Hot Water Music: ‘Til Death Do Us Part

This year marks thirty years since the iconic punk band HOT WATER MUSIC assembled. Since then they’ve gone to release ten albums and have become one of the most pivotal American punk bands of their generation. They’ve left an impressive legacy and still to this day continue to release high quality music that speaks to our souls with the release of this year’s excellent tenth album; Vows. Recently, we were very lucky to have a chat with Jason Black, the band’s bass player, in which we discussed the latest album and reflecting on the last thirty years as a band. 

From the off, the conversation starts with looking back at the last three decades that HOT WATER MUSIC has given us. Any anniversary in a band’s career is a great achievement but reaching thirty years is something else entirely, it shows the determination and grit has paid off. Black informs us that this particular milestone “isn’t something you put on a calendar but you know it’s coming three or four years before it gets here. It doesn’t normally hit you until it actually arrives.”

It’s definitely a milestone the band never expected to get to and now the release of Vows is in full swing, it sees the band as almost too busy to even take a second and reflect on three decades as a band. Black continues telling us that the majority of the last thirty years has been a key influence on the latest album. “A lot of the inspiration for Vows came from almost everything of the last thirty years. It exists in a space between looking backwards at everything we’ve done and being thankful for what’s been, but then also looking forward at what we could do next, it’s introspective about the band as a whole instead of individual moments.”

With it only being two years since their last album, Feel The Void, the release of Vows is the shortest gap between any album for the band. The foundations were already laid for the process of recording Vows to begin. “It’s a continuation of the last record and when it comes to writing, for us it’s very song to song, there’s never one song writer.” Even after thirty years, HOT WATER MUSIC still has moments that scare them when it comes to recording. At times for them, it felt like they may not have an album to record before Black says that “everything fell into place very quickly and it gave us sight of how the album was going to be.”

Black further goes on to explain that Vows is “our favourite record that we’ve done”. Black goes on to declare that Vows is his “favourite album that we’ve recorded”, the sentiment is genuine and not done for the sake of promo. Following on from this, he explains that the track Remnants is his favourite song from the record, explaining that it’s fun to play, the groove is cool really encapsulates the true nature of the album which is a “celebratory party vibe that feels danceable and doesn’t feel super alien to our roots.” 

When it came to deciding which artists the band wanted to feature on the record, it seemed like a pretty straightforward process. With the likes of THRICE, THE INTERRUPTERS, CALLING HOURS and CITY AND COLOUR all featuring throughout. “Whose on it is who we asked, we hadn’t done a collaboration in a while so the thought of having guests was around when we started on the record.” With everyone saying yes, each song has a place for each artist without it feeling like a name drop or shoe horning them in. “We were lucky that everything worked really well and fell into place musically”. In recent years, co frontman, Chris Wollard, has taken a step back from the touring life but remains very much involved in the creative process when it comes to recording. “It’s still the same, he’s there for all the writing and whoever sings isn’t necessarily singing what they wrote. Everyone sings each other’s ideas, so everyone’s contributions including Wollard’s are the same as they’ve always been.” 

If you’ve been lucky enough to see HOT WATER MUSIC on their latest tour, you’ll see how ferociously they play. They give off the impression that they’re a group in their mid-twenties rather than a group approaching fifty, most bands at this age tend to slow things down but not HOT WATER MUSIC. Through a smile, Black explains that playing to that level at his age is “hard and that he spends a lot more time exercising these days than I used to”. With Chris Cresswell who covers for Wollard live being a good chunk younger than Black and Chuck Ragan, “it helped by nature elevate our energy levels”. There is also a slight camaraderie about how they play, particularly when it comes to festivals and shows. “You want to leave it all on the stage and have friendly competition with your peers, friends or not. You still want to be the best band on the stage. It’s a friendly skirmish each night.”

HOT WATER MUSIC is still as strong as they’ve ever been. The new material is going down just as strongly as the old material and Black tells us that it’s “nice to know that people are familiar with new material already, it’s nice to know that people are caring enough. It’s been good!” They’re a band that whilst like to look back on what’s been, but more importantly want to look ahead to the future of HOT WATER MUSIC, and whatever that may be, is sure to be very special. They’re one hell of a band with one hell of a legacy behind them.

Vows is out now via End Hits Records.

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