It’s impossible to listen to Hot Water. To just listen. Because when Donovan Copley, the band’s founder, frontman, and creative heart, starts singing, playing (often his iconic African guitar), jiving and jumping around stage, backed up by a mix of stellar South African musicians as diverse as the country itself, you can’t sit stil…
No one does. The music – ‘South African Folk-Rock,’ Copley calls it – layers the sounds of traditional mbaqanga, kwela and maskanda with a more contemporary folk-rock vibe and utterly danceable rhythms, woven through with Copley’s raw, sweet voice and inspiring, almost dreamlike lyrics…
Come to think of it, I had the urge to do a little moving around than just listen when I first watched Hot Water perform at Up The Creek festival in 2012. I had the same urge when they played at Park Acoustics last year and I’m thinking that you’ll have the same urge when you watch them play at Mieliepop 2017.
I recently conducted an e-mail interview with this Cape Town based act. We talked about Mieliepop and a few other things. This is what the band had to say:
Where does the name “Hot Water” come from?
You know that feeling when you climb into a nice hot bath…?
What is the funniest thing you’ve experienced during a live set?
At a headline show for WOMAD Spain in front of 18 000 Spanish Festival goers I ripped my pants all the way down the back…
What have you been up to lately?
We just back from a performance at Udaipur World Music Festival – Â the biggest World Music Festival in India.
If you could offer advice for aspiring musician in South Africa, what would that be?
Be awesomely organised.
What can fans expect from your set at Mieliepop 2017?
Magic.
I’d like to thank Hot Water for this interview and I wish them all of the best with their set at Mieliepop this year and their future musical endeavors. If you’re not familiar with their music, check out the video for “Wamkelekile” below:
If you don’t have your ticket for Mieliepop Festival yet, get them here.
Watch this space for regular updates in the Music and Interviews categories on Running Wolf’s Rant.
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