Q and A: Philly Ocean (Yächtley Crëw)

by BRIAN GIFFIN

YACHT rock has enjoyed a resurgence in popularity in recent years. While the genre may be difficult to properly define, it’s generally considered to be a re-evaluation of a broad musical style originally known as the West Coast sound, best exemplified by 70s mega-acts such as Steely Dan, late Doobie Brothers, Toto and Kenny Loggins, among others. Singer and songwriter Michael McDonald’s work usually features prominently.

The frequency with which these artists worked together was the inspiration for the 2005 web-hosted mockumentary Yacht Rock, where the name first came into use. The series portrayed ridiculous and often violent caricatures of people like McDonald, Loggins, the Eagles and John Oates and reignited interest in their music. It was the creators of that series who defined which artist should fall into the category, developing a list of necessary ingredients for an artist (or, occasionally, a particular song) to be admitted to yacht rock. Included in those factors were highly-quality, pristine production, the use of elite LA studio musicians, jazz and R&B influences and a particular lyrical focus on heartbreak from the male point of view: the Doobies’ “What a Fool Believes” is considered quintessential.

The recent Garret Price film Yacht Rock: A Dockumentary delved deep into the origins and renewed popularity of the form, featuring interviews with many of the protagonists as well as fans and critics. While often derided and a target of racial criticism for being “too white”, Price’s documentary explored how black artists like Questlove and Thundercat have embraced yacht rock, and used their own deep understanding of music to bring other black artists into the genre. Questlove’s personal yacht rock playlists have sometimes come under scrutiny for the inclusion of performers who don’t fall within the “constraints” of the genre. Like any other popular music category, there’s always disagreement about what is considered pure.

As the frontman for LA act Yächtley Crëw, Philly Ocean is obviously something of an authority on the subject. Formed in 2017, the seven piece tribute band has gone from club favourites to a post-pandemic global sensation, performing yacht rock hits in full nautical attire. In May they will be throwing out the anchor in Australia to present their rollicking, high-energy Steel Panther-on-the-high-seas show. He was good enough to curtail his yacht rocking activities for long enough to chat about this very special project.

PHILLY OCEAN: “It’s way more than a project at this point! It’s taken on a life of its own. We’ve been doing it for eight years so it’s a whole thing. It’s really, really cool though!”

HOT METAL: I’ve got to ask you – I know the definition of yacht rock is fairly specific, so is Billy Ocean considered to be yacht rock, or did you just think Philly Ocean was a cool name?
PO: “That’s a good question! We wanted to establish, early on, a brand that was fun and people could understand, and part of that brand, that persona, was having stage names that people could get involved with. That’s where the names come from. Each of us has our own stages names – there’s Tommy Buoy, Sailor Hawkins… there’s Papa Buoy, Pauly Shores, Stoney Shores and Matthew McDonald. It’s really about having fun with it and giving people something they can really enjoy and listen to, and really just the impetus for all of this.”

HM: It’s generally a pretty fun genre as a rule – and it has been genrefied. Yacht Rock: A Dockumentary spelled it out very well. Questlove had a fascinating depth of knowledge about it.
PO: “Yeah, he’s awesome! Wasn’t he good?”

HM: Yes, he was. And I know he has his own yacht rock playlist and people have pointed out to him many times that some of the stuff he puts in there doesn’t fit into the category. What’s your opinion on that?
PO: “I think yacht rock is one of those things where… I love when people get so passionate about it. People get so serious about it. The whole genre of yacht rock is just completely made up. The guys who created it had a methodology behind it. It makes sense and I love what they created, but at the end of the day, it’s not a musical genre that exists like other genres. It’s kind of good fun. There’s a nudge, nudge, wink, wink aspect to it. But you know, Questlove brought a lot more black artists into yacht rock, and I think rightly so. I think that’s a really good thing. Because the influences – and you’ll even hear it from people like Michael McDonald and Kenny Loggins – they’ll talk openly about how they would look to African American artists to create a whole new sound and incorporate it into their own work. I think it’s commendable that they’re forthright about that, but I think that Questlove is right to include more and more black artists into what we understand to be yacht rock – for sure.”

HM: You can certainly hear the influences. That’s why I asked about Billy Ocean, because he does stuff that would definitely fit the broad category, but then he also has material that wouldn’t. Just like some of the acts you cover, they have songs that are definitely yacht rock, and some that aren’t.
PO: “That’s right, and that’s one of the fun things that people can have their opinions, they can be very passionate about them. I think it only serves to get more people involved with, introduced to, the genre. And that overall is a good thing! I think it’s a great thing when more people know about it. As a live band, we put a very high energy show together, people love coming out, they love having a great time with us. And guess what? We put that show together a little differently than some others. We really have to make sure that the audience is loving every minute of our show. That means that we have to tailor what we do a little bit more to take into account that this is a live show, that they can be involved, and I think that gives us a bit more creative leeway to incorporate… we do ‘Caribbean Queen’ from time to time, by Billy Ocean. That’s not necessarily a straight forward yacht rock song but it goes along incredible well with these other yacht rock classics like Steely Dan and Michael McDonald and Kenny Loggins, Ambrosia… it goes right along with it. So if people are having a good time and they’re loving it, then we’re doing our job.”

HM: I don’t know if you know this, but Toto and Christopher Cross have stolen your thunder a bit because they’re going to be out here in April.
PO: “Oh, awesome! I did hear that from our manager. That’s pretty cool.”

HM: Those guys are definitely a big part of it. Christopher Cross, for sure. Toto are all over the place. They’ve got songs that are pretty well known to be yacht rock, but they’ve got songs that are hard rock, others are really jazzy.
PO: “That’s right. We kind of stick to songs that are more straight forward yacht rock. But again, we will play a song like ‘Hold the Line’ just because it’s so good and it’s so adjacent to the genre. Then we go into, like, ‘Reeling in the Years’. That’s what is so fun about it. I love it. I grew up listening to this music and it gives you an appreciation of how much these artists worked together and were inspired by each other and just wanted to make the best music they could.”

HM: What do you think about Donald Fagan being such a grump about the whole thing?
PO: “Oh, I think it’s perfect! He’s always been a bit like that, and I think he’s earned the right to be a bit of a diva. He’s definitely one of the greatest musicians who’s ever lived. My hot take on it, for those of you who haven’t seen the yacht rock documentary, that’s what we’re talking about. The director calls up Donald Fagan, and Fagan basically told him to fuck off. He’s above it all! I think that’s perfect and hilarious, and anybody who knows and loves Steely Dan was not surprised in the least by how he reacted.”

HM: It’s a nice way to tie it up, because it starts and ends with them. Michael McDonald and Christopher Cross were extremely good sports about it.
PO: “They understand that the term ultimately comes from a place of love. People love the music they created. It’s given it a third or a fourth life, at this point. Their music is getting played, more people are coming out to their concerts. At the end of the day, it’s supporting your art and what you’ve created. I don’t see that as a bad thing. I think at first they were thinking it was making fun of them, but now I think it’s proved itself.”

HM: It’s music to be enjoyed. One way or another, different music is written to illicit different emotions, but this music seems to be for pure fun and escapism.
PO: “That’s what it’s like coming to one of our concerts. When we started out, as you’d expect, our demographic was 40s, 50s and 60s, a lot of people like that. It was great. Since the pandemic, we’ve really seen a huge resurgence in this music. Artists like Fleetwood Mac, Steely Dan and George Benson have showed up in social media, so there’s this whole generation of young people now who love this music. Now we have people in their teenage years coming out, and it’s just this great cross-generational thing because the teenagers are coming out, and their parents love the music so it’s a big family event and it’s so big and so fun that everybody’s just having a great time. That’s the best. That’s the absolute best.”

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