By Holly Arend | 5 July, 2022
Del Water Gap is the solo project of songwriter & producer S. Holden Jaffe. Jaffe currently resides in Brooklyn, New York and is inspired by “romantic encounters and dimly lit rooms. We had the pleasure of sitting down with Holden and asking him a few questions after his amazing set on the Gov Ball Bacardi Stage.
What's a goal you have that you haven’t reached yet?
A goal that I have, that I have not reached yet, that's a great question. Um, I want to be a better friend. I've been really busy the last year and it's been wonderful, and I've been terrible with my phone and I want to be better about getting back to people and reaching, reaching out. Yeah.
A place you dream of performing one day? Venue and/or location?
Radio City. I, yeah, I grew up on the east coast coming to New York City and um, so the main stage at Radio City. It's just such a beautiful room. It's a real, real bucket list [item]. Dream. I'd love to play there.
Have you ever been humbled by someone you’ve worked with?
Wow. That's a good question. Um, yeah, actually, there's this artist Kali Flanagan, and they're just so good at everything really, really young. I don't know how old they are now, but when I met them, I think they were 16 or 17 and just, we had, we did a session together and they were just shredding on every instrument. You know, I was like, why, why am I here? It was incredible.
How do you know who you're happy with the end result of a song or project?
Oh, tough. I don't, you know, it's one of the biggest battles. I think is, I think for a lot of creators, something that I've been really facing this year is myself credit, you know, and just trying to compartmentalize, compartmentalize them a little bit and understand when he's in the room, because, um, yeah, I mean that, that instinct about, about your own art and where you are and, and that's, that's your most important asset, you know? So, and I also have great people around me that help and listen and yeah.
While touring, do you ever think about previous shows or compare a show to another one?
Yeah, I think naturally I do, but I really try not to. I mean, we were talking about this last night because the last show I played was for about 5,000 people. And then last night we had about a hundred people were playing this little show in, in Amagansett and I really, um, I really intentionally try to just show the f**k up no matter what the room is, you know, I think performance and playing a good show. It's about music, but it's also about connection. Right. And just trying to be open. And so, yeah.
Can you think about the person whose song is about performing or do you think about the process of that song?
Yeah, I think I do think about the life events that inspired songs while I'm performing them. But also reassign(ing) songs is something I've talked about with other artists, friends of mine, you know, songs take on new meanings as you, as you get older. Yeah.
Okay. Our last question is, do you have a fun fact?
Yeah, I have a fun fact. So when I was a baby, I was actually a Pampers model for Pampers diapers when I was about one year old. Yeah. So I did some, I did some print and, uh, TV commercials with my mom and my, my older brother was supposed to be in the commercials with me. He was like two at the time, but he just had a shit s**t fit. So they had to go and grab my neighbor, this little girl next door and they stopped her at last minute. So, yeah. Yeah.
Thanks to Del Water Gap for sitting down with us!
