Who?
We are The Good Water, a psych/ indie/ rhythm & blues duo. I’m Rob I play the guitar, this is Tom he plays the drums.
Where?
From the deepest darkest depths of Birmingham, England. Yes it’s a bit grey and cold here, but there’s no better place on earth to get a masala fish in naan!
How?
Many moons ago a chance encounter found us studying at the same music college. From that day it was inevitable we would write, record and perform together for many a moon to come. We’ve been in other bands together and separately over the years. Firstly an experimental three piece called Scrambled Man. Then later Rob was guitarist for indie rock n rollers Pint Shot Riot and Tom was the drummer for Seeland – a 60’s psych/pop group.
Why?
Our influences come in many forms. From the big three Krautrock bands of the 70’s – CAN, Faust and Neu! – to more modern groups such as Tame Impala, Temples and Wooden Shjips. We have an appreciation for many styles of music, but we’ve been listening to a lot of Northern Soul recently. Why? It’s really for the love of creating something we are both passionate about. We feel that some of the influences we draw upon are not really represented in popular music culture, that’s something we’d like to change.
Past?
First Jobs:
Tom – Checkout attendant at Woolworths (muchly detested).
Rob – Joiners assistant at AMS (mildly creative but also muchly detested).
Present?
Some have said: “The Good Water unleash waves of gritty rhythm and blues. Drenched with obscure lyrical natives, their unique psychedelic-soaked style of contemporary rock n roll is an infectious collage of sounds.” Who are we to disagree with that!?
Future?
The future may hold many things, some of which are uncertain, some which are more certain than others. As a great man once said: “to be uncertain is uncomfortable, but to be certain is ridiculous”. All we can say is that we plan to record and release our debut album in spring 2017, tour the living hell out of it, and continue to write music that means something to us both.
Did you know?
Rob plays guitar left handed because, at aged 8, his older sister pushed him out of a tree and he broke his left arm. Since then he has never been able to fully turn his left hand. Picking up the guitar aged 15 he attempted to play the traditional right handed way but after struggling for almost a year, playing a few awful sounding open chords, he decided to restring it upside down and play left handed. It was seriously slow going but he managed to knock out a few Beatles and Oasis songs, and that was the beginning – not exactly a funny story but I do remember my sister laughing hysterically whilst sat in that tree.
What’s next?
We have a new single, ‘Everything Is’, out now on iTunes. The album is almost written and soon to be recorded. We have some festival dates and other gigs to perform over the summer but then we’ll be locking ourselves away and pushing that big red button. All being well we hope to emerge in 2107 with an album that people are going to love, enjoy and be inspired by.
Live4ever:
Simple isn’t always as simple as it seems. Below the sheen of The Good Water is a dark, beating heart. Their music is a pounding homage to the distant places music can go, transcendental without ever being oblique or pointless. This directness is never confrontational, instead what they create are fascinating explorations of sound and rhythm, designed to excite and explore.
Recent single ‘Apples’ combines this to full effect. Its almost Americana feel has the laconic rhythm of Kevin Morby’s ‘Harlem River’, the psychedelic scope of Damien Jurado’s ‘Silver Timothy’, all done with a wonderfully savvy and knowing Britishness, while ‘Everything Is’ uses fundamentally the same techniques to very different ends. It’s less Americana and more local with its 1990’s psychedelic shoegaze stylings, dripping with nods to Ride’s ‘OX4’ or Lupine Howl’s ‘125’. There’s even touches of Six By Seven or The Hybrids.
The Good Water’s music might sound simpler than it is, but it’s this effortlessness that makes it so appealing. Its little flourishes might have elements of all sorts hidden in there, but who cares when the music sounds so organic.
