Megan Nash will be in Moose Jaw for the second last show of her most recent tour with Bears in Hazenmore, featuring special guests Scotch & Water — who have travelled all the way from Hamburg, Germany to join Nash on their first Canadian tour.
Comprised of Samira Christmann, vocals, Hansjakob Wedemeyer, guitar, Max Quentmeier, bass, Lasse Weinbrandt, drums, Scotch & Water boasts a fluid indie sound that floats around to include almost-pop, rock, and folk-inspired melodies.
It's no surprise that they’ve connected with Nash, whose music also delves into a sweet, melancholic feeling that invokes a certain warm nostalgia at times.
Scotch & Water also interestingly uses the term “creative collective” to describe themselves, because alongside their four figurehead musicians is a fifth member: Dennis Bajer, who works off the stage mixing the show and writing music.
“I think we are very versatile, which I like a lot,” said Christmann, in an email with Moose Jaw Today. “We all have very different backgrounds – Lasse and Max have a jazz background, Hans is into folk and indie mostly, just like Dennis, I also like a lot of foreign music – it’s a good and creative mixture.”
“Our music is an output of all the musical influences that all of us entail. The result is a mixture that even surprises ourselves sometimes,” said Wedemeyer.
Their debut EP, Never Enough, Always Too Much, released on Aug. 16 and the band feels it represents their collective musical interests as a group.
“It’s tough to go through the recording process – there are five people having an opinion and we try to find compromises without letting the songs suffer from this,” said Weinbrandt. “Our EP is very versatile. . . It shows us in different facets.”
The band met Nash on her trip through Germany in 2018, where she played alongside Scotch & Water and Stefan from The Green Apple Seas, and the musicians made fast friends.
With a Germany tour under their belts, the group decided that a Canadian tour with Nash seemed appropriate. They began in Hazelet, SK on Aug. 24, and are hitting venues in Alberta and B.C. before returning to Saskatchewan.
“We want to present our music and show people how we feel about this or that. To connect with people during a concert is just so intensive – I don’t want to miss that,” said Quentmeier. “We want to have fun on stage but also take our music seriously.”
The tour is the band’s first venture into international waters, and aside from excitement to play new venues and crowds, there were a few other parts of Canada they were excited to experience — including Tim Hortons, orca sightings in Victoria, and doing some grocery shopping.
“Because that’s how you get to know a country!” explained Weinbrandt.
Scotch & Water will be joining Megan Nash on stage at the Cultural Centre on Sept. 7, and they are looking forward to seeing the crowd experience their new music.
“It is always a great thing when you can see that the audience is totally into the songs and really feels them,” said Wedemeyer. “It’s special when something that was created by a handful of persons keeps growing and reaches more and more listeners who are feeling this particular energy.”
Scotch & Water’s EP is available for order through their label’s website, and their single “Moving On” is available to stream on Spotify.
Tickets for Scotch & Water are still available either on the Cultural Centre's website, or through the box office in person or by calling (306) 693-4700.
