Birthed in the dirty depths of a Dunedin flat (shared by the entire band), Hot Donnas self-titled EP is here today, unleashing a fiery and ravenous 12 minutes of non-stop riffs, groove and intensity.
“If you’re not careful you might end up burning some holes in the bottom of your shoes from getting too much of a boogie on.”Gene Mace, Hot Donnas.
“These songs all stemmed from our normal procedure of starting with a guitar riff and fleshing it out from there. It has helped that we all moved into the same flat at the start of this year and were able to get home from work and jam without a fuss. It meant that we were able to get a lot of practice in and have the songs 100% ready to go before we made the trip up to Auckland to record.”
Mitch Sizemore, Hot Donnas
“Steven Marr, the sound engineer we worked with, made the process super efficient for us and we can’t thank him enough for the high quality result we ended up with. Recording our previous EP with him added to this as he already had existing knowledge on the sound we were aiming for. The options to experiment with our hard hitting sound seemed endless with all the insane gear that Roundhead has to offer – it honestly felt surreal.”
George McLaughlan, Hot Donnas
Diving into the studio with Steve Marr at Roundhead Studios (Shihad, BENEE) alongside the support and backing from NZ On Air, Hot Donnas took their chance to take the intensity, professionalism and groove of their tracks to another level.
Providing the “sonic punch” that their collective ear-holes had been seeking. Recorded live, the track was able to retain the energy that makes Hot Donnas a band keeping you on the edge of your seat, concerned that they’ll explode out of your speakers at any moment. Chris Chetland (Lorde, Scribe, Six60) partnered with the band for mastering, adding a crisp edge to the track.
“Being able to record at Roundhead was an experience that I will never forget. Hot Donnas as a collective tend to be very relaxed and we try not to take things too seriously, so it was nice to break out of the comfort zone and get into a professional studio. Personally, I was very nervous going into the first day of the recording session as a lot of highly regarded NZ bands have recorded there. Steve did a great job of making it relaxing and enjoyable and I feel that’s how we were able to record the songs with ease.”
Mitch Sizemore, Hot Donnas
Undoubtedly an act worth celebrating, Hot Donnas have a bright & intense future ahead. With international borders reopening and live music returning, EP ‘Hot Donnas’ will surely become the underground-anthem of sweaty dive-bars, clubs & pubs from Dunedin to Darwin!