Questions and Answers with Luke Miller of Lotus
…Details on the new album…Summer 2014 plans…toughest songs to play live…
Photos By: August J
Interview By: Michael Urban
Michael Urban(MU): When preparing for a consecutive 3 night stand at a single venue how does your set list preparation differ from that of say just 3 shows in a row? Or does it not change at all?
Luke Miller(LM): Yes. 3 nights at one venue we definitely aren’t doing any repeats. 3 shows in row we probably won’t, but depending on locations of the shows its a possibility. I usually start by plotting out what rarer songs we’ll play on the 3 nights, then fill the set lists in from there.
MU: When looking over your 2014 summer tour dates/schedule there seems to be a lot of openings. Can fans expect to see Lotus appear on a few more festival line ups? Any club shows planned?
LM: There will be some more things announced.
MU: One question most of the fan base is asking themselves is if Summerdance will be back in 2014. Can you give ANY indication on a return to The Ledges?
LM: See above.
MU: Lotus seems to always been in and out of the studio. There are rumblings of a new studio album in the works. How far along into the process are you guys and when can fans expect new material from Lotus? Will the album be made up of all new and unheard tracks?
LM: New album is completely done. 6 songs and 4 remixes. 3 have been heard live.
MU: Can you elaborate on the direction of sound Lotus is taking with the new record?
LM: This project uses mostly “organic” instruments. Very little synths and electronics, more acoustic piano and raw guitar and drum sounds.
MU: In your opinion what are the 2 most difficult songs to play and why?
LM: Neon Tubes is probably one of the more complicated ones. It just has a lot of tempo changes and different sections that need to be nailed to sound good. When H Binds to O is a bit difficult mainly because it is in 9/8 time. It’s not necessarily super hard, but making it groove in 9 is the tricky part.
After the final night in Brooklyn we discussed quickly the art of playing a perfect ‘Grayrigg’ one of my personal favorites. You mentioned “groove and timing” having to all come together to really nail it. To a amateur guitar players ears like myself ‘Grayrigg’ sounds like a very technical song in that like you said everyone needs to be “on” which is one of the reasons I like it.
MU: If you can briefly expand on that idea of groove and timing coming together in a song such as ‘Grayrigg’…
LM: Well the main riff in Grayrigg is a cross rhythm with the guitars playing a dotted figure implying a feel in 3 and the bass and drums sticking with a 4/4. So making the upbeats line up is key to making that one tight. On the guitars the tendency is to rush the upbeat, so you have to relax and slow that down a bit to get the whole thing to gel. I like to
think of band tightness like film lighting. People should only notice it when it’s bad. Otherwise I think tightness is just a means to expressing musical ideas more clearly.
MU: What was your opinion on the Brooklyn Bowl and would you consider doing say a residency at a particular venue?
LM: I enjoyed the Bowl. For a small venue there was still a decent amount of room on stage and a good sound system. And the fried chicken and nutella burbon milkshakes were icing on the cake.
Thank you for taking the time as always Luke!
Check out a in-depth summary of the 3 nights Lotus spent in Brooklyn, NY here…
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