While most South Africans weren’t paying attention, pop band Watershed quietly set about becoming the biggest musical export to Europe since Johnny Clegg and Savuka circa 1991.In 1998 Watershed was no more than a name owned and championed by chief protagonist and songwriter Craig Hinds. Now Hinds and his band are getting ready for a three-month tour of Europe, and by all indications the United States and Asia, with their newly released album Wrapped in Stone.How is this possible? Well, with less talk, quiet determination and loads of talent. Hinds retains a refreshing humility when he retells the success story of his debut album In the Meantime and talks about the release of his second album.”I am very happy with the new album,” he says. “There is definitely a nice little progression there, so it all seems to be soldiering on,” Hinds says. “I never make a point of assessing where we’ve come from and where we’re going.”There is a lot to be said for not buying into the bullshit of the entertainment industry and here Watershed score highly for ignoring things that are contrived. “I prefer to do rather than talk or hype things up and create an unfair and unrealistic perception of what I am about and what my band does. We figure, play the album, see us perform and decide for yourself. If you love us, great! If you don’t … that’s okay too, we’ll get you focused by the next round.”South Africa will have to wait to experience the new tracks live because Watershed have a full calendar of commitments in Europe and Canada.Deservedly so, they are taking the best of local, bottling it in CD form and successfully selling it to an audience hungry for some savvy, singalong songs. Pop music is one of the most difficult commodities to export, but the band’s local record company, EMI, has taken the gap and is selling Watershed to a market hungry for middle-of-the-road, critical songwriting and great melodies.The result, so far, has been a resounding success, to the extent that drummer Tulsa Pittaway, bass player Vernon Hodgetts, Paul McIver and viola player Lizzie Rennie have finally been able to make music a full-time profession.This said, the machine behind the music is ultimately Hinds, who is fortunate enough to have had four talented musicians and a visionary producer in Brian O’Shea to make his dream into a reality.The group’s international success came about when a German DJ out in South Africa on holiday heard Indigo Girl on the radio, bought the album, went back to SWR3 (his employer) and played the song. It was only a matter of weeks before the band was playing and signing deals across Europe. “I think a lot of bands would love to be in the situation we are in today,” Hinds acknowledges. “Some amazing things happened off the back of that first album,” he says. “I have had some great highlights, but the one that still takes the cake was me receiving a call from my label saying Indigo Girl had been picked up by a very big Chinese boy band and would be sung in Mandarin.” The second highlight was using a 14-piece orchestra on the new album. “I wanted to experiment and try to break down the animosity that’s floating around [the music industry] at the moment … ” The new disc includes contributions from Nianell and Melanie Lowe (of Idols fame). “I’ve been trying to bridge these gaps,” Hinds says. “I did a whole bunch of live shows under the banner of Craig and Friends when Watershed was taking time out. I invited a different artist every week and we’d play my stuff and even a few of their tracks too. It became a bit like VH1’s Storytellers and was a blast for everyone, and that fed through to the making of the album. Luckily we had a great budget, so we could record with live brass and string sections.”Both albums were mastered overseas. “The first album was mastered at Abbey Road, which was phenomenal, Wrapped in Stone we did in Belgium at Galaxy Studios and only because the mastering engineers overseas are the best. They fine tweak the record in such a way that all the pieces are made to fit.”With album two recorded and a touring schedule set up, Craig and company are out of harm’s way for well into next year. Watershed is proof that local music has legs — the fact that local music has to be acknowledged overseas before we do is clearly something we need to work on.