The story of Yacht Punk begins with Graham Bockmiller laying on the floor of his unfinished basement studio in Beachwood Canyon, and it was at this moment that he realized it was time tog et out on his own. The LA-based band Great White Buffalo had just run its course, and Bockmiller was left wondering what was to come next. He was locked up inside his studio by himself for a year, contemplating life, writing, and experimenting with the raw recording skills that he had taught himself.

He began exploring new sounds and textures outside of the traditional rock staples of guitar, drums, and bass — testing the limits of his own DIY recording chops in search for a more interesting, vibe-driven sound. These songs would later become the beginning of Yacht Punk.

Bockmiller continued to tinker with demos until a chance meeting with guitarist Michael Pozzi at Davey Wayne’s on Hollywood Boulevard. Pozzi was all-in on Yacht Punk after visiting the studio and hearing where the music was headed, and they were soon joined by Bockmiller’s roommate Tricky who plays drums, and bassist and Justin Ricard.

Ultimately, they took the demos to producer and indie-rock expert Matt Wignall (Cold War Kids, Mando Diao, J. Roddy Walston and the Business) at his eclectic Tackyland studio in Long Beach. In his converted garage studio (where “Hang Me Out to Dry” was recorded), Wignall took the music to further and weirder places with his unique production tricks. Afterwards, the band brought the tracks back to LA, where they were finished with mixer/engineer Will Brierre (The Killers‘ Hot Fuss). The latest single from Yacht Punk, “Need a Reason” was even featured on Spotify’s New Noise and Fresh Finds playlists. 

By their own account, Yacht Punk describe themselves as sounding like “Stephen King’s Maximum Overdrive took a handful of downers.” Today, we are excited to be providing you the next chapter of their journey. You can find our exclusive premiere of “New Wave Denier” from Yacht Punk below.

“New Wave Denier is about disillusionment and being over mainstream music. I wanted to capture the feeling of being young and disillusioned by life, by love, and by current and/or popular music. The sense of being unable to relate to your peers, the sense of searching for something more meaningful, and ultimately finding identity and belonging in the music from a past generation,” explains Bockmiller.

If you like what you hear from the track, keep up with Yacht Punk on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and Spotify.