of one-hit wonders. There's King Harvest, which penned "Dancing in the Moonlight," for example.

And keyboard player Mike Finkel never forgets to wear his mandatory captain's hat.

"Basically what happened is we found the hat and we were like, 'We have to have a band that wears the hat,'" jokes Lefler. "It was like Cinderella."

Dallas-based band the Rich Girls cover one yacht rock group exclusively: Hall and Oates. Catch them in concert and you'll be rewarded with live versions of "Sara Smile," "You Make My Dreams Come True," and "Out of Touch," among others.

According to Justin Young, bass player for the Rich Girls, the band was born out of a dare. Seven years after its first performance, the band is still yacht rocking regularly.

"I didn't know what I was getting into," Young says with a laugh. "My love for [the music] comes through the complexity of it, which kind of took me aback because I always thought of them of as a fun, '80s sort of band."

Lefler agrees yacht rock music requires a proficiency it doesn't always get credit for.

The music is "not easy," he says. "We're not playing the Ramones."

Where to find yacht rock in D-FW

Looking for a fix of smooth, seaside tunes? Here are three local acts and one nationally known group.

• Sept. 8: Yacht Rock Revue , which has played with members of Billy Joel and Weezer, brings its acclaimed performance to Lava Cantina in The Colony.
• Sept. 15: North Texas' own the Rich Girls channel the best of Hall and Oates at the Aardvark in Fort Worth.
• Sept. 23: Dallas-based Captain and Camille bust out the smooth sounds of the '70s at Tolbert's Restaurant in Grapevine.
• Nov. 18: The Windbreakers from Dallas set sail to the tune of yacht rock classics at the Brixton in Plano.

Tiney Ricciardi . Though she was born in California, Tiney is a Texan at heart with two degrees from Dallas’ Southern Methodist University under her belt. Her passions for music and language have taken her across the world, from Peru to Switzerland and all corners of America. A self-proclaimed master of puns, she currently resides in East Dallas priming her online publishing skills and snuggling with her cats. Ask her where to find good music and good beer.

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Yacht Rock (web series)

American online video series / from wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, dear wikiwand ai, let's keep it short by simply answering these key questions:.

Can you list the top facts and stats about Yacht Rock (web series)?

Summarize this article for a 10 year old

Yacht Rock is an online video series following the fictionalized lives and careers of American soft rock stars of the late 1970s and early 1980s. The series debuted at a Channel 101 screening on June 26, 2005. It placed in the top five at subsequent screenings until June 25, 2006, when the tenth episode placed seventh at the screening, and the series was canceled. The show remained a popular download on the Channel 101 website, convincing the creators to make two additional episodes independently. The eleventh episode, featuring Jason Lee as Kevin Bacon , debuted in a screening at the Knitting Factory in New York City on December 27, 2007, and was later included with the other episodes on Channel 101. [1] On May 5, 2010, the twelfth and final episode of Yacht Rock was released on YouTube and Channel 101. The series inspired the term yacht rock as a musical descriptor for the songs and artists it features.

Creation and inspiration

The series was written, directed, and produced by J. D. Ryznar, co-produced by David Lyons and Hunter D. Stair, and edited by Lane Farnham. The production has a "bad-on-purpose aesthetic" devised by Farnham. [2]

Ryznar and Stair devised the series after noticing the converging recording careers of such bands as Steely Dan , Toto , and The Doobie Brothers , and the singer-songwriters Kenny Loggins and Michael McDonald . For example, McDonald co-wrote and sang on Loggins' " This Is It " and Loggins co-wrote the Doobie Brothers' " What a Fool Believes " with McDonald. McDonald also performed backing vocals for several other "yacht rock" artists, including Steely Dan and Christopher Cross .

Ryznar admits to having a fascination with the music of the period. As he explained, "Getting into Steely Dan really started this for me, as did the ability to buy dollar records at Amoeba and put them on tapes for my car. Kenny Loggins has made his way into all the pilots I've been involved with except [one]." [3] As he told Reuters contributor Andy Sullivan, "I'm making fun of the songwriting process, but the music is generally treated pretty lovingly." [4]

Yacht Rock' s episodes are "hosted" by "Hollywood" Steve Huey, a former AllMusic critic. The term "yacht rock" is never used throughout the series by any characters, except for Huey during his introductions; instead, it is always referred to as "smooth music".

The series depicts some realistic aspects of the music, but builds exaggerated storylines around them. For example, main protagonists Loggins and McDonald, played by Stair and Ryznar, receive inspiration from a fictional impresario named Koko Goldstein, played by Lyons, whose death in the second episode ultimately leads them to go their separate ways. McDonald is an idealistic and earnest singer/songwriter who takes both smooth music and himself far too seriously, while Loggins is his easygoing friend and collaborator who eventually abandons smooth music in favor of commercial rock and film soundtracks in the 1980s, straining their friendship.

The portrayal of John Oates as the abusive, foulmouthed leader of Hall and Oates and enemy of "smooth music", exerting sometimes violent control over the milquetoast Daryl Hall , is an inversion of reality, in which Hall is the main lead vocalist and songwriter and no rivalry exists between the two. [5] Christopher Cross , played by future Rick and Morty co-creator Justin Roiland , is depicted as a naive, timid hayseed whose song " Sailing " accidentally becomes a "smooth music" standard-bearer. Loggins' former partner Jim Messina (Farnham) is a bitter wino who resents Loggins for finding success without him. Michael Jackson is depicted as a newly-minted rocker who believes his partnership with Eddie Van Halen will lead to an endless parade of sexual conquests. The Eagles , portrayed as jock-like meatheads, and Steely Dan (portrayed as snarky nerds, with Donald Fagen speaking in an incoherent babble of scat that only McDonald and caustic bandmate Walter Becker can understand) really did insert lyrical references to each other in their music as depicted in the show, but these were friendly nods rather than part of a violent rivalry.

John Oates credited Yacht Rock with rekindling interest in Hall & Oates and introducing them to a younger audience, saying in 2007:

I think Yacht Rock was the beginning of this whole Hall & Oates resurrection   ... They were the first ones to start to parody us and put us out there again, and a lot of things have happened because of Yacht Rock . [6]

Michael McDonald praised the series in a 2008 interview:

Have you ever owned a yacht? No, but I thought Yacht Rock was hilarious. And uncannily, you know, those things always have a little bit of truth to them. It's kind of like when you get a letter from a stalker who's never met you. They somehow hit on something, and you have to admit they're pretty intuitive. [7]

In 2015, SiriusXM broadcast a limited-time "Yacht Rock Radio" channel on satellite from August 21 – September 22. This SXM satellite channel has "popped up" every summer since, most recently from late May to early October 2021, while also maintaining a year-round dedicated Yacht Rock online streaming channel. [8]

Beyond Yacht Rock

In 2016, Ryznar, Huey, Stair, and Lyons began a podcast called Beyond Yacht Rock . This series revolves around top-ten countdowns of genres they have newly invented, as well as episodes built around analyses of the work of musicians such as Steve Perry and Van Halen . [9] The series also includes more commentary on the yacht rock style, such as evaluating songs according to whether or not they fit the creators' description of the style (which they call "Yacht or Nyacht"). [10] The podcast concluded in 2021 after 100 episodes. [11]

Real people portrayed in Yacht Rock

• Ian Anderson
• Michael Anthony (referred to as 'the other guy')
• Rosanna Arquette
• Dan Aykroyd
• Kevin Bacon
• Jeff "Skunk" Baxter
• Walter Becker
• Jeremiah Birnbaum
• David Bowie
• Lindsey Buckingham
• Jimmy Buffett
• Peter Cetera
• Ray Charles
• Chevy Chase
• Christopher Cross
• Daryl Dragon
• Donald Fagen
• David Hungate
• James Ingram
• La Toya Jackson
• Michael Jackson
• Cyndi Lauper
• Kenny Loggins
• Steve Lukather
• Michael McDonald
• Jim Messina
• Giorgio Moroder
• Willie Nelson
• David Paich
• Steve Perry
• Jeff Porcaro
• Steve Porcaro
• Vincent Price
• Harold Ramis
• Kenny Rogers
• David Lee Roth
• Tom Savarese
• Patrick Simmons
• Bruce Springsteen
• Ted Templeman
• Toni Tennille
• Charles, Lord Townshend
• Jethro Tull
• Tina Turner
• Alex Van Halen
• Eddie Van Halen
• Dionne Warwick
• List of soft rock artists and songs
• Culture of California
• [2] Hornaday, Ann (February 4, 2007). "Rules for YouTube: Make Art, Not Bore" . Washington Post . Retrieved July 29, 2008 .
• [3] Ryznar, J.D. (July 27, 2005). "Yacht Rock, Ep. 2" . Channel 101 Public Forum . Channel 101 . Archived from the original on February 4, 2012 . Retrieved October 9, 2006 .
• [4] Sullivan, Andy (December 13, 2005). "Web TV Helps Comedy Writers Find Audience" . Fox News. Reuters . Retrieved October 7, 2008 .
• [5] Powers, Ann (May 27, 2008). "Hall & Oates redeem their cool cred" . Chicago Tribune . Archived from the original on August 19, 2008 . Retrieved June 22, 2008 .
• [6] Maerz, Jennifer; Ben Westhoff (August 21, 2007). "Seattle Music - Hall & Oates Are Living, Harmonizing Proof That There's No Such Thing as Ironic Hipster Kryptonite" . Village Voice Media. Archived from the original on February 2, 2013 . Retrieved March 7, 2009 .
• [7] Sellers, John (February 27, 2008). "Michael McDonald" . Time Out New York. Archived from the original on February 11, 2009 . Retrieved March 7, 2009 .
• [8] "How Yacht Rock Ended Up on Sirius XM" .
• [9] When the Guys Behind 'Yacht Rock' Took Aim at the Humiliating Practice of White Musicians' 'Try-N-Raps' . Vulture , February 29, 2016.
• [10] That '70s Week: Yacht Rock . NPR , March 15, 2017.
• [11] "Beyond Yacht Rock on Stitcher" . www.stitcher.com . Retrieved July 15, 2023 .

External links

• Official Website Archived March 9, 2011, at the Wayback Machine
• J. D. Ryznar's YouTube channel , which includes all 12 episodes
• "Sail Away: The Oral History of 'Yacht Rock'"

• Mar 21, 2019
• 19 min read

Episode 10: Jason Y. Lee | A Life of Courage and Authenticity

I had lived so much of my life according to certain expectations that i said, "no, i want to have the courage to not go back to that very clear path, but pave my own way.".

Below is the audio transcript for Episode 10, lightly edited for clarity.

Hi listeners, it's Lucia.

This week i speak with jason y. lee, the founder of jubilee media: a media company for positive, purpose-driven millennials. jason describes jubilee as buzzfeed’s older brother and vice’s kind best friend..

Prior to Jubilee Media, Jason was a consultant at Bain, one of the top consulting firms in the country. He quit his job to start Jubilee Project, a non-profit media company with his older brother Eddie, and his best friend Eric. Jubilee Project partnered with organizations to help raise funds for important causes such as Hepatitis B awareness, the Haiti earthquake, refugees in North Korea, and human rights organizations.

Jason and I met through student government at the University of Pennsylvania, or Penn as we call it. Jason has the boyish, guy next door look. He’s tall, lean, has a perfect smile, and looks like the epitome of an honor student.

Jason lives in Los Angeles now and I reconnected with him over the phone.

Jason: My name is Jason Y. Lee . I'm the founder and CEO of Jubilee Media. We’re a digital media company that creates content for human good, Our belief is that as the world gets more and more divided, we want to be the company that brings people together, that inspires empathy, and that inspires love.

Lucia: In this episode I speak with Jason about:

• What it means to live a life true to yourself and not what others expected of you
,

• Working for the Obama presidential campaign and how that inspired him
,

• How he was able to pursue his childhood dream of storytelling
,

• The challenges he faced building Jubilee Media
,

• And his aspirations for creating the next wave of changemakers.


Jason grew up in Overland Park, Kansas, an all-American town smack dab in the middle of the country. It’s considered part of the Kansas City metropolitan area where the city is known for its barbeque and jazz -- not for its cultural diversity.

Jason: Whenever I tell people I'm from Kansas people are usually shocked and alarmed because very few of us make it out first of all, but secondly, there are very few Asian Americans in Kansas. In high school, for example, I was one of maybe four Asians in a class of 400 and several of them had been adopted. So I was very cognizant of my identity and recognized that I was different in some ways.

Lucia: Jason is the younger son of two Korean immigrant parents, who are both professors. They instilled two things early on in Jason’s childhood: the importance of education, and a sense of civic duty to do good in the world. The desire to serve a larger purpose in the world would later sow the seeds for Jubilee.

Jason: My parents would drop me and my older brother off at the public library to volunteer for literally eight hours a day every day for the summer. Part of it was that they didn't want to pay for babysitters but another part of it was that they wanted to instill in us this idea of civic duty. And that we are a part of a larger society and wanting to give back in some small way. So I think my journey my entire way starting from high school through college and the different things I tried to do was either one, in an effort for me to achieve the very best and grow or two, to find an opportunity to serve a much larger purpose.

Lucia: In a TEDx Talk he gave at UC Irvine, Jason recounts a story from his childhood when he shared eagerly with his kindergarten teacher what he wanted to be when he grew up.

Excerpt from Jason's TEDx talk:

Jason: You know, you've got all these dreams when you're growing up. I knew exactly what I wanted to be. So I ran home. I remember I couldn't sleep as I was so excited to share with Mrs. Price and all my new friends what I wanted to be when I grew up. So, I ran back to school the next day.

Finally it's my turn. And Mrs. Price said, "Thank you Jason for waiting patiently". And I had my hand up. She said, "No, you don't have to put your hand up now. It's your turn."

And I said, "Well, when I grow up there are two things I really want to be."

"Awesome. You can be whatever it is that you want."

"Okay."

"Why don't you share with us?"

"Well, I've been thinking for a really long time and I was really trying to decide between these two, but I think this is the thing I really really want to be."

"Okay Jason. What is it that you'd like to be when you grow up?

"When I grow up, I want to be a dinosaur!"

Lucia: All jokes aside, Jason actually wanted to be a police officer. He wanted to fight crime and uphold justice, and serve his community. His teacher thought it was a noble profession and Jason happily went home to tell his parents.

Jason: I run home and we're having dinner. My Dad looks at me and says, "Jason, how's school? I said, "So good!" He said, "What did you learn?"

He then asked, "What is it that you want to be?" And I said, "Well, when I grow up I want to be a policeman. And there's silence. It was almost as though I had said I wanted to be a dinosaur when I grew up. There was silence and my dad took his spoon and set it down. He looked at me and says, “Jason. You know, I love you. When you grow up, you're not going to be a policeman.” I said, "Why not?" He said, "I want you to have a good career. I want you to have a respectable career where you make a lot of money and you're very secure so that you can take care of your family. "

I don't think my dad's intention that day was to crush my dreams, but it was so weird to hear him say that because all of this time I'd heard over and over and over again, "You can be whatever you want when you grow up!". But here was my hero, my father, who I love dearly and he was saying no you can't. It wasn't at that moment, but I think it was a couple years later when I started to realize there were actually only a couple of things that I could be when I grew up.

Lucia: Jason quickly realized that there was only a small pool of professions he could truly choose from that would satisfy his parents. Professions that would enable him to to have a respectable career where he could make a lot of money and take care of his family.  Those were to be a lawyer, a doctor, an engineer, or a businessman. And it was then that he learned about the secret of success:

Do really well in school.  Get into a really really good college. Preferably an Ivy League, preferably Harvard. Get a good job. Make a lot of money. Marry a beautiful girl or boy, have a family, retire then you will be happy - right?  

Lucia: So, Jason followed that path. He got straight As in school, he was part of the math club, the swim team, the chess club, and he was editor of the school newspaper.

Jason: When I was a freshman in high school, I was the kid that was super nerdy, walking around with SAT flashcards. All of my friends thought I was ludicrous. So in high school, generally, I found the academics not too difficult being in Kansas, but I also knew that I wanted to do a lot of activities because I had heard that that's makes you a great applicant for college. So I found purpose in those activities, but honestly early on it was all about all the various things that I could do that would make me look impressive as a high school student.

Lucia: His brother Eddie was one year ahead of him and he had gotten into Harvard. So when it was time for Jason to apply to schools, he thought he would get admitted to the same schools as his brother.

Jason: He actually got into the majority of the schools that he applied to, so when it came time for me to apply. To be honest, I just assumed that I would also get into most of the same schools. I applied to the same schools because I had the same SAT score. I literally had the same GPA at all of these different things and even many of the similar activities but when my time came for whatever reason, I didn't get into most of the schools that I applied to. Penn was one of the few Ivy Leagues that I got into and I was like, okay, that's really interesting. I felt pretty happy obviously getting into Penn but I was very disappointed that I hadn't gotten into some of the other schools.

I think that was the first time that I started to realize that just because you follow the path that someone else has set forth, or that everyone else thinks is successful, doesn't mean that that's a guarantee of success for yourself. Only I can find my own path.

Lucia: Despite this setback, Penn turned out to be a great choice for Jason. He likens it to going to Hogwarts.

Jason: I got into the University of Pennsylvania, an Ivy League school, and the day that that letter came in I was ecstatic. You should have seen me on the first day of school. I looked like I thought I was going to Hogwarts or something because I felt like this place was magic. The very first day, I remember sitting in the grass.  Simply because I had seen so many photos of kids sitting in the grass.

Lucia: Funny side note here - like Hogwarts, Penn has 4 schools, the College of Arts and Sciences which is where I went, Engineering, Nursing and Wharton, the undergraduate business school, which is where Jason went. There’s a funny internet meme that assigned houses to each of the undergraduate schools at Penn.

The college was Gryffindor, Engineering was Ravenclaw, Nursing was Hufflepuff, and Wharton (which was Jason’s school) was Slytherin. It definitely does not produce police officers.

Lucia: At Penn, Jason found that he did well in classes and got straight As, which boosted his confidence. He continued to take part in student organizations like student government and swing dancing. He thought he would go into finance, so he took a job working for the Fed in DC during the summer of his sophomore year. The job was boring so when his brother Eddie called to ask him to join a political campaign, Jason jumped at the chance.

Jason: My brother was working on a campaign in New Hampshire and he said hey, you should come to New Hampshire if you're not enjoying your job. There's something very special happening. We think we're going to win. And lo and behold at the time, he had just joined the Barack Obama presidential campaign.

So this was in 2007 before people even knew who Senator Barack Obama was. We were literally going door to door saying "Hey, have you heard of Senator Obama" and I saw for the first time groups of 100 people turn into groups of 1000 turn into a group of 10,000 people.

I saw what it looked like to create a movement and what it looks like for young people to really get behind an idea and really want to change the world. So that was the first seed planted in me.

Lucia: Despite the exhilaration of working on the Obama Campaign and being given an offer to stay on the campaign, Jason took the safe route. He still believed that the correct way to succeed in life was to find a high-paying respectable job. So, he interviewed for investment banking and management consulting jobs. He didn’t enjoy the finance interviews, but he excelled at the management consulting cases and received a coveted offer from Bain & Company, one of the Big Three management consulting firms. Jason knew he had made it. He graduated from a prestigious Ivy League school with honors and he was now going to work at a top management consulting company to build his respectable career. Then right before graduation, the financial crisis of 2008 hit.

Jason: I think a blessing and a curse was that I graduated in 2008. This was the height of the recession. So even though I was going to work at Bain, they actually emailed everyone saying "Hey, we're not able to take everyone on. Does anyone want to take some time off to either learn a language or travel? I said absolutely especially if they were paying for it. So that was when I started doing some stuff in Social Enterprise work, I spent some time in Shanghai. But even when I got back and started working in January after I graduated, there wasn't very much work to be done.

My 22nd birthday ended up coinciding with the Haiti earthquake. And that was when I decided to go and busk at a New York subway stop to raise money and sing for Haiti and that was really what set off this whole journey that became Jubilee.

Starting Jubilee


Lucia: Jason posted the video on YouTube with the initial hope of raising $80 for Haiti. But the little video he made using his flip camera reached 8,000 views in the span of just one week and he ended up raising hundreds of dollars for the cause. That’s when Jason realized that stories and media could change the world. He recruited his brother Eddie and his best friend Eric to help him make more videos.

Jason: It was something we were just extremely passionate about. So every night and on weekends, while I was in New York, my brother Eddie was at the White House in DC, and Eric was at med school at Harvard, we would be shipping hard drives back and forth editing late into the night. I was the kid as a first-year associate, you know, editing and sending videos out to the my entire office. People were saying what are you doing? You know, I was okay at my job, but you could tell that my attention and my passion lay elsewhere.  

Lucia: Then one day, Jason was tasked to write a simple story for their next short film. While on the subway, he sat next to a girl who was wearing a pair of headphones. He really wanted to ask her what she was listening to but felt uncomfortable interrupting her and that’s when inspiration hit. Jason wrote the script for Love Language , a short film about two people who meet on a park bench.

The story goes like this: A boy notices a girl wearing a pair of headphones and reading on a park bench. The boy sits next to her and asks to borrow a pen. She lends him one despite still not speaking to him. Everyday they meet at the park bench and instead of speaking to each other, they pass notes back in forth written on pieces of post-it notes. Then one day, the girl asks the boy if he wanted to listen to her song and he says yes. She hands him her headphones tentatively and he eagerly puts them on, but to his surprise, he doesn’t hear anything. She then looks at him and gestures in sign language “I’m deaf”. Jason and his crew created this video to raise support and awareness for the American Society of Deaf Children. The video immediately went viral and by the end of one week, it had over 1 million views.

Today, the video has about 3.8M views on YouTube. After the video, Jason started getting invites from Asian Student Associations and Social Justice Societies to to speak at their Universities.

Jason: So every Friday night or Saturday, we would be at the big Asian Students Association or social justice conference saying that you should pursue your dream, pursue whatever it is that your heart is calling you to, and do it for a greater purpose. And then every Monday morning, I'd be back in my cubicle crying, saying I'm a failure. I got to the point where I started to realize that I can't just say these things to young people; I have to really live it out. I didn't want my life to pass by and start to recognize that I only had one opportunity and one life to kind of practice what I preached and and take courage in that way.

Lucia: So Jason, Eddie, and Eric all decided to quit their jobs all within the same week to pursue their non-profit venture. They worked together for 6 years producing hundreds of videos, many of which have gone viral. Videos like This Time , featuring Korean American Actor Ki Hong Lee, who went on to star in the movie trilogy, The Maze Runner; Blind Devotion , an 8-minute short about a marriage between a man and a woman who eventually goes blind. The video has received 23.8M views to date. At its peak, the Jubilee Project was commissioned to create a documentary on sex trafficking in Korea.

Jason: It was an exciting time where we were just trying to learn and grow as much as we could. Saying yes to as many opportunities as we could. During that time we ended up getting an email from a pastor in Korea who said, "Hey, love what you guys are working on. I would love for you to work on a documentary for us on sex trafficking in Korea." So we said sure that sounds good, because he was willing to pay to fly us out. When we got there, we started to learn about this issue and ended up shooting about 500 hours of footage, which is a crazy amount. We got back and I had this determination. I realized that a lot of people din't know about this issue and I thought, why not show the world. So for the next two years I ended up directing and helping to oversee an edit for Save My Seoul, which was the documentary feature.

Lucia: This was the team’s first foray into long form film and their first time doing a documentary in a foreign language. The film took four years to complete and the team raised $40K from a kickstarter campaign to fund post-production costs. The documentary premiered at the LA Asian Pacific Film Festival on April 29th, 2017. It won the Grand Jury award for documentaries and went on tour with the Polaris Project, a leading organization in the global fight to eradicate human trafficking.

But while Jubilee gained momentum, a few things changed within the team. Jason’s brother Eddie got married and went on to do other work. Jason’s best friend Eric decided to back to med school leaving Jason on his own.

Jason: That was actually a really tough time for me because as scary as it was for me to take the leap of faith and leave my job previously, I had the guys with me then. It was actually incredibly easy. I didn't feel like I was taking that much of a risk.

But when I was the last man standing with Jubilee, that's when I think it got really scary for me because suddenly I was running a nonprofit organization and we were doing some really interesting work, but I started looking around and thinking to myself, "Is this what I want to dedicate the next couple of years of my life doing?" And it wasn't that I didn't enjoy it anymore. I just wasn't sure if I had chosen the right strategy or approach.

Transitioning and Reinventing Jubilee Media


Lucia: Jason spent a year thinking through what he wanted to do next. Continue with Jubilee or do something different. Without the support of his brother and his best friend, Jason started having doubts about his future as a storyteller. He even thought about going back to business school.

Jason: It was around the time that all of my friends who I graduated with from Penn and from Bain were all going to business school. And my mom was in my ear saying, "You know, you don't have to go back to consulting. But why don't you just go to business school? Like you can easily go to business school and then you'll find all these other opportunities..." And there was a part of me that thought, "This is a way for me to course-correct if I want."

Seeing all of my friends go to these great business schools and having an amazing time, I was really envious because it felt like they kind of had a very clear path to the rest of their life, a very clear path to success. Meanwhile, I felt like I was just in the middle of the wilderness, the middle of the forest and there was literally no trail around me. But if I were to move forward, I would have to hack my own way through.

So it's something I really considered. I actually considered taking the GMAT and applying somewhere again. But ultimately there was this constant desire or saying that kind of rang in my mind. It's whht ultimately led me to leave consulting in the first place.

"I wish I had the courage to live a life true to myself and not one that others expected of me."

And I had lived so much of my life according to those expectations that again I said, no, I want to have the courage to not go back to that that kind of very clear path, but by my own way.

Lucia: “I wish I had the courage to live a life true to myself and not one that others expected of me”. Jason talks about this quote a lot. It was first written about by Bonnie Ware, a palliative care professional, who surveyed her patients' biggest regrets as they were about to die. Surprisingly, this was the number one regret. Jason didn’t want to have this regret. Something inside him kept nagging him to push forward.

Jason: I realized that I still want to be telling great stories online and building a movement, but I don't think I would want to be doing it as a non-profit. My theory of change had evolved a little bit. So I didn't want to be raising money and awareness for organizations; rather, I wanted to be facilitating a nice toast or a lifestyle of empathy and kindness and love.

What scared me the most at that time was this idea of trying to do it as a for-profit because at least when you're doing it as a non-profit if you fail, you can say I'm doing this for good.

But suddenly when you make this an enterprise and you raise capital or you think about it in a free economy, it felt like the stakes were way higher. That's what scared me the most about it. But that's also why I realized this is actually what I want to do.

Lucia: So Jason turned Jubilee Project, a non-profit entity, into Jubilee Media, a for-profit startup right around the time of the launch for Save My Seoul. In April 2017, he released a video on YouTube with a preview of what’s to come.

Jason: I realized that the best way for me to make an impact is not by changing the world myself, but by inspiring others to be able to do it better than me. I think that's reflected in the vision statement of Jubilee.

Our vision is that we want to create a movement of change makers for human good. That's one of the reasons why we create content mostly for Millennials and Gen Z. The thinking is that if we can inspire a couple of people to become incredible leaders in their space and their own profession or location, that will be a tremendous success.

So I hope that in a lot of ways we're able to do that with Jubilee and that my life and my journey can give encouragement and courage to others to believe that they can do it, to ask why not me?

Jason’s Advice for the Asian American Community


Lucia: Why not us? Lynne & I asked ourselves that question when starting Rock The Boat. There are only one or two network podcasts that feature Asian American hosts. There are no mainstream network podcasts that feature Asian American topics or culture. Every time we applied to a women of color podcast incubator or media accelerator, our applications were rejected.

So we thought, why not start it on our own and record the first episodes on our cell phones? In many ways, that’s how Jason started Jubilee Media, right on his flip camera. That’s how actors like Ki Hong Lee got his breakout roles by starring in roles on YouTube. That’s how Michelle Phan broke into the makeup and beauty industry.

Why not us is an important question to ask, especially if you’re unhappy at your job or have that nagging feeling to do something that’s a bit bigger than yourself. I challenge all of you who are listening to Rock The Boat to ask yourself that question, “Why not me?”

Jason: I think one of the amazing things for the Asian American Community is that we're about to enter into what I would call like our golden time, our golden era - and there's such an amazing crop of talent coming out whether it's storytellers, writers, filmmakers, creatives. But also people are starting to understand and recognize how important it is for the culture.

For a long time, even though there were Asian films or Asian characters, people wouldn't buy. Our community wouldn't act and and purchase but now I think people are starting to see and celebrate Asian excellence and things like that.

Everything that I'm seeing is pointing to our community kind of coalescing and really believing in this idea of representation because we're hearing about all sorts of different projects and people who are working on exciting things that I think in a couple of years from now, we're going to see the fruits of all the labor of decades of people trying really hard to advocate for community.

Lucia: Undoubtedly, Jason is part of the wave of Asian Americans who are paving a path for the next generation. He’s tackling an industry plagued with accusations of gender and racial homogeneity. Not only that, he’s tackling much larger societal issues with shows like Middle Ground to show how people with dissenting views are capable of coming together to find common experiences.

Jason: It's rarely our successes that bond us together. Most of the time it's our brokenness and our failures.

At Jubilee, something that we focus a lot on with our digital content is creating a safe space where people can be authentic, where there is no judgment, where people can disagree - but also ultimately realize we are far more alike than you might think.

We also do a dating series that has people swiping and all these things are meant to in some ways, a look into the human condition and society and how we are all related. In that way, the dating series is supposed to subvert. You know, we don't talk about the purpose of it but the point is to kind of subvert what is online dating right now? And how is it that we treat each other online? And making that very apparent in almost a comedic way, but a cause of introspection and discussion.

At the end of the day, we want to move people and we want people to see our content and reflect and recognize that there is more meaning. And that we're really inspiring people to live deeper.

Lucia: Jason’s aspirations for Jubilee is to inspire just a little more good and love in the world. He hopes to empower those who view his content to become a changemaker within their own communities.

Jason: Each of us are capable of incredible good but also terrible evil. The decisions that we make every day is whether we want to be good or bad. And if with our content we are able to encourage just a little bit more goodness, I would say that's a success for us.

Lucia: For Jason, the road ahead is a long one. Each step forward brings new challenges. If you haven’t heard in the news lately, media businesses like Buzzfeed, Vice, Verizon, and Gannett shed over 2,200 jobs at the beginning of this year. Still, Jason’s forging forward to achieve his dream.  He’s not quite a police officer or a dinosaur, but he’s indirectly fighting against the things that bring humanity apart, by creating a safe space for everyone’s voices to be heard.

Jason: Rock the boat means having the courage to live your most authentic life. What I mean by that is to have the courage to be who it is that you want to be, as well as pursue the things that you are interested in doing and not make decisions based on judgment of other people, expectation of our parents or society or fear of failure or for us to rock the boat. It's about living deeper with courage and love in every possible way that I've seen I've always seen people be rewarded for that.

Thank you Jason for sharing your journey to choosing to live a life true to yourself and not one that others expected of you. We’ve included a few of our favorite Jubilee Media videos in our show notes. There, you can also find a link to Jason’s full TED Talk at UC Irvine.

Save My Seoul is available on YouTube, iTunes, Amazon Video, Google Play along with a few other video streaming companies.  

• Finding Your Voice
• Finding Purpose

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