Luke Miller, Guitar/Keyboards LOTUS
I got a chance to sit down and talk to Luke Miller from LOTUS when they performed at the Belly-Up Tavern in Solana Beach, CA.
ShakedownNews: You guys all met in Goshen, IN
LUKE: Yeah, Jesse and I were in college around 1992 and we met and started playing together there.
SN: The last album has pushed the electronic envelope a little more with the new album. Where did that come from?
LUKE: Yeah, you know we always want to make something new and not make the same album over and over. We recorded a lot of material for this album and the ones we thought worked together the best had that electronic theme. There’s a few that are more organic like “In and Out Lines” and “Orchids” but it was something we tried out using more hip hop tempos and using more synth/bass and stuff.
SN: A lot of your early success was all about the light show. You’ve incorporated the “6th Man” as an integral part of your show?
LUKE: We’re a band that doesn’t have a vocalist. We try to integrate that visual show to enhance the intricate nature of our music.
SN: What’s your personal inspiration musically? Who do you look back on and go…THAT GUY!
LUKE: I didn’t have that one idol or anything. I guess for me playing guitar or keyboards it was a means to an end. The end being the total song. So I guess the specific players I liked were the ones that fit in to the groove but weren’t flashy or amazing. For drummers, I really like Mike Clark who played on Herbie Hancock’s fusion albums. He had a really unique style. Guitarists, I guess David Byrne and his rhythms he created. More jazz than blues.
SN: What’s the future for Lotus? You’ve reached that 11 year mark where you’re at a pinnacle moment for a musical career. What’s next?
LUKE: We kinda feel like we’re on the verge of another break out. I feel like, with this last album, I think, we called it LOTUS because it took us a long time to get to that point of self titled album. I think we’re at that moment where we can break through to a larger fan base who’ve never heard us before. If that doesn’t happen we’re just happy to be able to do what we do.
SN: You, like many jambands, allow taping of your shows…free sharing…
LUKE: You know that art has totally died out. It was not passed on generation-wise.
SN: The art of taping?
LUKE: People who show up to tape are in their late 30s early 40s. When we first started we’d have 50 tapers. This last tour I think we’ve had like 1 or 2 tapers per show. We have an open taper policy but it’s rarely used.
LUKE: Are you a Grateful Dead fan?
SN: There was a time when I was a Dead fan. I’m not quite old enough to have fully got on the Dead “bus” but I still really do appreciate some of those old albums, American Beauty/Workingmans Dead with the amazing songwriting.
LUKE: Are you more of a Phish guy?
SN: Yeah, I listen to Phish but lately I’ve been really just into listening to NPR and not really music at all.
Thank you so much for taking some time to talk to me. Have a great show and a great rest of the tour.
Many thanks to Luke and Lotus!!
