Lotus Kicks Off Winter Tour With Aplomb (INTERVIEW)

Going on 18 Years, Lotus has evolved with more proficiency than most bands within the instrumental improvisational scene. Most importantly, the band has gradually built its fan base strong,  where today its live shows continue to be an anything goes must hear affair that now draws to Red Rocks and most prestigious of venues  No doubting the fact but these days Lotus is on fire.

Eat the Light (released 7/15/06) was a first for Lotus, an album with vocals on every song. Guest singers appear throughout ranging from soulful to indie, male and female, electronic and rock. The tracks bubble with contagious dance energy and blast into orbit with sing-along choruses. Tightly produced yet raw grooves recall sounds of The Talking Heads, Jamiroquai, and LCD Soundsystem, yet seems to hit a chord with both new and older fans alike.

With Lotus just kicking off its winter tour last week in Washington, D.C., we had a chance to speak with Jesse Miller (bass, sampler) about the past year for the band and its most recent success. Lotus will also be performing this Friday (2/3) at the Fonda Theatre in Los Angeles for what is guaranteed to be yet another memorable night of jams, beats and hooks. Tickets are still available!

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Lotus just kicked off its winter tour in DC, what does the opening night of a Lotus tour feel like and does it sometimes take a few shows for you to feel at peak form?

Playing two sold out shows at the legendary 9:30 Club was a great way to kick off the tour. It’s a great sound system and the crowd is very close and involved in the show. So, it really feels like we have a lot of control and dynamics. We received numerous comments from long time fans that those were some of the best Lotus shows they’ve ever seen.

Looking at the schedule you are on the road for the next two plus months – how does a tour evolve creatively for you – are there certain cities or venues that bring out something different to the setlist now that you’ve played most parts of the country?

We are often playing over 100 different songs over the course of a tour this size, so each night is going a slightly different direction. We try to cover a wide breadth of our catalog and are playing for between 2-3 hours of music each show, so every night will have a lot of variety. I think it is the crowd, more than anything else, that can change the show. If we are super exhausted from the traveling and late hours an energetic crowd can breathe new life into the show.

The band is playing some of the more prestigious venues and festivals these days so obviously you’ve come a long way, not only from the listener’s perspective but also from the promoter/industry side. How would you explain how the band has been received and are you satisfied with the place it is now?

We are very thankful for the success we’ve had and the people who have helped get us there. But, I wouldn’t say satisfied. I still want to write better songs, reach new ears, be more creative. I don’t want to rest on our laurels.

Lotus has had a longevity that surpasses almost any band within its genre and scene, how do you explain your ability to not only still be active but always be poignant and stay musically relevant as improvisational music has changed so much around you?

We’ve always stayed open to trying out new musical ideas. I like to be aware of current developments, but I don’t want to chase pop music trends. We purposely play less shows than a lot of bands in our scene. And we use that time off the road to continuously write, record and experiment. I think that allows us to challenge ourselves musically to try new things.

How do you feel you fans have changed as the band has progressed? Do you see a lot more younger fans or a lot of fans who have been with you since the beginning?

We definitely have some hardcore fans who have been seeing Lotus for 10 plus years. When I hear people say they’ve been to 25, 50, 100 shows that always amazes me. I haven’t seen drastic changes in the audience. I’d say there are a lot of fans at the shows in their 20s and 30s. Part of that is the nature of the time these shows happen. There are plenty of people who can’t make it work to get out to a mid-week show that runs from 10pm-1am.

What has your fans’ response been to your new music vs your older music as you’ve progressed from a more organic approach to one that involves vocals more and more indie progressive with shades of pop? 

Whenever we do something that is obviously different from our previous albums you get some pushback. But, that seems to happen with every album we put out. A few years later those same songs could be considered part of the classic Lotus sound by the same people. Our latest album, Eat the Light, is the first that has vocals on every song, but there have been hints of this sound in Lotus songs for many, many years. “Tip of the Tongue,” “The Surf,” “Age of Inexperience,” “Turquoise,” etc. We’ve been writing songs with vocals for a long time, this is just the first time we have done a full album with vocals on every song.

Do you still feel the full length album is valuable art form for artists like Lotus that are renowned for telling a musical story during their live shows?

I still believe in the album format. That is how I prefer to listen to music. There is something powerful to me about a collection of music designed to work together in a specific sequence. We use a lot of the same ideas for sequencing an album as designing a set list for a show. Using slower, ballads to set up more rocking or dance-oriented songs and balancing songs that are more abrasive or dark with sweeter and diatonic based music.

What albums by current artists inspire you to record and try and take your music to that next level?

Neon Indian – Vega Intl. Night School, Car Seat Headrest – Teens of Denial, Tame Impala – Currents, Spoon – They Want My Soul, Parquet Courts – Human Performance

You have an upcoming show in LA we’re helping to spread the word out on. What are your memories of LA and what can we expect Lotus to bring out in Southern California?

I really like LA. I like to visit friends there, enjoy the sunshine, eat great food, drink great coffee. I have a lot of memories from LA. Playing a Beard-o-Bees set at Low End Theory and Flying Lotus showed on stage next to me. Seeing Underworld at Hollywood Bowl. Seeing Phillip Glass at Hollywood Bowl. Looking out over the city from Griffith Observatory. Eating at Tasting Kitchen in Abbot Kinney. Drinking on patios in Los Feliz with friends. Crashing a random house party in Venice Beach. Drinking amazing coffee in Silver Lake.

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