Space Yacht started as an event platform, organizing concerts and giving voice to EDM artists. In the beginning, Henry Lu and Rami Perlman, friends and co-founders of the company, organized shows and boat parties in Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Chicago. However, 2020 brought an abrupt halt to those events, as the pandemic forced people indoors, firmly establishing streaming as the only safe vehicle for disseminating new work.
Thus was Space Yacht reborn: Lu and Perlman quickly realized that their brand was in-demand even if they weren’t organizing in-person parties; so, they set up a livestream show on Twitch called “Tune Reactor” as an outlet for the music they wanted to promote. The jump to Twitch led to a spike in the brand’s popularity.
“We really got into Twitch during the lockdown at the beginning of 2020, and that’s, honestly, where we’re refining 90% of our music now,” said Perlman. In a short time, the group was curating, promoting, and marketing music from Tune Reactor, and suddenly Space Yacht was not just a channel – it was the ‘Space Yacht Records’ label.
2021 was a Year of Expansion
The group also launched an NFT long before it was fashionable and began promoting crypto-based art in collaboration with the UK-based artist Goldweard on Nifty Gateway, making Space Yacht the first music project on that platform. 2021 diversification rounded out by the booming of their clothing brand, with sales of which have outpaced all expectations.
The rapid expansion presented a challenge but also an opportunity for the group. As Perlman notes: “When 2021 came around, we had three new businesses in addition to our events business that … didn’t exist before. So, it was interesting to figure out how to navigate running those businesses now and then to have them all work together as an ecosystem.”
Tough House
In addition to innovation in their business model, Space Yacht has pioneered a new house music subgenre, which they have dubbed “Tough House.” The Tough House genre, according to Perlman, doesn’t fit into the standard house or bass genres; it is an entirely new concept in the music universe.
“There was a lot of house music that was coming our way that wasn’t tech house. It was a little bit like that, but different… So, we came up with the name ‘Tough House’ because these records kind of felt mean, a little more aggressive, and just fit in their own words.”
Rami Perlman, Co-Founder of Space Yacht
The genre has been defined as something between bass house and UK bassline. In 2021, Space Yacht released a new Tough House compilation introducing the concept to the masses. The project had a much greater international flavor than would have been possible pre-pandemic, including artists from France, Korea, and elsewhere.
Stream Tough House Vol. 1 by Space Yacht
The justification for the new sound is clear to Perlman: “I think people get burned out of the same thing over and over again. And since house has been such a dominant force, at least in the States for the last two years, people are looking for some new sounds within that realm. So, my hope was that this does that a little bit – gives somebody a different angle on the house scene… And I have to say it’s been awesome. It’s great because it’s extremely high-energy music.”
Space Yacht Records
Over the past months, since Space Yacht Records has been launched, they have released multiple mixtapes. This includes Tough House, Big Bass Tings, and Tech My House, thus marketing emerging and established electronic artists, which was an entirely new direction for the once events-focused brand.
The efforts have been a win-win for Space Yacht and the artists they rep: “Recently, we worked with REAPER, who is a great drum and bass artist, and he curated our critical mass from a bass compilation with perfect timing. Before we knew it, he was in a bunch of major festivals, creating new music, and had a slew of other records coming out. It’s just been amazing to see him killing it. So, it’s nice that we were a small little part of that story.”
“Space Yacht is a platform for the artist to be discovered and a platform for our fans to be like, ‘oh what SPACE YACHT up to.’ They want to listen to it because they trust our curation status.”
Rami Perlman, also known as LondonBridge
Discovering & Supporting Budding Artists
The group tries not only to serve as a conduit for music, but also to give budding artists a boost. This may involve inviting a new performer to be a guest on Tune Reactor, for instance, or simply booking a gig for an artist contributing to a compilation.
“We try to give every single person on the compilation some sort of opportunity,” says Perlman, “our job is to try to push them … to get on to bigger things. The label is going to be a continued pushing of the artists that we’ve worked with before and then introducing new artists through our compilations.”
Space Yacht Records has been in operation for a little more than a year, experimenting heavily with singles, EPs, and compilations. They expect to emphasize compilations in the upcoming year, as the founders believe this is the best way to expose a wide variety of creative voices.
Space Yacht Live
Hidden talent does not always come through the streaming platform – sometimes, the group finds it in their live shows. In 2021, Lu and Perlman had, then-not as widely known artist and their good friend, ACRAZE headlining one of their shows, whose “Do It Do It” immediately caught their attention: “We heard the beginning of it, and Henry and I looked to each other, immediately started filming because we’re like, this is about to be huge. Sometimes you hear records, and you just know.”
Space Yacht organized numerous Tuesday gigs and boat parties in Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Chicago. However, in 2021, they expanded to destinations such as Salt Lake City, Seattle, and Austin, which had significant success. “Shout out to Austin – we’re there every two weeks now, doing a lot of bass and drum and bass shows. It’s really pop. Austin is popping it off,” said Perlman.
Moreover, Space Yacht collaborates with other party organizers. This year, the group partnered with festivals such as Insomniac’s Beyond Wonderland in Southern California, headlining Luke Andy, Cazztek, Nazaar, Ray Volpe, and more, to populate the dedicated two-day stage allocated for Space Yacht.
What to Expect in 2022
The group has big plans for 2022, including releasing a new chapter in the “Tech My House” series in March and a tour to promote it. Space Yacht is planning to visit venues like Denver, beloved Austin, and many more across the country. Other gigs are planned for LA, San Francisco, Seattle; all cities that have extensive experience with the Space Yacht brand of partying and embrace it.
The group will also re-launch the boat party concept, with ten events planned for the spring and summer months after successfully pulling off five in 2021.
“We’re going to try to do some boat parties, which have a different vibe than our Tuesdays because you’re on a boat. There are usually multiple stages, and the summertime outdoor vibe is a whole thing in itself.”
Speaking of the traditional Tuesday parties that Space Yacht once started their epic journey with, this year, the group teamed up with Blind Tiger to host shows at Sound Nightclub in Hollywood to take care of your restless head craving for fun this winter. For more information, go to spaceyacht.net.
