We recently caught up with DJ Simon Sh:Out following his Yacht Week debut at the British Virgin Islands event over the New Year and reveal how he came to be The Yacht Week’s Resident DJ. His very first release, a remix of Coldplay’s ‘Speed Of Sound’, got huge international recognition and has reached a whopping 100,000 downloads and counting! Ever since then his productions have been featured by several big names in the industry and his happy sounds and affections with the crowd caught our eye so we asked him to come onboard! Simon has put together a promo mix for The Yacht Week, so put it on and enjoy our interview with one of the year’s most exciting DJ’s…

Simon Sh:Out – Best Of Yacht Week [Promo Mix]

TYW: How did you take up DJing?

Simon Sh:Out: I actually didn’t really start DJing, until my skills as a producer got recognized for the first time, that was after I released my first remix, Coldplay – Speed Of Sound (Simon Shout Remix), into the world. Of course I had fooled around with the decks prior to that but I didn’t really know what I was doing until recently. I’ve only been DJing seriously for just a few months now and haven’t really played a lot of shows yet since I’ve only been producing tracks so far. I definitely hope that I will be able to play some more shows in 2012 though, as well as for The Yacht Week this summer!

TYW: What inspires you and your music?

Simon Sh:Out: I draw my inspiration from pretty much everything around me. Whether it be personal experiences or other influences… most of the time I get inspired at the most random times and places like in the shower or sometimes even while I’m trying to sleep! Since I’m usually a very positive kinda guy though, I try to put a lot of “myself” into my productions so that people feel happy when listening to them.

TYW: What are your favourite places to DJ?

Simon Sh:Out: So far definitely the British Virgin Islands! That’s also because, like I mentioned before, I haven’t really played a lot of shows yet – however the BVI has pretty much showed me the time of my life and I have never experienced a crazier party crowd than the people who attend The Yacht Week!

TYW: What are your best memories from a Yacht Week event?

Simon Sh:Out: Well pretty much all of my Yacht Week memories are the best! If I’m honest I can’t really point out one moment at TYW that I didn’t enjoy – except for maybe being a little sea-sick one day . But I definitely liked the DJ gigs the most!

Having previously brought many well known DJ’s, such as Pierce Fulton and Dan Castro, to light in the electronic dance music world, The Yacht Week is pleased to announce that Simon Sh:Out will be joining us in the Caribbean for Spring Sailing and will feature throughout our Mediterranean events this summer. After witnessing his recent achievements, it is certain that 2012 will definitely be the biggest year yet for the German youngster-producer!

The Pantless Knights recently joined The Yacht Week for a trip on our Croatia Event and were so inspired they felt obliged to produce this fantastic music video. In last week’s exclusive interview, The Pantless Knights told us about the muse behind their music video… “It was an amazing trip and it was refreshing to see that people on The Yacht Week don’t take themselves too seriously. So we thought it’d be fun to do something you don’t often see while sailing: excessive fist pumping.” Just watch and you’ll understand!

We are thrilled to announce the Official Launch Party of The Yacht Week 2012 in Toronto! This exclusive event is happening on Friday February 3rd at one of Toronto’s hottest venues – The Hoxton – and we cordially invite you and your friends to come and join us.

The Yacht Week is a sailing getaway experience like no other, and whether you are new to The Yacht Week or a seasoned veteran of the trip get your crew together (past & present) and join us for the kick-off of the 2012 sailing season.

Get ready to meet former guests of TYW, who will most likely tell you about the best weeks of their lives and how they probably never wanted to leave.

We also have two awesome up-and-coming DJ’s that are going to keep everyone on their feet. Check them out:

• DJ AM-E
• DJ STIMS

Join the event on Facebook for more details!

We are looking forward to seeing you all at The Yacht Week Official Party in Toronto and kicking off what is going to be a great year of smooth sailing!

Over the next few weeks we will be profiling a number of our favourite locations that we encounter along the various routes of The Yacht Week. In the first of these features, we take a look at the Greek island and town of Hydra – the port of choice on the 6th day of the Greece event along the Saronic archipelago, which runs for 8 weeks between July and August. Our Skipper Manager, Anton, recalls a day on this most special of Greek islands.

On this morning we wake up in the small natural harbor of the island. The breeze is picking up and the skippers are slowly starting to move along the row of yachts to prepare for departure. With just a 1-2 hour upwind sail through the stunning Cyklades archipelago, today’s destination is Hydra.

Outside the small port of Hydra the traffic is busy with private sailboats and minor super yachts with ferries trying to access and leave the docks every few minutes. On approaching the entrance you will see a Yacht Week representative on the pier to guide you to a good spot for the night. People are looking, talking and asking about this large sailing flotilla filled with upbeat young people ready to have the time in their lives. The small local port is filled with action and the yachts are moored on top of each other in row after row on the north side of the dock, protected from the gusts of wind.

It’s a beautiful day and the sun is tanning our necks as we walk through the narrow but steep alleys of this historical town. Just a minute’s walk from the dock the waterfront cliffs are filled with guests of The Yacht Week enjoying a swim while discussing the actions of last night. The more adventurous type jump from the 10m high cliffs straight into the pleasantly warm light blue water.

A hit on this destination is the Sun Set Restaurant where you can enjoy one of the most beautiful sunsets in the Mediterranean while sipping on a beautifully blended, sugar-rich Mojito. As soon as the sun is gone the party vibe starts to show and the group quickly relocates for dinner and drinks with a view over the nearby islands that slowly disappear as nightfall approaches. After dinner, we stop at the small bar Hydrolite for some great quality cocktails before moving onto the nightclub Omilios. This place knows how to throw a party like there’s no tomorrow and as the final hoorah of the week this is a night to remember for the rest of your life.

To experience Hydra for yourself and all the other marvelous places along the Saronic Route of our Greece event book now! Grab your friends for the experience of your life… it’s nothing like the real world!

Alana Hutton-Shaw, who Directed the video which was shot over the New Year event, told us, “This was one of the most insane Yacht Week trips I’ve done and the best start to the New Year – my only worry is that nothing this year will match up to it!”

We’ve got the medicine Alana… How about coming out again for our Spring Sailing event!?

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Here in The Yacht Week bridge we can’t bear it any longer… the release of THE best yacht-inspired music video since Jay-Z’s Big Pimpin’ is soon to be released! Last summer, whilst on a Yacht Week event, our good friends from across the Pond, Pantless Knights, set about recording a music video for their new song – Fist Pump Sailing (The Real World). We are proud to announce that the song is available on Spotify and iTunes – as for the much anticipated video, we’ll just have to keep you waiting a few days longer and tease you with some screen shots of all the fun and frolics the guys got up to.

PATRICK: The Yacht Week cannot be overlooked by the curious. If language barriers are your concern, you must not be a very good dancer.

Thanks to modern technology (Skype) we didn’t have to jet across the Atlantic to get an exclusive interview with Patrick Dunnham and Peter Furia of Pantless Knights. Here the guys tell us about what inspired the upcoming video and some VERY exciting projects soon to be launched.

TYW: What inspired the song and video?

PATRICK: There is a famous quote from Peter’s first video for The Yacht Week where a girl says, “This is not real life.” We wanted to capture this sentiment by packaging The Yacht Week experience in a dream sequence, so we crafted an intro to the music video where I accidentally knock both of us unconscious. This dream quickly becomes the ideal world, the real world. People who experience The Yacht Week for the first time can become confused. Are they dreaming? Or did they just finally wake up for the first time in their lives? Many are interacting with people from all over the world in one concentrated experience. Celebrating life with people from all ends of the Earth is as real as it gets.

PETER: We chose the concept Fist Pump Sailing because we haven’t yet seen the two things combined. I think The Yacht Week, and sailing in general, has a highbrow reputation – we wanted to make the point that people don’t take themselves too seriously on The Yacht Week. So we appropriated the fist pump ironically. It was a fun project all around. We were also fortunate enough to have the instrumental produced by our very talented friend Jeff Kite, who is currently working with Beat Club and Julian Casablancas.

TYW: Where was the video shot?

PATRICK: Croatia and San Francisco.

TYW: What do you think of The Yacht Week?

PETER: The Yacht Week is a unique blend of sailing, exploring new places and cultures, and good times with close friends and new friends.

PATRICK: The Yacht Week cannot be overlooked by the curious. If language barriers are your concern, you must not be a very good dancer.

TYW: What was your best memory from the trip?

PATRICK: The first moment of silence when the motor shuts off and the sails fill.

PETER: For me, it was a day trip we took on the island of Vis. We rented scooters at the port, got a tip from a Croatian local on a special restaurant, and then road 45 minutes into the rural countryside to a remote village. We were welcomed by the restaurant owner, who cooked us a five course meal with ingredients entirely harvested from his property. We also discovered Rakija.

TYW: What are you working on for your next project?

PETER: We’re excited to be working on a brand new YouTube channel called “American Hipster”. We’ve partnered with YouTube on the project and are excited to be launching 3 weekly shows starting in April, each with its own unique angle on hipster culture. It’ll be a very entertaining blend of pop culture and comedy. We’ll also be producing some hilarious music videos between now and then so keep an eye out for those.

Patrick and Peter joined us on Week 34 in Croatia to film the music video for Fist Pump Sailing (The Real World). Their next project, American Hipster, launches on April 2nd, 2012 on YouTube in what can be described as a comedy channel that explores pop culture through the lens of hipsterism – that ironically popular movement built on not being popular!

Our Dj Pierce’s who join us during week 28 is now sharing his top 10 The Yacht Week hits! Enjoy!!

Pierce Fulton’s Yacht Week Top 10 by PierceFulton

Tracklisting:

• Alesso vs Axwell & Sebastian Ingrosso – Together Nillionaire (MKC Reboot)
• John Mayer – Bigger Than My Body (Michael Brun Bootleg)
• Calvin Harris feat. Kelis – Bounce (Extended Mix)
• LMFAO vs. Bassjackers – Party Rock Mush Mush (Quintin Bootleg)
• The Temper Traps & Eurythmics – Sweet Dreams Disposition (Eddie Thoneick Bootleg)
• Avicii – Nothing Without Adele (Avicii Rolling Bootleg)
• Axwell vs Adrian Lux vs Sander Van Doorn – Teenage In The Air (Tristan Garner Bootleg)
• Nadia Ali, Starkillers, & Alex Kenji – Pressure (Alesso Remix)
• Steve Angello – Open Your Eyes (Tim Mason Remix)
• Pierce Fulton vs Coldplay – Every Teardrop Is In Technicolor (Pierce Fulton Unofficial Remix)

Thanks Pierce!