When Yacht Club DJs announced their split earlier this year, they did it from the very place it all began – a café on Ballarat’s main street.

The local party duo made the announcement on their Facebook page on July 23 to much shock from adoring fans.

"Hello Facebooks! We’ve been talking about this for a while and we’ve decided that 2014 is going to be the last year of Yacht Club DJs."

They went on to say: "It’s been an unbelievable ride, but we both feel like it’s time to put our focus onto other endeavours. But don’t ye worry, we are currently planning one last massive jaunt around the country to come and party with you all one last time, because it’s been you more than anyone that has made this job the best experience ever!"

In their first interview since the announcement, the pair told The Courier it was simply just time to move forward with their lives separately.

"We felt like it was time. We’ve been doing it for seven, eight years now," Gareth (Gaz) Harrison said.

"We feel as though we will never be as big as we are now.

"We both have other stuff we want to do. People get this idea we don’t work, but it’s intense both mentally and work-wise.

"Right before we broke up we were under so much pressure and people were pushing us in another direction.

"We just don’t have a connection anymore."

Immediately fans in their hundreds took to social media to declare their dismay over the split while the duo sat at their favourite cafe on Sturt Street – L’Espresso – contemplating their final bon voyage tour.

Watch the Yacht Club zombies fight robots at L'Espresso:

"We got a lot of messages from people we didn’t know and we gave them the same shaky answer all the time," Guy Chappell said. 

"It’s heart-warming to have people upset about it."

Harrison said a contributing factor to their decision to quit was the reality that they weren’t as young as they were when they kicked off their career at Ballarat’s Karova Lounge in 2008, and their fans also weren’t as young any more.

"The first time we did a gig it looked like a sea of 18-year-olds, and those guys have stuck with us," Chappell said.

"We have also managed to hold on to a 20s crowd, so now it’s a mix of the 20s and the old guys," Harrison said.

"We’re also the last ones from our scene. All the DJs and bands from our Melbourne scene are gone."

They never had fame in mind when they first made weekly residencies at Karova Lounge, saying it just organically grew over time.

But it was a memorable performance at Meredith Musical Festival in 2008 that cemented the duo in Australia’s music scene and they only grew from there with four years at Splendour in the Grass, gigs at Falls Festival, Field Day, Southbound and Groovin’ the Moo and two sold-out national tours in the summer of 2009 and 2010.

Their on-stage antics have them banned from hundreds of venues throughout the nation, but it’s their dancing on the deck, on-stage nudity and crowd invasions that fans have come to love.

"We have such enthusiastic fans because we do something so niche people either love us or hate us," Harrison said.

Come 2013 and their audiences had breached Australia’s shores. It was their tour with Mumford and Sons in the US and Canada that became one of their career highlights. 

Both agreed there was just something about getting up on stage that they had enjoyed over the past half a decade.

"It doesn’t matter the size of the crowd, if I can see people having a good time, it feels good," Chappell said.

For Harrison, getting up in front of sold-out crowds was the chance to be a different person.

"I’m really shy. I can’t make eye contact with the girl at the store, but I’m a new person on stage," he said.

"On stage I get to go crazy – it’s a huge rush."

On the road for so long, you would think arguments would become second nature, but it was their individual take on work and the ability to not need to work in the same room that may have contributed to such a successful career.

"We’ve been lucky as far as bands go. Our hours are low together, we probably would have killed each other if we were together like other bands," Harrison said.

"We both bring something different to the table. We have a lot in common but our style is chalk and cheese.

"And we’ve never really sat down and made a mixed tape together. It’s easy to work with someone who you don’t actually work with."

Of course, it wouldn’t be a business without some conflict and there was a close call on tour that nearly ended the duo much earlier.

"We nearly broke up a few years ago and took almost a year off," Harrison said.

"We could have been a lot bigger if we didn’t do that

"We were just burnt out.

"There was this one show in Brisbane and we were having a go at each other."

But it wasn’t their time to finish up just yet and they went on to release their popular mix tape Oddity No.5 and first EP of original material, No.1.

The pair also leaves behind an extensive list of albums including Kleptomania, Demons of Gymnastics, They Mostly Come at Night and Find Me A Macchiato Pronto.

While the time has come to say goodbye, the duo has announced a final national tour, which kicks off at the end of October.

The duo will wrap up their Hooroo! national tour in Ballarat with two dates set for December 19 and 20 at Karova Lounge.

"It’s going to be a fun night with our friends, whatever happens happens," Harrison said.

"I feel like I should move the furniture out of the house. Last time we brought the party back to mine and I spent days cleaning."

Chappell’s mum is even popping down to the venue to see the boys play for the first and last time.

For Karova Lounge regulars, the aftermath of many of the Yacht Club DJs shows still resides on its walls and floors ... and roof.

"There's still glitter in the fold-backs," Chappell laughed.

"Oh yeah, from that time you tipped glitter over me and because I was sweaty it all stuck to me," Harrison said.

But if fans are counting on a return, it’s looking slim with the boys positive there will be no John Farnham comebacks for Yacht Club DJs, just a fork in the road instead.

"I don’t know what’s next. I’ll always make music but I don’t see it as a career," Harrison said.

"I feel like running off around the world."

For Guy, he will continue on with Michael Belsar, who he joined forces with in 2012 as Twinsy.

"I’ve made some doof tracks I’ll release next year," he said.

With many shows sold out already, the duo will play at 12 venues around the nation as part of their farewell tour.

alicia.thomas@fairfaxmedia.com.au