In Conversation: Jason Black of Hot Water Music
As Hot Water Music turns 30 this year, Jason Black is choosing to revisit the trials and triumphs with the benefit of hindsight, none of the nostalgia, and his focus on the future.
After three decades of history as a band, you would be hard pressed to land on a single narrative that could best encapsulate the story of Hot Water Music other than the fact that its four original members have all but promised that they would always do it together—or as bassist Jason Black tells me in this conversation, “It’s the four of us. We can add. We can’t subtract.”
This sense of both commitment and addition are more present than ever in 2024: They have a new album coming out in May, appropriately titled Vows. They’ve fully integrated a fifth member in Flatliners frontman Chris Cresswell—who plays a significant (and excellent) role on the new record. They’ve also invited a number of friends to fea…