Ahoy!
Established 2022 in New York City, the Yacht Lobsters sail the waves of the butteriest Soft Rock of the 70's and early 80's. Their big sound recreates - and at times reimagines - the studio mastery of retro-rock icons like Steely Dan, the Doobie Brothers, Hall & Oates, Toto, etc.
It's the breezy Yacht Rock cool vibe you know and love, fused with stellar vocals, a full horn section and unique elements of NOLA funk, classic rock and jazz improvisation to keep things bouncy, set your mood to festive and ensure your boat's a-rockin'. There's even a tasteful smattering of original music that sounds like it stepped right out of 1978.
Founded by the visionary team behind Brother Joscephus and the Love Revolution, the Lobster roster features NYC's finest professional musicians who have played together for decades.
Grab your captain's hat, make that Pina Colada a double and climb aboard!
THE CREW
FEATURING NYC'S FINEST
David Mendelsohn
Lead Vocals & Guitar
Co-founder of Brother Joscephus and the Love Revolution in 2007 (www.brotherjoscephus.com). Recipient of the Independent Music Award, Best Live Performance, 2011 for “Live at Brooklyn Bowl,” ; John Lennon Songwriting Award Finalist in 2009 (Gospel) for “A Child Shall Lead the Way” and 2008 (R&B) “I Won’t Be That Man”
David was founding member and principal guitar player and songwriter for Trickside (Wind-Up Records ), touring nationally, with the single “Under You” reaching #27 on the Billboard Adult Top 40 Charts in 2001. David is an alumni of the BMI Lehman Engle Musical Theater Songwriters Workshop, runs the very busy wedding and event band The Love Revival Orchestra (www.theloverevival.com), established 2011 and Grateful Dead Tribute Act Shakedown Citi, established 2023 (www.shakedownciti.com)
Matt Zebroski
Drums
Matt Zebroski began playing drums professionally at age 16 in Pittsburgh, PA. at 18, Matt moved to New York to attend the New School for Jazz and Contemporary Music. There he studied with some of the world’s most notable jazz musicians including Billy Hart, John Riley, Charlie Persip, and Richie Beirach. Matt quickly developed into a highly accomplished player and instructor, taught private lessons in New York, and conducted clinics at the Litchfield Jazz Camp and in Mexico. While at the New School, Matt met guitarist Alex Skolnick, of Testament. in 2001 the two formed the Alex Skolnick Trio. They have since recorded five studio albums and toured worldwide as a headliner and with the guitar duo Rodrigo Y Gabriella, playing historic venues such as Radio City Music Hall in New York City, the Olympia Theater in Paris, and Shepherd’s Bush in London. AST has just finished a new album set for a 2024 release.
Matt has also had the pleasure of recording/performing with such artists as Lew Soloff, Randy Becker, Mike Stern, Bonnie Tyler, multi-platinum songwriter Jim Steinman, Grammy nominated cellist Dave Eggar, metal band Ikillya, Broadway star Rob Evan, Philippe Quint, Matt Herskowitz, Miles Davis keyboardist/producer Adam Holzman, and Grammy award winning Polka artist Alex Meixner. Matt is also a founding member of the group the Flail, a jazz quintet that has toured all over the U.S. and Europe, playing concerts at jazz at Vienne And Marseille Jazz Festival. He has toured across the U.S. and China with Broadway Rox, an exciting Broadway/rock musical review produced by Rob Evan and Thomas Schilling. He has also been working with world renowned violinist Daisy Jopling, promoting her album “Awakening” with a tour of 23 cities in China and performing in Europe at the world famous Musikverein Hall in Vienna. Matt continues to work on developing his style in a way that seamlessly incorporates all different aspects and styles of music.
Dean Fransen
Pianist
Dean Fransen is a multi-instrumentalist, composer, arranger, orchestrator, conductor, and music director with over 30 years of experience across performance, recording, and education.
He studied music at California State University, Northridge and continued his training in film scoring and record production with industry leaders including Bob Drasnin and John Boylan.
Fransen’s career spans television, live performance, and theater, with early credits including work on the ABC series Moonlighting and Elton John’s Live in Australia. He has performed and directed music for a wide range of notable artists and ensembles including Harry Connick Sr., The Nelson Riddle Orchestra, The Fifth Dimension, Regis Philbin, Nell Carter, Jennifer Holliday, and Rosemary Clooney.
An experienced music director and conductor, Fransen has led productions such as A Tribute to the Music of Frank Sinatra and served as music director for theater companies including the Moorpark Melodrama and Vaudeville Company. He has also composed and directed original theatrical works, and co-produced, arranged, and conducted Daisy Jopling’s Awakening at The Paramount Hudson Valley Theater and Lincoln Center’s Alice Tully Hall.
Fransen has toured extensively as a performer and music director, appearing in over 100 countries and all 50 U.S. states, including performances at the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival and with ensembles such as his original group Port Of Call and the Nouveau Vaudeville Orchestra. He is the co-founder and music director of the national touring ensemble Brother Joscephus and the Love Revolution, and co-founder of the Global Music Academy Orchestra, a mentorship program supporting young musicians.
In addition to his performance career, Fransen is a dedicated educator who continues to teach, mentor, and lead workshops for musicians of all ages and levels.
Michael Moshan
Saxophone
Michael Moshan has spent four decades playing keyboards and singing in various New York bands. He collaborated as the keyboardist, backup vocalist and co-songwriter alongside David Mendelsohn in the NYC band Nonfiction during the 90’s, playing sexy sweet originals mostly to friends in iconic venues such as The Bitter End. He also played keys in the band Mental, which had one live performance and never went anywhere, despite a great demo.
In the late 90’s, he co-produced and co-wrote (with Mendelsohn) Rock the SAT, a project that majestically incorporated nearly 300 SAT vocabulary words into 13 original rock songs and included a corresponding book published by Scholastic, reaching #2 on Amazon's best-seller list and Top 10 on The New York Times bestsellers in nonfiction and finding its way into classrooms nation-wide.
In the 2000’s, Michael became an OG member of Mendelsohn’s gospel/rock/New Orleans extravaganza Brother Josephus and the Love Revival, playing keys and singing tenor backup vox for over 10 years with the band, writing the only song not written by Mendelsohn, Big Ol’ Lushy Woman.
Presently residing in Irvington, NY with his wife and their two boys, Michael is a real estate attorney owning his own thriving real estate practice, Michael Moshan Attorney at Law, where he represents buyers and sellers in residential real estate in and around NYC. He is a central player in Westchester’s advanced tennis community. Michael will representing the USA in tennis in the over 55’s this summer at the Maccabi games in Israel.
He plays keys and sings in a local band, Killer Mixtape, which plays live once or twice a year, but rehearses relentlessly. He loves his family like crazy, enjoys movies, exploring great food, and gardening, all the while listening to groovy songs from the 70’s and 80’s. Michael is thrilled to be playing yachty music with these brilliant musicians.
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Diana Suk
Drums
Diana Suk has been hitting the NYC music scene since 2021. Diana sings with various cover bands, but is best known for her indie pop persona- Lady Di Mega Diva. As a Musical Theatre Alumni from James Madison University, Di exemplifies vocal agility and electric dramatica.
Upon graduation, she was the lead vocalist on Cunard’s Queen Victoria and brought that stage presence to NYC venues such as Mercury Lounge, Chelsea Music Hall, and The Bowery Electric. She knows musical improv, pop clichés, and fabulous funk inspired tunes like no other. Catch her on the East Coast with The Lobsters or her solo act in NYC! Follow along on all socials @ladydi.megadiva
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Adrian Perlmutter
Lead Vocals
Adrian Perlmutter started her singing career as a backup singer for The Josh Dodes Band and was featured on the VH1 show Bands on the Run. She followed that singing on tour with Fischer Spooner, including a residency at Privilege on Ibiza. Adrian went on to become the female lead vocalist for the groundbreaking Blue Man Group: How To Be A Magastar world tour. That tour traversed North America, Europe, Asia and South America.
Adrian currently sings in several New York based bands and records in her family studio, captainscovecatskills.com, regularly.
She is also the founder of The Parksville Arts Center which puts on music festivals, theatrical performances, and film festivals.
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Lavondo Thomas
Bass
When not making peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, Lavondo is a Grammy nominated bassist, composer, and music director out of New York City.
He has performed for audiences around the world; 30 plus countries from Europe, Asia, Australia, and all throughout North America - with such acts as recording artist Daisy Jopling, Ana Popovic, Broadway and Tv's "survivor" stars Josh Canfield and Reed Kelly, Mitch Jarvis, Eddie Holmn (Hey There Lonely Girl), and Umar Bin Hassan (The Last Poets ), Sir Graham Russell’s A Wall Apart, and 50 Shades! The Musical among many others.
He’s also served as Assistant musical director for Echoes of Etta (2014 MAC Award for Show of the Year), Asst. Music Director for vocalist William Blake (New York Nightlife Award for Outstanding Male Jazz Vocalist), member of Brother Joscephus and the Love Revolution (2011 independent music award best live performance).
He recently did arrangements for - and played the entire ‘Vault’ movie soundtrack, starring Chazz Palminteri and Don Johnson.
Signed to Ropeadope Records with his world music The Flowdown, he also served as Assistant musical director for Echoes of Etta (2014 MAC Award for Show of the Year), Asst. Music Director for vocalist William Blake (New York Nightlife Award for Outstanding Male Jazz Vocalist) , member of Brother Joscephus and the Love Revolution ( 2011 independent music award best live performance ) .
Pit bassist for numerous Broadway and off Broadway shows - including most recently the Tony and Pulitzer award winning ‘A Stange Loop’.
Kyle Schweizer
Saxophone
Kyle Schweizer is a Bronx- born saxophonist and multi-instrumentalist, being also skilled at clarinet, flute, piano, guitar, voice and percussion. He honed his craft at Fiorella H. LaGuardia High School and New School University.
He is a dynamic performer and stage presence who has played with bands such as Ambrosia, John Ford Coley, Brother Josephus, Angela Workman, and Mike Ogletree of Simple Minds. He also is a gifted songwriter and arranger having written many originals and song re-imaginings for the six piece swing big band Double Down. He has also appeared on the shows/movies Vinyl, The Only Living Boy in New York and Delivering the Goods.
He performs with an infectious energy and enthusiasm and is always ready to engage with the audience.
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Juan Pablo Pastor
Drums
Born February 3, 1982 in San Luis, Argentina. He spent his early childhood as a boy soprano performing professionally in churches and formal events in Argentina while studying piano and electric guitar. Juan began playing the drums at the age of 16.
After graduating from high school in 2000, Juan Pablo moved to Santiago de Chile and studied piano, music theory and drums under the supervision of Roberto Zamora at the distinguished Academy of Sociedad Chilena de Los Derechos de Autor. In 2003, Juan returned to Mendoza, Argentina where he studied for ten years under the tutelage of world-renowned drummer and winner of the 2001 international competition “Modern Drummer Weekend Contest” Gustavo Meli. In 2013 he moved to New York City to further pursue a professional career as a drummer.
Since Juan Pablo Pastor’s arrival in New York he has continued working with many artists, spanning various genres from Rock, Pop, Blues, Hip Hop, Fusion and Jazz. He has performed, toured and recorded with The Black Atlas, Udi Levi, Alicia Olatuja, Metropolitan Players, Sara Niemietz, Luca Di Fabio, Rodrigo Aranjuelo, Brian Larkin, Speakerslam, Silver Arrow, The Dirty Hugs, Poison Party, Lost Dog Constellation, Hours To Kill, Julio Botti, Hello Halo, Red Sahara, Trailer Entertainment, The Varnburners, Julie Biens, The Yacht Lobsters and now leading his own project getting ready to release his debut album.
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Juan Pablo Pastor
Drums
Lucas Shine is a Brooklyn-based guitarist who has been playing professionally in New York since 2011. He first started playing guitar at the age of 14 and began practicing every day. After graduating Sarah Lawrence College in 2008, where he studied with jazz guitarist Glenn Alexander, he honed his composition skills and playing abilities, performing with assorted rock acts and singer-songwriters along the way.
He is a founding member of the prog-rock band Calaspera, and in addition to his frequent shows with the Yacht Lobsters, you can see him perform regularly as the house guitarist for the Nakatomi 5 Live Karaoke Band (Arlene’s Grocery), and as the music director and lead guitarist of the event and wedding band Trailer and the Hitch.
Lucas has also performed and recorded with a broad array of music artists including Brother Joscephus and the Love Revolution, Judd Harris, Isa Marina, Nicholas Deutsch, Sarah Wise, The Love Revival Orchestra, Jaira Burns, Diana Hickman, That Feeling When, and Nimo and the Light.