Electronic band Lotus continues The Gilded Age Tour with a stop in Milwaukee this Saturday at Turner Hall Ballroom. The concert begins at 8:30 p.m. with guest artist, Turbo Suit.
The 2015 tour has the band traveling from coast to coast, which will be one of its most extensive tours. According to the press release, it has been two years since Lotus has done a full U.S. tour. Lotus’ musicians include drummer Mike Greenfield, bassist Jesse Miller, guitarists Luke Miller and Mike Rempel and percussionist Chuck Morris. Luke Miller and Greenfield began playing together in the beginning of college and the band expanded from there by playing a few shows.
The tour focuses on Lotus’ newest album, “Gilded Age.” It was released in July 2014 and features six rock-centric tracks and four “down-tempo” electronic remixes. The touring set list also highlights the 10th anniversary of the group’s debut album, “Nomad.” The band released a re-mastered version in December to celebrate.
“’Gilded Age’ is more influenced by rock and roll,” Miller said. “It is less dance-oriented and also includes four remixed tracks by producers who took different spins on the tracks.”
Lotus’ music type is difficult to categorize. The band has been working to find a suitable genre since its origin. It has been influenced by many different genres including rock, electronica, jazz, jam, funk and hip-hop.
“We try not to categorize our music but early on we saw that our strength was more in our playing instead of singing, so we started going more instrumental with our music,” Miller said. “We do like to bring in guest singers to work with us where we write music for them, but it is not something we always do.”
Miller went into detail about the inspirations for the band’s music.
“Our music comes from many different place and influences, such as rock, electronic or classic minimalism, even from different cultures with some African and Latin music,” Miller said. “We take a sound, groove on it, and then expand upon it to make it our own.”
With a tour that allows the band to travel across the nation, opportunities to gain popularity continue with more shows and overseas travel after the tour. Lotus will play in Charlottesville, VA with a two-day event featuring electronic group, New Deal. Miller described it as a “group that has helped in bringing electronic music into the live realm of performances.” Lotus will also travel to both Hawaii and Japan for shows this year.
Though the band is staying busy this year, all of the musicians are excited to revisit Milwaukee.
“We’re excited to play in Turner Hall again. The show is almost sold out for this weekend, so there should be a lot of energy from the crowd,” Miller said.
With only two weeks left in its national tour, Lotus looks forward to its future musical endeavors, which include finishing up its next album. The release date is unknown but is in the works for Lotus fans.
