Genre: Rock
Website: http://www.hotwatermusic.com/
Myspace: http://www.myspace.com/hotwatermusic

Hot Water Music may have never had a hit single or seen their mugs plastered all over MTV, but over the years the act have done something far more impressive: They’ve achieved a lasting relevance that most of the aforementioned acts could only dream of. Since forming in the early nineties in Gainesville, Florida, Hot Water Music have released seven full-length albums, countless singles and toured with everyone from Flogging Molly to Coheed And Cambria along the way—but all of those stats are overshadowed by the fact that for nearly two decades this four-piece have stayed true to their roots, themselves and their music in the face of countless fads and generational shifts.

Formed out of the ashes of two other short-lived punk acts, Hot Water Music was born when singer/guitarist Chris Wollard, bassist Jason Black and drummer George Rebelo joined forces with guitarist/vocalist Chuck Ragan in 1993—and since then the four-piece have never looked back (aside from a short-lived break-up in 1996 that was the catalyst for the band’s classic live recording Live At The Hardback). By combining elements of punk rock, jazz and post-hardcore, the band pioneered a unique blend of music that is at the core of their still-celebrated nineties output including 1997’s Forever And Counting and 1998’s Fuel For The Hate Game.

Hot Water Music decided to call it quits in 2006 with Ragan and Wollard pursuing their respective solo careers while Black joined Senses Fail, however after two years apart (which featured Wollard, Black and Rebelo coming together to record and tour with their new band the Draft), the members once again reconvened to start performing live to the delight of both long-term fans as well as those who had learned about the band through their more melodic but equally celebrated turn-of-the-millennium releases such as A Flight And A Crash and Caution, both of which were released on the esteemed indie label Epitaph Records. “We had talked about [the reunion] for a while and we hit a point where it seemed like there wasn’t a good reason not to do it,” Black explains.

“We decided to set up that first weekend of shows and they went way better than we thought they would, so we just kind of kept doing shows and getting together whenever we could,” he continues, adding that ironically Hot Water Music seem bigger these days then when they were touring full-time on their last studio album. Earlier this year Hot Water Music toured Australia and released a split 7-inch with their lifelong friends in the Bouncing Souls that saw both acts covering each other’s songs, but fans are still holding out for the first HWM album since 2004’s The New What Next.

“The rough game plan is we’re going to try to do a new 7-inch this summer and use that as a stepping stone to getting the record together,” Black explains, adding that the fact that all four of the band members live in different cities nowadays has been one of the factors why it has taken so long for the band to come up with new material. “We are writing through the Internet at this point and making headway and I think everyone is really excited with what we’re coming up with despite the fact that everyone is also busy with other projects,” Black explains before adding, “I would be surprised if we didn’t come out with a new record next year.”

Despite the fact that musical trends and genres have changed greatly since the band started out, Hot Water Music’s relevance in the punk community has always been evident from their early shows in DIY spaces and basements to the fact that the band’s former tourmates Thrice did a complete set of HWM tunes at 2011’s Bamboozle festival in East Rutherford, New Jersey, to pay homage to one of their biggest influences. “Our fans have definitely grown with and over the years I’ve been really surprised with some of the bands who have come up to me and told me they love Hot Water Music,” Black says. “Some of these kids are literally ten years younger than us and they’re still discovering the band; it seems like everyone has a different favorite era or album from the group.”

Even if Hot Water Music can’t perform full-time these days due to the members’ other musical obligations—which have included Rebelo’s duties in Against Me!, Wollard’s output with the Ship Thieves and Ragan’s work organizing and performing on the Revival Tour—once they get onstage together that same energy and dynamism that has defined the band’s live shows for almost two decades is immediately evident.

“I feel like this is a new stage for the band because it’s operating in a much different way,” Black explains. “There’s a lot less on the line and that makes it the whole process more relaxed as opposed to us feeling pressure to sell a certain amount of records or become the hot new band,” he summarizes. “We’re all really happy to have the opportunity to still be doing this and we can’t wait to share our new music with all of the fans who have stuck with us through the years.”