![]() | This article includes a list of general references, but it lacks sufficient corresponding inline citations .(April 2023) |
Lotus | |
---|---|
![]() Lotus performing at Red Rocks in 2022 | |
Background information | |
Origin | Indiana, United States |
Genres |
|
Years active | 1999–present |
Labels |
|
Members |
|
Past members |
|
Website | lotusvibes |
Lotus is an instrumental electronic jam band formed in Goshen, Indiana in 1998 now based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania , and Denver, Colorado.
Lotus was formed at Goshen College in August 1998 by Steve Clemens, Luke Miller, Michael Rempel, Andy Parada, and Joel Jimenez, [2] with the first live show occurring on September 25, 1998. [3] The band's more permanent lineup coalesced in 1999. [4] After a few years of playing what they describe as "jamtronica", Lotus recruited percussionist Chuck Morris in 2001 and shifted their focus to instrumental music, taking inspiration from electronic musicians such as The Orb. [5] The band's first album, Vibes, a compilation of live performances from their 2001 tour, [6] was released in 2002, after which they signed to Harmonized Records, releasing a live album and two studio albums between 2003 and 2006. 2004's Nomad went to the top of the Home Grown Music Network charts and by the end of the year was the HGMN Best Seller. [7] It was also nominated for a "New Groove of the Year" Jammy award. [5] The album saw the band described by AllMusic as "an electronically inclined jazz-funk outfit", [8] with Glide magazine stating "Nomad exhibits Lotus' tight ability to blend shades of organic groove with elements of urban house". [9] The band's last album on Harmonized, The Strength of Weak Ties was described by PopMatters as "instrumentals that - for the most part - don't go anywhere, but occasionally pulling out something that is genuinely thrilling". [10] The band then signed to SCI Fidelity Records, debuting on the label with the live double album, Escaping Sargasso Sea, which was nominated for a Jammy award by Guitar Player magazine for "Best Live Album of 2007". [11] The album was described by Relix magazine as "sexy and sophisticated dance music, mature enough to be played in the club or the living room". [12] The band followed this with Copy/Paste/Repeat, an album of remixes of tracks from their previous two studio albums, by bands and producers including Lymbyc Systym, Juan Maclean, DJ Harry and Telepath. [5] [13] The album was positively received by PopMatters, who said "Copy/Paste/Repeat reinvents the jam band’s music as dance floor jams, with hip hop and trance-influenced beats and mind-warping electronic synth burbles". [14]
The album, Hammerstrike was released on SCI Fidelity in 2008 to positive reviews. [15] [16] [17] The band followed the album's release with a forty seven-date North American tour. [18] On Oct. 6, 2009 Lotus released a set of 2 EPs titled Oil on Glass/Feather on Wood featuring music recorded during the Hammerstrike sessions and 3 remixes of tracks from Hammerstrike. Before the band's 2009 fall tour, original drummer Steve Clemens left the band and was replaced by current drummer Mike Greenfield. The loss of Clemens triggered a gradual departure from the band's improvisational roots and a stylistic shift from organic electronica and jazz/funk fusion to electro-pop, indie rock and hip-hop.
The album Lotus was released on Sept. 13, 2011. The band recorded the album between December 2009 and October 2010 with Bill Moriarty in Philadelphia, with additional recordings made in the home studios of Jesse and Luke Miller and at various locations around the country. David Wrench mixed a number of the tracks, and a few tracks were mixed by Bill Moriarty, along with Jesse Miller and Luke Miller. The band released its first music video for Golden Ghost in August 2011. [19]
In addition to touring, Lotus headlines the Summerdance music festival at Nelson Ledges Quarry Park in Garrettsville, Ohio. The festival has been held since 2008. In 2021, following the global pandemic, Rempel left the group to focus on a wellness career. He was replaced by Tim Palmieri, who is known for his work in The Breakfast and Kung fu. [20]
The band announced the release of a new album, Bloom & Recede, which was released on August 26, 2022.
Chuck Morris and his son Charley were reported as missing in March 2023 after they disappeared while kayaking on Beaver Lake in Arkansas. [21] An extensive search effort was undertaken to find the Morrises, which was converted into a recovery effort on March 21. [22] [21] The bodies of Chuck and Charley Morris were discovered on April 9, 2023. [23]
Lotus is known for concerts with a complex light setup, [24] [25] and varying set lists that employ frequent group improvisation. Live concert recordings are collected on the site Nugs.net. The band has undertaken a number of tours and have performed at festivals including Jam on the River (Philadelphia, PA 2007,2008, 2014 and 2015), Wakarusa (KS 2005, 2006, 2007), Rothbury Music Festival in July 2008, 2009, 2013 and 2015, and All Good Music & Arts Festival 2010 and 2012 [26] The band played a concert in New York City in September 2008 in which the new album Hammerstrike was played in full. [27] They also played at the Summer Camp Music Festival in Chillicothe, IL in 2008, 2009, 2011, 2012, 2014, 2016, and 2019. Other festivals include All Good Festival, Outside Lands, Bonnaroo, Camp Bisco, Fuji Rock, [28] and Ultra.
Lotus has toured in Japan six times, performing at clubs and festivals including Fuji Rock, Metamorphose and Green Room Festival.
The band has performed several themed shows. On October 31, 2008, at the TLA in Philadelphia, the show was billed as "Live Fast Die Young: the 27 Conspiracy". Each of the five members dressed as a rock star who died at the age of 27 (Kurt Cobain, Jimi Hendrix, Brian Jones, Ron “Pigpen” McKernan, and Jim Morrison) and the show featured covers by each of the respective bands. On December 31, 2008, the band performed a show that included robot themed covers including Styx - "Mr. Roboto", Alan Parson's Project - "I Robot", Flaming Lips - "Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots: Part I", Radiohead - "Paranoid Android", and Daft Punk - "Robot Rock". On October 31, 2009, at Sonar in Baltimore, the Halloween show was presented as "Protein Pills in the Labyrinth". The band members dressed as different David Bowie characters (including Ziggy Stardust, Thin White Duke, and Jareth) and played "Under Pressure," "Fame," "I'm Afraid of Americans," "Space Oddity," "Let's Dance," "Rebel, Rebel" and "Suffragette City," along with original Lotus material. These David Bowie songs have occasionally appeared thereafter during the rest of the Fall 2009 tour. On February 22, 2010, at Schuba's in Chicago, the band's first of two sets focused on post-rock music featuring covers of Tortoise, Trans Am and This Will Destroy You along with Lotus's own post-rock compositions. On October 30, 2010, at the Roseland in Portland, Oregon, the band performed a Black Sabbath themed show. For the second set the band came on stage dressed as Black Sabbath and performed remixed versions of side A of the album Paranoid (War Pigs, Paranoid, Planet Caravan, Iron Man), celebrating 40 years since its release. On October 31, 2010, at the Showbox in Seattle, Washington, the band paid tribute to video game music. They performed versions of Pac-Man (Power Pills Remix), Contra (Jungle Theme), MegaMan2 (Dr. Wiley's Theme), Tetris theme and Zelda (Overworld and Underworld themes). On December 31, 2011, at Festival Pier in Philadelphia, Lotus nodded to some of the modern dance producers covering Daft Punk "Da Funk", Justice "Phantom Part II" and DeadMau5 "Ghosts 'n' Stuff". On October 29, 2016, at Town Ballroom in Buffalo, New York, the band played a Space Disco set. Jesse Miller used a Juno-106, Moog Minitaur and modular synth rack for the set focused on the space disco genre.
Lotus was featured on the cover of the tour industry's leading magazine in October 2008 Pollstar. [29]
Lotus opened the Summer 2021 concert series at the Red Rocks Amphitheater in Morrison, Colorado, on April 22, 2021. Their performance, the first of a four night series, marked the first major show at Red Rocks following the COVID-19 shutdown. Lotus has performed summer dance every year since they created it at Nelson ledges quarry park.
Expanding upon a wide range of styles and sounds, Lotus is considered a multi-genre band. The group incorporates elements of rock, electronica, jazz, jam, hip-hop, funk and other influences. [5] [8] [30] [31] The band originally played as a jamband that leaned heavily on the sounds of funk, rock and jazz and with improvisational styles similar to Phish, Allman Brothers and The Grateful Dead. [32] Jesse Miller said of the band's sound: "I truly believe Lotus' sound comes from the roots of rock 'n' roll mixed with electronic beats that are popular today. It took a long time for us to finally find a sound we all agreed on. But believe me, we experimented plenty before deciding what sound we were looking for". [33] Lotus has also been known to experiment with a diverse set of genres regularly incorporating hip-hop and dubstep sounds and samples into their live shows. [34]
Influenced heavily by the band's love for dance music and artists like The Orb, Aphex Twin, Kraftwerk, Talking Heads, Brian Eno, and Air the band's style has gravitated toward elements of the electronic genre while maintaining the foundation of jamrock. [5] [18] [35] [36]
Since 2006, the band has fused elements of progressive and post rock into their sound. Artists such as Trans Am, Tortoise, Broken Social Scene and Beck have influenced Lotus. [17]
Since 2020, the band has incorporated modular synth into their live show for composed and improvised, synth focused music.
Phish is an American rock band formed in Burlington, Vermont, in 1983. The band consists of guitarist Trey Anastasio, bassist Mike Gordon, drummer Jon Fishman, and keyboardist Page McConnell, all of whom perform vocals, with Anastasio being the lead vocalist. The band is known for their musical improvisation and jams during their concert performances and for their devoted fan following.
Moe is an American jam rock band, formed at the University at Buffalo in 1989. The band members are Rob Derhak, Al Schnier, Chuck Garvey, Vinnie Amico (drums), Jim Loughlin (percussion) and Nate Wilson (keyboard).
The String Cheese Incident (SCI) is an American jam band from Crested Butte and Telluride, Colorado, formed in 1993. The band is composed of Michael Kang, Michael Travis, Bill Nershi, Kyle Hollingsworth, and Keith Moseley, and, since 2004, Jason Hann.
The Disco Biscuits are an American jam band from Philadelphia. The band consists of Allen Aucoin (drums), Marc "Brownie" Brownstein, Jon "The Barber" Gutwillig, and Aron Magner. The band incorporates elements from a variety of musical genres with a base of electronic and rock. Their style has been described as trance fusion.
Gov't Mule is an American Southern rock jam band, formed in 1994 as a side project of the Allman Brothers Band by guitarist Warren Haynes and bassist Allen Woody. Fans often refer to Gov't Mule simply as Mule.
My Morning Jacket is an American rock band formed in Louisville, Kentucky, in 1998. The band consists of vocalist/guitarist Jim James, bassist Tom Blankenship, drummer Patrick Hallahan, guitarist Carl Broemel, and keyboardist Bo Koster. The band's sound, rooted in rock and country, is often experimental and psychedelic. The group amassed a following beginning in the 2000s in part due to their live performances.
Particle is an American jam band formed in Los Angeles in 2000.
RAQ are a psychedelic/progressive rock jam band quartet from Burlington, Vermont.
Railroad Earth is a bluegrass-influenced Americana band formed in Stillwater, New Jersey in 2001. The band's music combines elements of progressive bluegrass, folk, rock, country, jazz, Celtic and other Americana influences. Recognized as "carrying on the tradition of improvisational, genre-spanning music laid forth by the Grateful Dead," Railroad Earth is known for lyrical songwriting and extensive live improvisation. The band takes its name from the Jack Kerouac prose poem "October in the Railroad Earth". The band also has a song of the same name.
The Jammy Award is an awards show for bands - referred to as jam bands - and other artists associated with live, improvisational music, created by Dean Budnick and Peter Shapiro. The Jammys are sponsored by Relix magazine, Jambands.com, and Shapiro. The Jammy Awards returned in 2008 to the WAMU Theater at Madison Square Garden in New York City after taking a one-year break.
Future Rock is an electronic rock trio hailing from Chicago, Illinois. The band consists of Felix Moreno on bass guitar and synthesizer, Mickey Kellerman on keyboards and synthesizers, and Darren Heitz on drums. Future Rock mixes standard live rock instrumentation with electronics. The type of music is classified as electronica, but fuses elements of progressive house and dance-rock. Their music is often intense and quirky, yet very danceable.
Brothers Past are an indie-electronic band from Philadelphia that has been called "one of the most talked about independent acts in the nation." Since forming in 2000, the band has released three records and one EP, including the critically acclaimed This Feeling's Called Goodbye in 2005. The band has performed across the United States and Canada including appearances at Bonnaroo, SxSW, Wakarusa and Langerado. Brothers Past has been featured in Relix and their self-released albums have been reviewed in Urb Magazine, The Philadelphia Inquirer, Philadelphia Daily News and The Village Voice.
Nathan Moore is a United States-based folk music guitarist and singer-songwriter best known for being a founding member of both ThaMuseMeant and Surprise Me Mr. Davis. Moore has also released numerous solo albums on Frogville Records, an independent record company he co-founded with John Treadwell. A prolific songwriter, Moore has written over one thousand songs. In June 2008, Moore won the prestigious Telluride Bluegrass Festival Troubadour Competition, performing for 10,000 festival goers and winning a custom made guitar.
The Benevento/Russo Duo is an American alternative jazz/rock band from New York City, featuring Marco Benevento on keyboard instruments and Joe Russo on drums.
A jam band is a musical group whose concerts and live albums substantially feature improvisational "jamming." Typically, jam bands will play variations of pre-existing songs, extending them to improvise over chord patterns or rhythmic grooves. Jam bands are known for having a very fluid structure, playing long sets of music which often cross genre boundaries, varying their nightly setlists, and segueing from one song into another without a break.
Derek VanScoten, known professionally as Cloudchord, is an American music producer, multi-instrumentalist and electronic musician. Based in Austin, Texas, he has been actively releasing solo material since 2009. In 2011, under the moniker D.V.S*, he released an official remix of Break Science featuring Talib Kweli, and in 2012 he was a featured guitarist and co-producer on Michal Menert's album Even If It Isn't Right.
John Ginty is an American organist, keyboard player, and session musician. He was a founding member of Robert Randolph's "Family Band", and is often seen guesting with such jamband luminaries as the Allman Brothers, Santana, Govt. Mule, Bob Weir and Ratdog, Widespread Panic. In 2001 at the Roseland Ballroom in New York, Ginty was the recipient of the Jammy Award for best new band alongside his Family Bandmates. Ginty has spent a large portion of his career working with many top artist as a session musician.
The Motet is an American funk, soul and jazz influenced group based in Denver, Colorado. Founded in 1998 by drummer and bandleader Dave Watts, The Motet is Watts, guitarist Ryan Jalbert, bassist Garrett Sayers, keyboardist Joey Porter, saxophonist Drew Sayers and singer Sarah Clarke.
Ghost Light is a five-piece American jam band formed in 2017 by Tom Hamilton, Raina Mullen, Holly Bowling, Scotty Zwang, and Steve Lyons. Ghost Light's debut album, Best Kept Secrets, was named one of Glide's top 20 albums of 2019. Ghost Light has performed on major festival stages and in historic venues including Lockn' Festival, Jam Cruise, Electric Forest Festival, Mission Ballroom, Brooklyn Bowl, The Peach Music Festival and Terrapin Crossroads. Ghost Light toured as an opening act for Greensky Bluegrass in the winter of 2020.
Kasvot Växt: í rokk is a live album by American jam band Phish. It was released on music streaming services on November 9, 2018. It is a recording of the second set of their Halloween concert on October 31, 2018, at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Paradise, Nevada, in which the band performed music credited to "Kasvot Växt", a fictional Scandinavian progressive rock band. The ten songs played during this set were attributed to this band, and purported to appear on their 1981 album í rokk, but were in reality new original Phish songs, all of which have entered their live repertoire in varying capacities.