Jesse Miller
Philadelphia, PA
Lotus – www.lotusvibes.com
Octave Cat – www.facebook.com/OctaveCat
Beard-o-Bees – www.facebook.com/Beard.o.Bees
Photo by Mike Ryan
How long have you been a musician? How did you get into it in the first place?
My folks had me in piano lessons when I was young. I think I did that for 5 or 6 years. It did give me a head start on reading music, music theory and basic keyboard skills. In high school, I started a band with my friends and that’s when I first started playing bass. In college, I studied composition while we were getting Lotus started.
Who have been some of your major musical influences, past or present?
Talking Heads, Herbie Hancock (Headhunters, Thrust, Man-child), Steve Reich, Philip Glass, Television, Kraftwork, Dungen, Four Tet, Underworld, Charles Mingus, The Clash, Tortoise, Neon Indian, Neil Young, Spoon.
What drew you to using pedals initially? Have you been using them throughout your playing career? How have pedals helped to shape your sound, or influence the style that you’ve created?
When Lotus was starting to draw on electronic influences I wanted to be able to produce more synth-like tones on the bass. That’s when I started testing different pedals.
What’s your current setup look like? Take us through your pedal rig (feel free to include amps and instruments as well if you’d like):
I’ve stripped it down over time and now my pedal board has remained pretty much the same for a few years. I use an A-B-C selector to route input.
A – bass guitar (Fender Jazz Mexican 5-string with Lindy Fralin handwound pickups – played with a graphite pick)
B – synth bass (sample sets I’ve made of analog synths driven by Ableton Live)
C – Moog Slim Phatty, Boss Octave pedal (either OC-2 or OC-3), TS9DX Turbo Tube Screamer, Moog Lowpass Filter, Ernie Ball Volume Pedal, Boss DD-5 Digital Delay, Avalon U5 for DI output, Eden Traveler 400-watt head (sounds much better than 800-watt versions in my opinion), 1×15 Ampeg cabinet, 4×10 Gallien-Krueger cabinet.
I also use a Behringer FCB1010 foot pedal to trigger samples in Ableton Live.
I’ve channelled my techie/nerd obsessions into modular synth and old analog keyboards over the last few years. So, not a lot of new pedals, but I keep needing new Eurorack cases.
Favorite type of pedal (drive, delay, fuzz, etc. – more than one answer is always acceptable!):
Tape delays (if you can count that as a pedal). I love using a Fulltone Tube Tape Echo and Roland Space Echo while recording and mixing. They have so much character, even with the delay completely off.
You’re stranded on a desert island – which three (3) of the following do you want to have?
Instruments: I’ve been playing the same crappy Mexican Fender Jazz Bass for so long. It has action about 4 times higher than most other basses and it is pretty beat up, but I think it sounds great.
Amps: If I never have to move it and it never breaks I’d take a late 70s Ampeg SVT head. They overdrive perfectly.
Pedals: Moog Low-Pass filter – on a good PA I can use this to manipulate how the bass hits the subs in ways that brings a whole new dynamic to a bass line.
What’s up next for you/your band(s)?
Lotus has a few tour dates this fall – 10/28-29 Buffalo, 11/4-5 Chicago, 11/25-26 NYC. In between I’ll be writing new music and patching modular synths.
The Klon hype: Love it or Hate it?
I wouldn’t get one for myself, but I love listening to Nels Cline play through his, so I’m on board.
Any last comments, promos or anything you’d like to talk about?
Go see live music! Live shows are the primary engine driving bands to be creative and work hard.
Thanks so much to Jesse for taking the time to answer some questions! Make sure to go check out www.lotusvibes.com, and check their tour page to see when they’re headed to a town near you! Cheers!
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