Maritime Yacht Club is the creative brainchild of renowned UK tastemaker artist/Origins Rcrds label boss Josh Butler alongside longtime friend, talented singer/songwriter and fellow producer José Rosa – who co-wrote and provided the vocals for Josh’s iconic hit record ‘Got A Feeling’.
After more than a year in the making, 2023 plays host to the launch of this collaborative project, which has more to it than meets the eye. Think sultry, vocal-led, commercially-tinged dance cuts with shards of deep house, breaks, jazz, electro and much more.
Following their debut single, ‘On My Own’, Josh Butler and José Rosa are back with another slice of vocal-led deepened electronic prowess with the next release, ‘Change’, from their forthcoming twelve-track debut album to be released under their Maritime Yacht Club project.
We caught up with Josh and José for a Little Talk interview as we explored the inner workings of Maritime Yacht Club and their plans for the project.
WWD: Hey guys, thanks for joining us. You’re a few releases into the Maritime Yacht Club journey now; tell us a bit about what led you here.
We have been close friends for a while now and have worked on various projects together. However, during the lockdown, we decided to collaborate more closely, and that’s when the idea for MYC began to take shape.
WWD: Your latest release, ‘Change,’ follows your debut, ‘On My Own.’ What can you tell us about the first two tracks and how they play into what’s yet to come?
‘On my own’ kind of continued where we left off with ‘Got a Feeling’. To us, ‘Change’ had a much greater meaning. We love ‘Change’ because of the sound design and the emotion that went into it. We hope the audience understands that. The album’s remaining tracks are very diverse.
WWD: The project has a genre-bending sound, incorporating underground and commercial dance music elements. How do you approach blending these genres and creating a cohesive sound?
We don’t often have much of a plan when we go into the studio and just go off what we feel on the day. The album is a blend of our music experiences, but the production style helps tie it all together.
WWD: Your music often explores themes of personal growth and overcoming challenges. Can you tell us about a specific experience that inspired one of your songs?
Jose: A lot of the music came out of a difficult time. I lost my wife to cancer in 2021, and getting in the studio is what helped me through it; being creative was such an important part of my grieving, and I just tried to turn it into something positive.
WWD: Dance music is constantly evolving, and there is more advocation now for experimental acts than ever before. How important is it, in your opinion, for artists to explore more sounds and be adventurous, and how has doing the same affected you?
We feel like this album is quite nostalgic in many ways, but a combination of electronic music and real instruments.
WWD: Do you have a specific creation process or method? How do you like to work?
Some of the tracks stemmed from bits of melody that Jose had written on the guitar over the years, and other tracks were written in the recent sessions, just on the day. The writing process came together really naturally!
WWD: What do you both like to do outside of music to help you stay creative and inspired?
We both enjoy painting. It’s really relaxing; you kind of just get lost in it, don’t you?
WWD: Do you have any plans for live performances as a duo?
At some point, we are going to build a live set, but it’s early days for that. We have had a bit of time away from the studio and starting to get back to writing again, so we think we will start thinking about it in between sessions.
WWD: You have a full-length album on the horizon. What can we expect from this?
The album is pretty versatile in terms of style. We have been able to experiment a bit more with different sounds and influences, and genres that we have both been into over the years.
WWD: Lastly, are there any other exciting plans or upcoming projects you’d like to share?
We are starting to write some new music and working on a couple of collaborations at the moment. Some really exciting stuff we are in discussion with.
Maritime Yacht Club’s ‘Change’ is available now: https://snd.click/YACHT002
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