by Chris Barnes
May 20, 2003

The Lotus Eaters grabbed my attention from a one sheet/ad placed in a record distribution magazine. I ordered it because Stephen O'Malley's name was on it and because Stephen O'Malley intrigues me both as an artist and a musician. Joining forces with him were two other notables. James Plotkin (Khanate, Phantomsmasher, etc) and Aaron Turner (Isis, Old Man Gloom, etc). I figured with that kind of collaboration, Lotus Eaters must have some merit. And it did. The Lotus Eater sound is almost indefinable but it's most certainly ambitious and engaging. Hellride talks to Stephen about the Lotus Eater experience.



Hellride Music: Stephen, last time we talked...or typed... was just after the release of the Khanate debut. Since then it seems you've been involved with several projects, one in particular being Lotus Eaters with Aaron Turner and James Plotkin on Neurot Recordings. Can you give us the story behind this project?

Stephen O'Malley: Lotus Eaters was formed around the same time KHANATE birthed, in late 2000. So they are sort of twin projects to me. Both were started with James Plotkin and both have expanded my own musical perception, and how to make music, although in far different ways. LE came about as an ongoing conversation between Aaron Turner and I, the mutual desire to work together in that format. James entered the picture for both of us at the same time, in 2000, and naturally became involved. It's been a lot of fun.

Hellride Music: What is the chemistry like between you three?

Stephen: LE is very much about stream-of-thought creation of music. Holing us up in an environment for a few days and evoking the foundational material and ideas, which will then be distilled over the course of coming time into the finished material. The chemistry is very easy between us, and it's good to work together like this. It frees up my mind, and probably does for the other two, to have this sort of interlude between efforts with more structural musical endeavors once in a while.
Hellride Music: The Lotus Eaters are unique... it's a mixture of calming and threatening soundscapes, at least for this listener. This is your collective art - what reaction and/or judgment did the band want to garner from the listener? Or was this even an intent when composing? Is it more a catharsis for the band then having an eye on what the end listener will think?

Stephen: I think, in this case more than any other I have been involved, the listener's impression has been almost nothing on the radar of composition. In fact, I was pretty confused when hearing ANY reactions of the titles, and still am quite amused by how people express their mind's eye perspective of the LE work.

Hellride Music: Each time I hear an O'Malley project, my mind goes back to meeting Martin Bisi who produced Sonic Youth, Cop Shoot Cop, Swans, etc. I was in the exact studio and rehearsal space where you droned (and I mean that literally) him out of the studio, holding his ears. I imagine the sessions that led to the new album Mind Control For Infants were less invasive given the nature of the music. I could be wrong though. Take us through the composing process with you, Aaron and James.

Stephen: Well, it wasn't that dramatic, honestly, when it came to Bisi, but a good way to tell the story. LE has existed 80% in an orange room at the house of low culture in Boston, holed up with headphones, feeding off of instincts and following the thread/chords, which reveal themselves once you get "rolling". The other 20% exist as field recordings; we either have captured individually or collectively outdoors, or one session in a studio in Gloucester, MA (which James was not present). Generally, general direction is suggested by Aaron or I and we start there. James has more of a back end approach with mixing and charisma/externalizing foundational matters we have created. Production is his specialty after all.

Hellride Music: There is a fair amount of use of acoustic instruments used in the Lotus Eaters. Is this something that you'd only use with the Lotus Eaters vs. your other projects?

Stephen: Not specifically. SUNN O))) has talked about making an album of all acoustic instruments; in fact that was the original outline for WHITE. It obviously went off on its own once it was started. I enjoy a lot of different sounds of acoustic instruments, particularly string sounds and resonation, and when playing these instruments realize that there is so much more possible out of the foundations. It's elemental, at least form the point of coming from an addiction to amplification and electricity.

Hellride Music: Track 3 of the album scares the piss out of me, although I'm not exactly sure why. How was that drum sound... if that's what it is.... captured to make it resonate like that?

Stephen: It's not a drum, but a field recording of grain silos Aaron captured. He captured a heavenly stark openness one can only dream of.

Hellride Music: The layout of the CD booklet and backing is interesting. It definitely has that O'Malley touch, but up until this time I've never seen you use themes or colors that weren't somehow reminiscent of darkness. This one has calming, almost folk-art look to it, with a liberal use of photographs. The O'Malley-ian signature use of lines and circles is still there, but again, given the tone it projects a much lighter overall feeling. To me anyway. Tell us about the work.... what did you want to get across to the viewer and how would you as the artist compare it to your other works?

Stephen:This was one of the more enjoyable designs to work on, primarily because all of the LE work visually so far has been collaboration between Aaron and I. In this case the direction was to include photos of relatives from 2 generations ago, to emphasize the time transcending nature of the LE sound. The feeling we are trying to get across is a trans-generational, or more simply older one. Archaic even, or at least weathered.

Hellride Music: Because stuff like Lotus Eaters, Khanate, Sunn 0))), etc are so far removed from the mainstream, there are a fair number of people out there who don't understand a lot of what you do, and probably won't get the Lotus Eaters project either. How do you address those you don't understand? Does it have any bearing on you as an artist or musician?

Stephen: I guess the most direct way I address this issue is by working a day job to support these endeavors and trying to continue progression on a personal level, rather than a critical one. I think overall this is more beneficial than a commercially successful effort, at least rhetorically. Otherwise, it's been somewhat pleasant to see SUNN O))) crisscrossing into some other ears recently, more in an electronic/electro acoustic area most notably. However, if you look at the fact that this is a more commercially viable crowd, then you really see how detracted the music we do is.

Hellride Music: Thanks for your time, Stephen. Is there anything else you'd like to add?

Stephen: Thanks for the time and the support. I have a new website up now at www.ideologic.org which should be a good place to get news and history about my music, design and etc in the coming times.





Read the Hellride Music review of Mind Control for Infants

Visit Stephen O'Malley's website at www.ideologic.org