L'Dog!

L'Dog!
Originally uploaded by Anantya.

What is Lotus Dog?



Lotus Dog is a rock-tronic music project led by brother and sister

song-writing team TSO and Jolie. Closer to a community than a band,

Lotus Dog's debut release features more than two dozen guest musicians

and contributors, from Afghan tabla player / vocalist Tameem to Oakland

rappers The Conscious Daughters.



Combined with Jolie’s heart-felt vocals and TSO’s avant garde

production style, this rich assortment of musical elements results in

an unusual blend of rock, electronic, and hip-hop flavors. Lotus Dog

defies convention with hip-rock-tronic music that tells their story

with few rules, and few boundaries. Guitars, drums, electronic loops

and effects, and a myriad of exotic and orchestral instruments are

utilized - varying in mood from aggressive and driving to melancholy

and atmospheric.



But it’s the lyrics that most define the intent of Lotus Dog. “Each

song is a prayer,” says lead singer/songwriter Jolie. “We wanted to

look as deeply and earnestly as possible at the human experience

including our relationship to Creation itself.” Not inspirational or

spiritual music per se, Lotus Dog is more an experiment in the

reflection, integration, and transcendence of spiritual views.



Another important, if somewhat audacious goal of the Lotus Dog project

is to convey a depth of philosophical significance without compromising

quality and style. In other words, we want to create music that is both

deeply meaningful and fun at the same time. Music that takes

responsibility for contributing something of value to human

consciousness, without being self-righteous. The lotus symbolizes the

innate desire for wisdom and wholeness, while the dog symbolizes

playfulness, mischief, and unconditional love.



Taken as a whole, much of today's media is a chaos of fragmented

motives, beliefs, sensationalism, and cynicism, which seems only to

aggravate the compounding crises we face as a planetary civilization.

Given this dilemma, the age-old capacity of art to unify human beings

on a heart and soul level - above ideology and dogma - becomes vital.

Only attempts to contextualize the noise, rather than overpower it, can

ultimately spur the predominance of our better nature. This attempt is

the essence of Lotus Dog.



Thank you for listening!