GTG: How did you come up with the name Dead Lotus Society?
Hyatt(Vocals): The Dead Lotus Society is in reference to a group coming together to find enlightenment in embracing the trials and tribulations thrown at us. The lotus in itself is a symbol of enlightenment and you can chose to become lost in the mysteries of the universe or find a path. In The Odyssey, the Lotophagi consumed seeds of the blue lotus to enter a state of enlightened apathy. However, this is not what I mean when I ask people to become a "lotus eater". Rather, I like to encourage our listeners to walk a different path of enlightenment by finding a new level of thought and strength through embracing the trials and tribulations that define our lives. In a way, they are consuming the DEAD lotus, rather than the one mentioned in The Odyssey.
GTG: What was your main inspiration to form a band and get into music?
Hyatt (Vocals): As a little girl, I remember walking into my older sister's room after she got her first CD player and hearing Nirvana blaring. My mother hated her music for the longest time and they battled it out. As I got older, I would secretly listen to her CDs from Anthrax to Hole, imagining I could someday shed my proverbial skin and connect to the audience. Though I would often stare off into the countryside in the back seat of my mother's truck and dream of playing festivals in the open fields, I had horrible self-esteem and did little to pursue said dream due to the sheer implausibility of ever fully supporting myself with music (or so teachers told me). However, I kept singing and eventually discovered the cathartic effect of screaming and roaring through artists like Fear Factory, Kittie and Dir En Grey. In my car, I could find solace in blaring my CDs and pretending I was Shirley Manson or Kathleen Hanna from Bikini Kill. One day, I forgot Dmitri was in the car and he heard me belting out a mighty scream. He then asked me to form a band and I kept refusing him. On a random Thursday night, he called me with a friend at 3:00 a.m. and asked me to be in the band. Not thinking, I told him, "Yeah, sure, whatever." The next day, I was greeted to a recording of our agreement. I'm sure I could have gotten out of it, but part of me wanted to defy the odds and acknowledge my childhood dream. Anyways, here we are because of trickery and dreams.
Dmitri (GUITARS): Hyatt. I had tried to put bands together in the past to no avail but when I heard her scream for the first time I decided to manifest a project with her as the leader.
Charlie (DRUMS): I've always admired other musicians and watching them perform since I was a kid. Once I realized I could do it myself, the rest was history.
GTG: Tell me about the song you entered into the contest and why you chose that song.
Hyatt(Vocals): "Greenwood" is a layer cake of duality, both in style and lyrical content. There is a lot of singing and clean vocals, but the song still retains our inherent underlying chaotic and beautiful brutality. On the first level, you have a song about aggression boiling to the surface of a victim that results in lashing out against the abuser. The next level or angle you can look at it from is paranoia and survival. More levels follow, with one of course being my own personal story. As you pull away each layer, it is the band's belief that the listener finds themselves in their own introspective journey. Perhaps you'll find mine, or perhaps you’ll find your own? Regardless, the journey remains.
Dmitri(GUITARS): "Greenwood" is about perceptions of strife and perpetual alienation on a very personal level, while also touching on issues of spiritual retribution.
Charlie (DRUMS): "Greenwood" really allows our diversity of influences to come through, so we figured it was a good choice.
GTG: Which bands do you have the most respect for in the industry and which do you think have influenced your style of music?
Hyatt(Vocals): While many are quick to assume that I've been most influenced by OTEP and Kittie, my musical styling has been most influenced by Japanese band, Dir en Grey, and the great female acts of Jack Off Jill, Shirley Manson, Janis Joplin and Bikini Kill. I have spent hours listening to the deranged vocals of Kyo from Dir en Grey to comprehend his vocal manipulations. Regarding the bands and musicians that I have the most respect for in the industry, it is women like Angela Gossow of Arch Enemy and Joan Jett that remind me to keep treading the territory of male dominated genres. Women of the Riot Grrrl movement remind me to keep my music intelligent and with a purpose of reform in areas like domestic violence, rape, and gender. These women have continued to push the gender boundaries and roles of the industry and I will forever respect them.
Dmitri(GUITARS): I have respect for bands like Animals as Leaders that continually break boundaries and redefine the very concept of style, let alone, music itself. As for influences, they go all over the place from Death, Abigor, Morbid Angel, Fear Factory, Rachmaninoff, Chopin, Wagner, Bach, Devin Townsend, The Faceless to crack-pop, disco, and death-step.
Charlie (DRUMS): I've always admired Buddy Rich. I've also been greatly inspired by Chris Penny and Brann Dailor. I try and draw a little bit from the each of them, and then mash it up to create something of my own.
GTG: What would you say to Don Was if he were sitting next to you?
Dmitri(GUITARS): I would probably ask about his considerations on gothic architecture and whether or not it it's necessarily appropriate in the modern societies reflections of past music.
Hyatt(Vocals): Mr. Was, you've worked with groundbreaking female artists over the years like Carly Simon, Jill Sobule and Bonnie Raitt... The Dead Lotus Society may not be the usual genre you work with (nor one where women are prominent), but how about adding one more female fronted act to your discography this year?
Charlie(DRUMS): How 'bout them Broncos?
GTG: Can you tell us something interesting about yourself that your fans would never know about?
Hyatt(Vocals): It's been mentioned in one other interview, but I am a legal scholar. I'm working on several legal papers to potentially be published this years on topics ranging from transgender rights to cyber terrorism on the internet. When I grow up, I want to be a Rockstar-Power Ranger-Lawyer.
Dmitri (GUITARS): Many know that I was a sushi chef, however few know that I perceive taste as shape.
Charlie(DRUMS): I'm a pretty damn good musician, as well as a drummer. I've been known to rock a shreddin' guitar, groove a funky bass, and belch out a tune here and there.
GTG: What keeps you dedicated to this industry when facing tough competition/rejection/major obstacles? (Basically, what keeps you going and dedicated?)
Dmitri(GUITARS): Censored.
Charlie (DRUMS): The feeling.
Hyatt(Vocals): Really? You guys are giving one-liners? Blah, well, anyways! What keeps me going, and I'd like to assume keeps the rest of the band going, is lots of caffeine. Okay, seriously? Knowing that I've reached at least one fan and that the number keeps growing. I've had several shows where some young person in the audience has come up to me and lifted up their sleeves to show ancient scars. They've told me that they have never seen or felt someone so accurately embody their past strife and current confrontation with their past. In turn, they aren't afraid to show the scars because they know there is someone else that has had them and is learning to find strength in those tribulations. Channeling the muse, sharing the human experience and helping at least one person move forward through sound is what keeps me from becoming another suit in a cubicle.
Thanks for talking to us guys! To all of the Dead Lotus Society fans: don't forget to vote on Gimme The Gig!!
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