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An interview with Hot Water

Posted on 08. Dec, 2009 by GabiGoldberg in Band Interviews, Music

South African singer, song-writer, guitarist, multi-instrumentalist, facilitator and band leader, Donovan Copley, has a talent not only for creating uplifting and authentic South African music…he has the knack for bringing together a consistently evolving group of musicians from very diverse backgrounds with an ever-fresh musical result that leaves audiences feeling inspired and proud to be South African.

Hot Water’s origins, Donovan explains “began as a collaborative platform for me to perform with numerous musicians from very diverse backgrounds. Although the band is now a 5 piece, it remains very flexible and collaborative by nature…”

He picked the band name “because it reflected the music, and it really just felt right. Since then the name’s various facets and meanings have emerged…”

Hot Water’s music incorporates elements of traditional African music (such as kwela, mbaqanga, maskandi and kwasa kwasa) with folk, blues and indie-pop rock. Donovan’s musical influences range from “Life in general to cats like Eric Clapton, Cat Stevens, ‘Juluka’, Johnny Clegg, Paul Simon, Bob Dylan, Robert Johnson, Jimmy Hendrix, Jerry Lee Lewis…”

He describes their sound as “Accessible. Authentic. South African. Folk-Rock-Blues-Jive… with some world music and a few ballads thrown in for good measure! Simple in essence and message..” Their sound has progressed over the years but he fees that “the core has remained the same.”

What they would like to achieve in the music industry is “Adventure. Balance. Long-term sustainability.”

From Italian Commercials and being featured BBC World’s ‘Destination Music’ series to being voted the Best Band in South Africa by Men’s Health magazine all these accolades affected the band as “These are the larger ‘stepping stones’ that have functionally helped the band navigate forward. So they’ve served to keep things flowing along and keep us motivated.”

They were recently signed by European Touring agent ‘Griot’ (a South African music focused agent representing the big names like Hugh Masekela, Freshlyground, Lira, Ladysmith Black Mambazo, Johnny Clegg and now Hot Water. “That’s pretty exciting for us.” He adds “We’ve had a great reception from international audiences and we would love to spend a few months a year in Europe or abroad.”

They offer a unique money-back-guarantee on all their performances and they do it “because we believe in what we do (and we’re quite good at it) “Donavon feels performing is “really a vehicle to engage with people in a way that can often be magical. In our society there is a lot more psychological freedom in the performance context than there is permitted walking around the ‘real world’. So under the right conditions there is a space in which a kind of freedom can be experienced and co-created publicly, which is very satisfying.”

They performed at the prestigious Hague Jazz Festival and thought it was “Unbelievable! After our first show we were booked to play two more shows and so played six shows in total at the Festival – the most of any other band… We felt very honoured with this and also to be representing South Africa alongside the likes of Hugh Masekela & Freshlyground (the two other SA bands at the Festival).”

He worked with Nick on the song ‘Laduma’ which has been called “an uplifting and authentic anthem of unity” and he explains “it was more like a comedy show than work anyway…” He continues “I loved working with Nik! The song and my connection with him has been rather a synchronistic one and I loved the way our paths crossed for this track. He really knows how to deliver the goods – ultra enjoyable, ultra-professional.”

Their 3rd album “is in the pot” He elaborates “when you put an album, and you just want to keep playing it cause it gives you the space to feel at home in yourself – if we can achieve this with the next album we’ll feel very successful. And we’re certainly headed in this direction..” As for the recording process he explains “There tends to be a lot of physical movement in the recording process and somehow this adds something to the sound. So, ya sometimes we do a bit of bouncing off the walls in an attempt to capture the essence of the music.”The album will be released early 2010.

Donovan admits he takes the longest to get ready before a gig and some band members are working on side projects but some are not. Drummers are the messiest on tour and one of the funniest things that happened at a show was when he jumped into a fountain (and had a swim with the ducks) in the middle of a performance on a very hot day at the Company Gardens in Cape Town and concludes “I suppose it’s events like these that – in hindsight – reveal some of the reasons that the band has the name it does… Hot Water.”

My interview first appeared on Musical Mover and Shaker!

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1. An interview with The Shotguns
2. Foto Na Dans Interview
3. An interview with Gazelle
4. An interview with Taxi Violence
5. an interview with Raffael aka The Sound

Tags: band interview, interview with Hot Water band, Music, south african band, south african band interiew, South African music