Celebrated electronic band makes a stop in Lowcountry

Hailing from the city of Brotherly Love, Lotus is one of the biggest names in the electronic music industry.

A four-piece instrumental group formed at Goshen College in Indiana in 2001, Lotus consists of Jesse Miller on bass and sampler, brother Luke Miller on guitar and keys, guitarist Mike Rempel, Chuck Morris on electronic/acoustic percussion, and Steve Clemens on drums.

Their sound has been compared to everyone from The Orb and Kraftwerk to Beck and the Talking Heads. Lotus claims its sound is quite unique in comparison with what they grew up on.

"Our influence comes from oldies, a lot of roots rock and some current not-so-popular rock," said Jesse Miller. "I've been listening to a lot of electronic music lately, but 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."

With their new album "Hammerstrike," Lotus is on the West Coast entertaining and filling up dance halls and medium-sized venues. "Hammerstrike" took two years to complete and was written mostly unanimously. It was produced, recorded, and mixed at the beginning of September 2007.

"My brother and I, Luke, pretty much developed a bunch of demos and brought them forward to the band," said Miller. "We took a part some of the pieces that didn't really sound right and then layered guitars, a sampler, and percussion over the basslines we produced and that's pretty much how Lotus creates the music we record." When it comes to describing their sound, Miller and the rest of Lotus can never agree on a definite genre.

"There's absolutely no given category for what we do," said Miller. "Some people say 'dance rock,' others will say a jam band with electronics. We definitely use electronics in most cases and improvise a good bit, but I don't like using the term 'jam band.' "

When it comes to seeing Lotus live, lights are just as essential as the noise. With their set lists, the lighting is utilized in harmony to each song. Lights are programmed to each measure, beat, and the most complicated aspect: their improvisation.

"With the lights we have and the late nights we play, more so at the festivals, we play til the wee hours of the morning," said Miller.

Most of their live shows can be heard online, because the amount of tapes they receive from fans that send in bootlegs. Their more prominent performances were at Farmapalooza, Wakurusa Festival Late Night Set, Rothbury Music Festival, and as of late, in New York where "Hammerstrike" was played in its entirety.

While to some extent recognizable in the jam band scene in the United States, Lotus is also known in Japan and Canada. When visiting Europe, the Lotus bassist was convinced Europeans were familiar with the style of music he brought across the sea.

"There's no sense of a jam band in Europe," said Miller. "All the Europeans we talk to came out saying, 'Wow, this is incredible. You guys are changing your set lists around and improv is something that doesn't exist in Europe at all.' "

Lotus will be performing small clubs and theaters around the country through the end of November. You can catch them Sunday at the Music Farm.

"Charleston's old, but great territory for us," said Miller. "We've played the Pour House several times, but this is our first at the Music Farm."

Miller expects the band to take part in bigger markets in hopes of increasing sales for the new album.

"I think that next year we're going to see that the band is a top choice for a lot bands for packaging and a top choice for a lot of festival talent buyers given the success we're having nationally."