Death Valley Yacht Club: A Profile

Charlie Jacobs and Alex Oberton on the cover art of their new album, “Dead Flowers.”

Every band has an origin story. For two UMD students, Charlie Jacobs and Alex Oberton of Death Valley Yacht Club, it was the Honors floor of their living learning community on their first night of college. 

“You had your door open and you were maybe playing guitar. And I was like, oh cool, another musician! And I remember that first night of college, we just sat down and jammed,” Jacobs said, speaking to Oberton.

Jacobs is a Communication major and a self-taught musician originally from Osceola, Wisconsin. He began teaching himself to play guitar when he was only 12 years old. From there, Jacobs worked on improving his talent and began to learn how to play piano inorder to further his musical knowledge. 

Oberton, majoring in Exercise Science, is originally from Little Falls, Minnesota. He began by taking guitar lessons from second to seventh grade. Since then, he has spent his time fiddling around with music. Both coming from musical backgrounds, it is no wonder the pair clicked almost immediately. 

“We’re trying to be more energetic. Spread the love. Death Valley Yacht Club is about spreading the love,” Oberton and Jacobs said. 

The band got their name from Jacobs’ great uncle who had a cool idea for a music project called “Death Row Yacht Club.” Despite the two never having been to Death Valley, the pair landed on the name after some reflection. 

“It was a little bit grungy. I don’t know if either of us are grungy people. And so we were like, that might be false advertising,” Jacobs said. 

Both musicians pull from inspirations such as The Beatles, Pine Grove, The Milk Carton Kids and English guitarist, Wilko Johnson. Their music can be found to have a folk feel to it with more simple songs about getting comfortable with age and growing up. A theme all too familiar with college students. 

From practicing, to recording and performing, every step has a different vibe to it. When practicing, Oberton and Jacobs spend their time talking about the songs they have come up with and things they have written down in their Notes app. The pair use their time talking about ideas, while bouncing different chords and lyrics off of each other. When the time comes to record, their time is spent more methodically and work driven in order to create a musical outcome. Nothing can compare to the exciting feeling of performing their music live, according to the musicians.  

“It’s called live music for a reason,” Jacobs said. 

Looking to the future, the band hopes to incorporate more instruments like the electric guitar and harmonicas into their music to allow for more instrumentation and musicality.

The musical duo has played eight shows and gigs in total at places like Sir Bens, Sarah’s Table, Fall Jam and the Honors banquet. Their most recent performance was “Bouquets and Bands,” where the band was invited to perform by the Student Government Association and hosted in Kirby Student Center. Even though the space is not often utilized as a performance venue, the experience of playing at the heart of campus was special for the band. 

Jacobs explains, “It’s such a wonderful way to connect the community through music.” The band hopes to play more venues in the coming year like Studio Cafe and Wussows Concert Cafe. 

Their most recent album “Dead Flowers” was released earlier this month on April 11th. “The idea of change is a constant theme in the album,” Oberton said. 

This theme came to light after the album was finished. Both Oberton and Jacobs highlighted specific songs that resonated with them. “Mechanical Heart” is the second song on the album. This song resonates with Jacobs as he was inspired to write it over the summer and also taps into his minor in Mechanical Engineering.  Even though “Getting Older” is the last song on the album, it spoke to Oberton as a way to wrap up the album as a whole with a cool and slow feel. 

When audiences listen to their music, both artists hope that people feel enjoyment. For more of Death Valley Yacht Club and their music, they are available to stream on Spotify, Apple Music and YouTube. They can also be found on Instagram where their music can be used as sounds.