Pune based Lotus is an instrumental band that aims to create a unique experience for listeners by immersing them in waves of rhythmic grooves and atmospheric guitars through an ocean of ambient harmonies. With the release of their latest single ‘Wither’, Lotus has tried to push the envelope of genre based music, by fusing rock, prog, post-rock & electronic music to create an sonic experience like no other. The band is set to release an EP next month which will be called “Emergence”.
We spoke to the members of the band, Bob Alex (also part of Aswekeepsearching) and Siddharth Amarnath about their song writing process, what their album might look like when it drops later this year and much more.
1. What’s the significance of the name Lotus? How did the band come together?
Bob – There are two sides to look at why we named the band Lotus. First would be that we generally love appreciating the simple things, taking inspiration from our everyday life. Second would be that we are of the belief that in terms of creation, making music that is simple and unique, is often not a simple process. There was something about the Lotus that really resonated with us at both of those levels, hence the name.
2. Lotus has been around for a while but you have not been very active, what’s the reason behind this?
Bob – The idea with this project is simply to make music we love. Throughout, it has just been Siddharth and I writing music. Finding like minded people to take this project live was becoming a task, so we simply focused on writing music. It is a passion project, so we don’t see a need to push ourselves to achieve milestones within a certain timeframe, the main objective is to release good quality music, and we’re prepared to take as much time needed to achieve that. That is, until Lotus becomes a live performing project, which is where the dynamic changes.
3. What has your song writing and recording process been like for the upcoming EP?
Sid : Bob and myself started jamming around with very simple riffs and came up with around 5 ideas that we felt were solid. Both of us originally come from a progressive metal/death metal style of playing guitar, but over time we’ve both been listening to different styles of music ranging from Post-rock, Ambient soundscapes and electronic music, and we wanted to create music which truly reflected our influences, both past and present.
We entered the studio with Shubham Gurung as our producer and it has and continues to be a brilliant experience collaborating with him. Together we fleshed out those ideas into full blown songs. Everything from recording guitars, bass, keys and drums has been a seamless experience with a certain spontaneity and direction that wasn’t “forced” upon. This has been a true team effort and we cant wait for you to check it out.
4. Tell us a bit about your upcoming album, that is due to release later this year. What can we except from it?
Sid – Our upcoming album is like a box of assorted chocolates, we have literally something for all types of listeners, be it rock, electronic, ambient, post rock and metal. We hope listeners can emotionally connect with each song. Its music from the heart, straightforward and uplifting.
You should also expect a few surprises when the album is released. Maybe we might drop the description of being an instrumental project. 😉
5. Tell us a bit about the concept behind your videos and how they are contemporary to the music?
Sid – Each song evokes a particular theme and message, primarily because they reflect the band’s state of mind while writing them. We all go through change and have a hard time accepting reality around us, sometimes having hints of anxiety, depression and eventually letting go of the past while embracing what lies ahead and growing into your own shoes. We have tried to capture that feeling in our music and the videos emote that vibe in a generic way, so that the listener can interpret as per their experiences.
Speaking specifically about each video, Castles emotes creation & chaos and the video symbolizes it with visuals showcasing right from the smallest and seemingly normal elements of our environment to the expanse of outer space. Vision on the other hand, shows us that we need to embrace this chaos and accept it. Wither on the other hand emotes departure of life and the realization that things die and people go away.
6. Tell us a little about your musical influences and what drives you as a band.
Bob : We grew up to rock and metal. Over time we got into different sub genres, and we started enjoying other genres as well. If you open our playlists on our phones, you’ll see a lot of Pop, funk, electronic, ambient artists on there, aside whatever we have been listening to over the past decade. Our upcoming album will be evident that as of today we are influenced by Rock, metal, post rock/ambient/shoegaze, electronic, music. We believe that one can get inspired by almost anything that connects with you. Even something as simple as the OST of a movie or show you really like.
