Real honest music is what Lucas Rotman offers to music fans who enjoy great indie music. Rotman sings with a certain level of passion and heart that makes his music a sure win. In this spotlight with Rotman, the singer/songwriter expounds on his music and his musical journey that his led him to where he is at now.
Isaac: It’s an amazing time to be a DIY artist/performer/band/musician. What do you enjoy the most about being an indie performer?
Lucas: The opportunity to express what's inside and to play with some really great people who share a common love of music, regardless of what is or is not happening in the music industry.
Isaac: If you had an opportunity to sign with a major label, would you sign now knowing you may have to give up some of what you have build up over the years about you in the process?
Lucas: That sort of thing really doesn't exist for people like me--My music is too personal, intimate and I don't really have an interest in that sort of thing. For me, it's about creating a musical community and doing what I love to do.
Isaac: I remembered Simon Cowell from American Idol talking about the “it” Factor that makes a musician/band stand out. What do you think is your “it” factor that makes you stand out from others in the music business?
Lucas: People like Simon Cowell know next to nothing about music or songwriting. The "it factor" to people who watch and promote programs like American Idol is the opposite of what indie artists do, which is to create real music and to write their own songs. While I do not claim to have whatever "it" is, I know that what does it for me, is when an artist is really communicating with honesty and authenticity, rather than trying to create some illusive "image" of themselves for commercial exposure.
Isaac: Why should music fans listen to your music? Describe what they are going to get when they listen to Lucas Rotman?
Lucas: Seems that people are actually pretty hungry to hear music that comes out of people's lived experience, since our airwaves are glutted with sounds we have little control over. My songs are personal and introspective, but speak to wider and more universal issues and themes (justice, peace, mortality, love and loss) that we all go through as human beings. People who enjoy lyrical poetry and melodies that take you places will love what I do. My voice is not the kind you'll hear anywhere else nowadays.
Isaac: Briefly describe your humble beginnings that led you to where you are at musically now.
Lucas: I have been working as a full time elementary school teacher for the past 20 years in public schools. Music and songs have been an essential part of helping to reach and inspire kids to love and understand the world of language in all of its forms. I started playing guitar and singing as a way to create a community to learners in my classroom and to have fun! I first started writing my own songs as I began doing writing workshops in poetry with my 3rd graders one year, and together we actually wrote a few of my first songs! Inspired by my students, I began playing and writing on my own as I have been for the past 10 years or so.
I began playing in the subway at 96th Street in Manhattan after school, doing open mics in Brooklyn and then connected with the New and Used Songwriting collective run by the amazing performer and songwriter, Ruth Gerson, who ran the most amazing songwriting and performing workshops ever. Ruth helped to produce my CD "Where the Day Goes" and assisted me in learning how to book shows, form a band, and create my own unique sound and to play because I love to do it.
Isaac: You have some strong iconic influences. Of these influences, which artist/band do you relate to the most and why?
Lucas:I have been influenced by a wide variety of different musicians. Some of the people who stand out in my mind are Cat Stevens, George Harrison, Woody Gutherie, Joni Mitchell, Odetta, Phil Ochs, Billy Bragg, Nina Simone, Leadbetter, and Silvio Rodriguez. I have probably been just as influenced by my travels to various parts of the world at different times in my life as well as the wonderful and not so wonderful folks I've met along the way. Probably one of the biggest inspiration in my life was my dad, Seymour Rotman who was a talented, uncompromising visual artist who just passed away in May 2009.
Isaac: Do you feel that Indie music gets the respect it deserves? Why or why not?
Lucas: Yes and no. Promoters and music industry people still want the same thing, so they have no interest in artists that they don't deem commercially viable. That's old news and I expect no different. But indie means that the artist now doesn't have to exist under that umbrella. He/she has to get out there and find their own audience without the old tools of record labels and corporate executives (using the new tools like the internet). It requires a very different kind of commitment and a whole new breed of artist; one willing to do it all him/herself. This is great because an artist doesn't have to compromise their work (if they don't want to) for anyone. On the other hand, there is such a glut of material that it is almost impossible to filter through all of the information out there to find what you truly love.
Isaac: If you could change one thing about the music business, what would it be and why?
Lucas: I think the music industry changes itself based on what goes on in the wider world and will continue to do so. With our sliding economic trajectory, my sense is that things will get less centralized and there will be more space for local musicians working within and outside of their communities. My hope is that there will be more and more desire for music that is acoustic, authentic and that has an honesty lacking from corporate swill.
Isaac: What type of feedbacks have you been receiving about your music from fans and music critics?
Lucas: I haven't heard much from music critics, but people who come out to the shows enjoy our energy and enthusiasm. People have been coming back and bringing friends which are also terrific.
Isaac: If you knew that you would never gain fame and fortune with what you are doing now, would you continue to make music? Explain.
Lucas: I haven't given up my day job but I'm still here!
Isaac: How do you handle negative feedback or negative energy about your music?
Lucas: Lots of times, it's really not that negative, it just feels that way. The question is how do you use every experience, good or bad, to learn? Some of the harshest criticism actually ends up helping to push you in directions you never thought of going.
Isaac: What role do your family and friends play in the equation of your pursuant of a music career?
Lucas: Family and friends are the ones who play in the band, come to the shows, promote and spread the music. They are the most supportive fans!
Isaac: What is the best site/s that you can be found on the Internet?
Lucas: since I am just beginning as a song/writer (albeit a late start!), I'm just getting things together in that department. I have a website on MySpace and on Sonic Bids. Will have my own website soon...
Isaac: The floor is yours; final words…..
Lucas: Al proceeds of my CD sales and from my shows will be going towards the Litworld Organization which is doing amazing work all over the world to promote literacy. My wife and I were working this summer in Kenya for Litworld and it was an incredible experience. We were bringing books into the hands of kids who would not of had them otherwise and working with amazing teachers and kids at the Red Rose School in Kibera, Kenya. Isaac, thank you so much for this wonderful opportunity to chat. Good luck with your magazine!
Photo credit for BW3 goes to Kris St. Clair--The rest were taken by the band members.
