The Self-Titled Magazine conducted an interview with the legendary post hardcore / rock band HOT MATER MUSIC. They introduced the interview by posting the following:
To give you a sense of how the times have changed, 12 years ago, I spent three days on the road with the hardcore band Hot Water Music. Back then, the Florida-based foursome—consisting of Chuck Ragan (guitar, vocals), Chris Wollard (guitar, vocals), Jason Black (bass), and George Rebelo (drums)—were touring as openers for Walter Schreifels’ first post-Quicksand band Rival Schools. Schreifels and his backing musicians were traveling on a cushy coach bus courtesy of his then-label Island Records. Hot Water, on the other hand, were tagging along in a Ryder truck (for the merch and gear) and a van (for the people). They were sharing hotel rooms, sleeping on floors, and struggling with the notion that one of the band’s peers and colleagues had somehow “made it” while their grind continued.
Now, years later, Wollard is sitting backstage at the Gramercy Theater after a decade’s absence as an elder of the punk scene. His band is headlining sold-out shows across the country, and while there is no cushy coach bus, there is a palpable sense of contentment. The raspy-throated songwriter plows through Bud Light after Bud Light as he revels in Hot Water Music’s return, and having done so on its own terms. There was no pressure to reform. Rather, as Wollard admits, it’s kind of like a bromance. Four guys who love one another and love making music with one another. But in order to have sustained that sense of brotherhood, for this band to still be here today making some of the best material of its career, sometimes you have to go away.
But the comeback, as Wollard suggests, made those years of grinding worthwhile…
Go here to read the interview.
