Earlier this month Dunedin’s Hot Donnas returned with their new EP The Adventures of E-Wan, featuring new single “Two Brains”.
Carrying a similar sound to the early Arctic Monkeys and Queens of The Stone Age, “Two Brains” is heady rock’n’roll tied up in one. Grinding guitars build the pace on this body-moving track about overthinking, indecision and squaring up those good and bad influences.
Not shy of a tour or a good time, Hot Donnas have been making their mark on stages across New Zealand and Australia since 2017, amping up crowds for acts including Lime Cordiale, Drunk Mums and Get Storked.
With fingers crossed for more touring opportunities in 2021, Hot Donnas boys Jacob, Gene, Mitch and George celebrated their new release with some pics of their favourite tour memories:
“This photo is a more recent capture, from our last gig in Christchurch. Previously we’ve been on big tours but it’s been almost a year since our last actual trip. So this was a well-needed release for some stored up energy. We always tend to spend our time away getting silly and kicking about and this was no different; for the exception that we had a slightly larger crew of mates which led to an excess of nonsense. The live show itself was a great performance from our perspective and we were all stoked-as to have such a receptive audience. It’s only brewing a very keen desire to get touring again in 2021, and really push the boat out and see what we can accomplish together.” – Jacob.
“This is a photo of the funkiest, most colourful bathroom in Australia. It was when we played our first gig of our Australia Tour 2019. It was a Sunday night in Newcastle so expectations weren’t too high, thinking it would have been a relatively quiet night. But, little did we know the folks there loved having big Sunday nights. The venue was extremely vibrant and full with people. So we showed them what we do best and finished our first night all hot and sweaty. All and all, a great kick start to our tour.” – Gene
“This photo is from our time playing at the New Zealand Festival Rhythm And Vines. Managed to grab an epic slot on the last day (31st of December) at 4pm; this was when the crowd really started to liven up and boogie. This being our first festival show we were all slightly nervous heading up to play. But as soon as we started making noise we fell back into our skin and had an awesome time. Funnily enough, Jacob managed to break a string within the first couple of songs which wasn’t ideal, but he gave it his all on the mic and we had an epic response from the crowd!” – Mitch
“This is a shot from our show in Sydney from our 2019 Australian tour. We were travelling around the East Coast with our good buddies The Darrans, and gee wiz they sure know how to have a good time! Their guitarist and vocalist Jimmy came up on stage mid set and began pouring a pint down George’s throat, half of which spilled down his speights singlet. One of the more memorable shows of the tour as Sydney is The Darrans hometown, and shit we all had a blast.”
“Again, this is from our most recent show up in Christchurch. We feel like it perfectly captures our laid back/no so serious personalities. We’re all about having fun whether it be up on stage or in the studio recording, and it has helped us develop our sound to what it is today. Mitch managed to capture some hilarious content on the wee handy-cam he’s holding in the picture, whether it’s suitable for all ages is debatable. But hey, that’s rock-n-roll.”
Hot Donnas’ new EP The Adventures of E-wan is out now. Buy it or stream it HERE.
You can connect and keep up to date with the Hot Donnas on Facebook, Instagram and via their Website
