Interview With Lotus
Post-Rock From India
The post-rock band Lotus from Pune, India is aiming to push the envelope of genre-based music. The musicians intend to immerse their listeners in cascading waves of rhythmic groove and atmospheric guitars through an ocean of ambient harmonies. You can hear the influences of progressive rock, fusion, and electronic/ambient music in their sound.
The band consists of Siddharth Amarnath (Guitars) and Robert Alex (Bass/Guitar), who is already making headlines with his post-rock project aswekeepsearching. Recently vocalist Collin joined the band. Siddharth and Robert have been friends for a decade, and they have always been working on music together. Currently, they are working on a new album.
The EP "Emergence" is their first official release. I have talked to Siddharth about the record, their creative process, and their experiences.
Anne: Hi! How are you doing today? You told me that you've had some hard times in India during the Corona Crisis. Is it getting better?
"During the lockdown, we have been working on new songs"
Siddharth: We are doing alright, Anne! The Corona crisis here is on a steady rise with no realistic end in sight. We have hit an all-new high of daily reported cases, and the trend is rapidly increasing by the day. That being said, it’s good to see most people here in our neighbourhoods taking care and precautions, observing social distancing, and venturing out of the house only if needed.
Anne: You've been under a complete lockdown. How long did it take? How did you spend your time?
Robert: Our lockdown was put into effect on the 24th of March and is effective till the 31st of August. It has been a hard five months for a lot of people, owing to layoffs, pay cuts, and our entertainment industry coming to a complete halt now and for the foreseeable future affecting everyone involved in the performing arts. But the bright side of it is we’ve had more time to focus on creating music and content for our musical endeavours, and thankfully our time has been productively spent.
Anne: Now that you are back together again are you working in the studio?
"We are currently doing the mixing for our album"
Siddharth: Our primary focus right now is a full-length release. The recording process is done with and we are at the mixing stage right now, we expect to have it out early next year and we’re really excited.
Anne: Your music is very versatile. Pretty melodic and a flourishing mix of dark heavy and playful light parts. Does this mirror your moods and spirit?
Robert: We believe the moods and emotions captured and condensed into the songs mirrors the human mood and spirit, but it’s just the way we perceive it and emote into our music. Our understanding and reactions to situations, and our expression with dealing with the spectrum of emotions and situations we have faced.
Anne: Which mood stimulates your creativity more: sadness or happiness?
Siddharth: It’s a mixed bag.
"We are working on our songs separately and then put it all together"
Anne: Tell me a bit about your songwriting process. How do you start it? Are you making a plan and building it from scratch or are you more into big jam sessions and at some point the ideas are floating in?
Robert: Each of us has a basic recording setup at home, so the basic layout of the songs begins from there, the exchange of ideas over the internet. We work on each song that way and then meet and rehearse those ideas to get a better vibe of it all, then take it to the studio. I must say a lot of the ideas and sounds for layers are made at the time of recording when we’re all sitting together.
Anne: I am very much into flowers so your band name captivated me from first sight. It is regarded in many cultures as a symbol of enlightenment, purity, and regeneration. It is growing beautiful blossoms. Even in the darkest and muddiest water. I did meditate on that. Why did you decide to call yourself "Lotus"? Is there a story behind that?
"Our name 'Lotus' resonates perfectly with what we have in mind"
Robert: When Sid and I first got together and discussed what kind of music we wanted to make and what would the context be, it was to symbolize growth, purity, a sonic personification of the maturity and awareness we have gotten over the years, and the name Lotus resonate with us on all of those levels.
Anne: You've just released your first EP "Emergence". Tell me more about it.
Robert: Our plan initially was to release a full-length instrumental album, but we met up with Collin who now has joined us as a vocalist. We never intended to have vocals in our music. We happened to meet Collin at a mutual friend’s house and we made him hear a few of the recordings we had, having no idea that Collin was a vocalist. He just asked us to send him the songs, made a few demo takes on those, and sent it back to us, and we were floored. So we decided to release four songs instrumentally as an EP and then record the album with Collin.
Anne: I am fascinated by your way of combining several guitar parts. This is really powerful and I can't stop listening to it. Especially the song "Wither" is giving me goosebumps when listening to it. It doesn't sound like you are only two people! Do you want to tell me your secret?
"We are pretty much into layers"
Siddharth: The credit goes to a lot of the bands like Cloudkicker, Tycho, Tides of Man, and many more that we have been influenced by over the years. We were fascinated by the idea of simple subtle layers that can add a new and different dynamic to an existing part. We tend to go overboard with adding layers during the songwriting process which we eventually strip down bit by bit to just what the song needs.
Anne: Robert, you are also playing the bass guitar for aswekeepsearching (I've seen you live on stage at. Are or have you been involved in other projects you want to mention?
Robert: Each of us has had other projects in the past. have another ongoing post-rock project called aswekeepsearching and a modern metal band called Noiseware. Collin makes music under his own artist name.
Anne: Do you have any plans to come to Europe and play shows over here?
"We want to share our music with the world"
Siddharth: We hope to. We really really do. It is our dream to travel the world sharing our music with everyone we come across. Hopefully, once things normalize we can start planning and make things happen.
Anne: Can you imagine working together with other musicians?
Robert: Absolutely. We believe every musician has a unique flavour to add, and we hope to have many collaborations over the coming years.
"You will hear a lot more from us"
Anne: How is the music scene in India? Are you enjoying it? How did it evolve over the last few years?
Siddharth: The music scene is big but only in the Pop, Bollywood, and commercial realm. We have seen growth in the Independent music scene over the past ten years, but it has been slow and still has a lot of room to grow.
Anne: What are your plans for the future?
Robert: We want to release our new album early next year, and have already started working on bare-bone ideas for songs for later releases. We promise that you’ll be hearing a lot more from us.