Since Lotus’ formation in the late ’90s, guitarist Mike Rempel has been both the group’s constant force and its best kept secret. Rempel helped found the group at Goshen College in 1999 and grew with Lotus as its stylistic palette expanded from jammy grooves to include a range of indie, rock and, most importantly, electronic sounds. While Lotus’ songs are primarily written by twin brothers Jesse and Luke Miller, Rempel has been able to add his stamp to the group’s rapidly maturing compositions thanks to his distinctive spiraling guitar parts. Following the departure of original drummer Steve Clemens in 2009 and percussionist Chuck Morris’ recent hiatus, Rempel has also watched his band enter a new phase. Shortly before the release of Lotus’ new self-titled album, Rempel discussed the group’s evolution, their recent headlining gig at Red Rocks and what’s next for one of the jamband scene’s biggest recent success stories (For more on Lotus, be sure to read longtime Jambands.com contributor Benjy Eisen’s interview with the Millers and new drummer Mike Greenfield in the October/November issue of Relix).
It has been two years since Lotus released the EPS Oil on Glass/Feather on Wood and three years since you put out a studio album. Can you could start by giving us a little bit of background on when you first started working on Lotus and how your process this time around differed from 2008’s Hammerstrike.
The process of making an album is definitely spearheaded by the Millers, Luke and Jesse. They’re pretty much behind all of the compositions. Basically, they’ll write demos and send them to us. We’ll learn the material, show up to rehearsal, work on the material and record it. This time we recorded in all of these different cities. Since I live in Denver and Luke and Jesse live in Philly, we used all these different locations when we were recording together. At one point, we were all in Colorado for some shows and we actually set up in Luke and Jesse’s parents’ garage and recorded parts for the album. A lot of the parts were also done in Jesse and Luke’s home environment, though the majority was still done in a Philly studio.
It seems like we started recording a couple of years ago. I don’t know when our first studio session was, but for the most part the process has been writing down compositions in the studio, and Luke and Jesse have been the guys behind the scene doing a lot of the production work. I haven’t been really integral to the process of the creating of the album aside from putting time into the studio and putting my soul into what I can.
How much of Lotus was road-tested before the album came out?
All of the songs were definitely performed before the album came out. It seems like a majority of them were written and performed simultaneously. I think most of them were performed before we actually recorded them as well. We recorded quite a number of tracks this time around—far more than are actually on the album. That was the idea: to record a whole bunch of material and then select which tracks we can use to make the best album possible.
Did [new drummer] Mike Greenfield play drums throughout the album or were some of these tracks recorded with Steve and Chuck?
Greenfield was on the entire album and because our percussionist [Chuck] was on a hiatus [while he had his second child], he actually doesn’t appear on the album at all—but he’s coming back this fall.
It’s interesting that this is our self-titled album because we have been down a member. I think part of that process was wondering if he was returning or not, but it was pretty much finalized recently that he would be coming back. But a lot of work in terms of our album was done before we knew that.
With that in mind, why self-title this album?
I personally don’t have a reason for the album title being self-titled. That came from Luke and Jesse, who are more of the band leaders. I think they felt compelled to call it a self-titled album because they’ve come into their songwriting a little bit more. I feel they’re establishing a bit more depth and a distinctive style of songwriting that has become a little bit more solidified. And I think for them, that’s significant.
Though the Millers are Lotus’ band leaders, the band also feels like a collective. How has the band’s songwriting dynamic changed since you formed in 1999?
In the beginning of the band—while Luke and Jesse were doing more of the introduction of musical ideas—songwriting was much more of a collective effort. We were in the studio piecing songs together as a group. I felt I was more integral to that process, and I enjoyed that. That included a lot of the material on Nomad, and I feel like there were definitely distinctive songs within that album were a little more representative of all of our musical voices. I definitely enjoyed being a part of that.
But I think as the years went by and we moved to different cities, it became more practical for the Millers to be the ones writing. There was something about it that just worked, and I wasn’t stepping up to compose whole compositions, although that has been something I’ve been getting into recently—I hope to get some songs in the repertoire. But in terms of how their writing has evolved, I think they’ve just approached it in a way where they’re writing the music that they love. They went through a time period where they were writing more straight up rock and roll oriented songs, and I wasn’t into that as much. More recently, they’ve brought in a lot more of a electronic tone and that’s just more my style.
At times, in the past, they definitely introduced material that I wasn’t at all into or that I didn’t really want to play. But it grew on me. So, in a way, the whole [evolution] has made me trust their songwriting a little bit more. Even if I didn’t like it at first, they’re taking some creative steps and maybe risks that I wouldn’t have necessarily taken, and [those risks] worked. They are not afraid to try different styles.
In terms of your own playing, how has Lotus’ evolution influenced your guitar style? Do you find that you have been able to maintain your own approach as the band has progressed through these different styles?
I do feel like I’ve been able to maintain my style. I’ve played the same guitar for a long time and I think there’s something about the feeling of how I play where I can infuse my style into [the Millers’ songs]. I think that’s part of what makes the sound what it is.
It was really interesting: I had a couple of guests staying at my house this weekend when STS9 played Red Rocks. I was actually playing them a demo Luke wrote before I added my guitar part. My friend commented that it doesn’t sound like Lotus because it didn’t have my guitar part.
Another aspect of it, in terms of what they’ve written, it definitely has helped me grow as a guitar player. Luke writes guitar parts, but he’ll never write things that are in a style not typical of me. To learn those parts have definitely helped me expand as a player.
When Lotus debuted, people initially likened you to The Slip or Galactic before you moved in the livetronica direction. Who were some of the bands that you first bonded over and how did the group’s electronic side take shape?
Phish was definitely a focal point for all of us. We all love that band and listen to them all the time. They were a pillar for us in terms of our inspirations. We were also listening to bands like The Slip. Back in the day, they were doing a lot more improv music and had a jazzy, kind of funky style. Medeski, Martin & Wood was also a huge influence for us back then too.
I also live for bands like The Red Hot Chili Peppers, so I would say it was primarily an interest around funk and jamming. I feel like it was very typical of the jamband-style: we’d just play funky, dance-y, improv-type stuff.
[In terms of electronic music], some of my earliest memories were listening to The Orb back in ‘99. They definitely opened my eyes to that world. It’s interesting because in high school, when I started getting into jamband music, I lived for that. I loved Phish, and I just loved the sound of the possibilities that can happen when a band is improvising. And, throughout that time period as a teenager, I remember thinking how “shallow” electronic music was. In my mind, it was just a dude with a computer, programming stuff or whatever. I didn’t know how much talent or skill that takes. Then when I discovered The Orb in ’99, that changed everything. They created this music that was almost entirely electronic but didn’t feel shallow.
Though Lotus has blurred the lines between rock, jam, indie and electronic for years, Lotus feels like a definite step in the electronic direction. Was that a conscious decision or just a product of your studio environments?
It was definitely conscious. For a while, the Millers were listening to some of these great indie rock bands and they started writing material like that. I think in some ways the electronic style—even though the album is a definite evolution compared to anything we’ve done in the past— is more representative of our roots in terms of playing electronic dance music. After moving away from electronic dance music for a while, we are able to come back to it in a more evolved fashion.
The newest addition to the band is Mike Greenfield who joined in late 2009. How has his addition shaped the band’s sound?
I think Mike brought something that we really needed and mainly I’d describe that as a kind of fervor. He’s very active about playing music, and he’s very well-studied and a well-practiced drummer. His dedication to the musical process, just on a personal level, has given me a boost, and it’s given me a little more confidence in our sound. I think he’s helped us to become a little tighter in terms of our performances because he’s rock-solid. He’s holding that foundation of groove. His solidity in his playing has helped me focus on precisions as well. And I think his stage presence is great. It’s awesome to just look over at him and see him just smiling and having a blast every night. It’s a little bit of a change from our previous drummer.
If I heard the story correctly, he was actually the first guy you called when you needed a sub for the fall of 2009?
This worked out—it couldn’t have worked out anymore smoothly. I remembered we were gonna ask him, and I just felt lucky that he was going for it. I felt fortunate that he was ready and willing to take that step.
Earlier this summer Lotus headlined Red Rocks for the first time, which I am sure must have been a milestone as a Colorado resident…
Absolutely, for so many bands playing Red Rocks is the ultimate goal. Actually, when I was at STS9 this past weekend, I remember just thinking, “I played this place earlier this summer,” and here I was in the middle of the crowd. I couldn’t imagine a more beautiful venue. It’s just a powerful place and powerful things happen there. It was an interesting perspective to go back there for my first time since I played there. It sort of put it into perspective, like “I can’t believe that happened.”
I know you are very passionate about yoga. How often are you able to practice while you are on the road and how does yoga change your performance abilities?
Yoga is definitely a big focus in my life. In reality, it varies a lot from tour to tour how much I am able to do. From tour to tour, I’m literally practicing four or five days a week for an hour to 90-minutes—basically before every show. There have been times where I’ve been dedicated to a degree where I have practiced everyday, and I feel like it’s a very powerful practice. I feel like it’s a practice that nurtures the mind-body connection. So it very much lends itself to my centeredness on stage and maybe even more importantly my ability to relax because I just spent time earlier in the day on conscious breathing through movement. So if I can take that practice to the performance, to be in a very relaxed state while performing is essential because for me the creative process can’t happen if I’m fatigued or anxious internally. So for me, the primary thing is achieving that relaxed feeling on stage so the music can do what it wants to do.
Now that the album is out and Chuck is back in the fold, do you plan to record again anytime soon?
I don’t know in terms of album plans. It wouldn’t surprise me if we used some of the extra tracks from the studio sessions that are not on the album. It wouldn’t surprise me if we released them along the way, but I really don’t know the specific plans. It seems to me the main objective is just to hit the road and have fun. On a personal level I’m definitely going to be hitting a lot of songwriting myself and doing my best to start contributing in that way a little bit more. That’s actually a big part of why I moved recently. I lived with my girlfriend, and I feel like I needed to create time and space for me to focus on my career a little bit more. If all goes well, I’ll have some songs in the repertoire soon, and I think that’s going to help this whole thing to be a little more rewarding for me as well.
