Lotus is Robert Crosbie - singer, songwriter, musician, and producer. A prolific writer, he wrote his first song aged 11 and began recording music nearly 10 years ago. He wrote his first album aged 18, and 2 years ago set up his own home studio where he has since recorded a stunning amount of material - nearly 8 albums' worth.

Forming The Band
The story of the Lotus band began in July 1997, when Robert decided to record a demo of a song he had written a few weeks previously, "Sorry When You're Gone", in producer and ex-In Tua Nua drummer Paul Byrne's studio. Robert was satisfied with the resulting song (on which he played all the instruments) and decided to take things one step further and record about 6 songs for a CD. Over the next few months, himself and Paul recorded together, with Paul on drums and Robert playing everything else. The sessions were fairly spread out, mostly taking place every 3 weeks or so until the final song, "There's No Pretending" was finished in December. The CD was mastered and cut, Robert using an old photo for the front cover, and a shot of himself taken by his brother on the back. Now that he had a CD, he needed a band. 

Mark Lillis was a friend of Rob's from way back, and even had the same guitar teacher. They had played together in several teenage bands, but nothing had ever come out of them. Rob decided to rekindle their musical partnership by to convincing him to join up with him on guitar, as he knew Mark could play. Mark was very enthusiastic when he heard the CD, and quickly joined up, and they began to play together. 

The seeds had been sown. The plan was to get a bassist, a drummer and then start gigging and get signed, the usual plans of any new band. But a bass player was hard to find; it seemed like nobody played bass. A drummer was easier to locate, though; coming in the form of Johnny Lappin, a friend of Mark's. Soon it became apparent that a bass player was not going to turn up at their door, so Mark graciously took the responsibility, simply to get going. And now the band had began in earnest. 

It took a little while until they found a permanent place to play, but once they did they got cracking very quickly.

Mark was initially hesitant about his bass playing, but soon became quite adequate. Previously Robert had come up with his own bass lines, and Mark played these, along with his own on the newer songs, to great effect. His bass locked in perfectly with Johnny's drums, and the rhythm section was borne. 

Stirred on by all this, Robert wrote many new songs in a short time, and soon found himself arranging the songs on the spot with the band. Using this method the band spent many nights working hard in their rehearsal space (donated by Robert's father) until they built up a respectable set. 

A Live Act
In August 1998, the band played their first ever gig in the Bloody Stream in Howth, and it was a resounding success. Two more gigs there followed, until November when they played their most high-profile gig, supporing Dublin act the Plague Monkeys to a sold out Temple Bar Music Centre. The Mean Fiddler followed, and then the Tivoli theatre. This took them up to Christmas, and Lotus took a well deserved break.

After the success of the gigs, it looked like the band were going places. However, this was not to be. On the eve of a possible breakthrough (a place in the final of the Bacardi Unplugged Band of the Year competition), bassist Mark Lillis left the group in February 1999. His main reason stemmed back to the fact that he was a guitarist, not a bassist, and also wished to play his own songs on guitar. Lotus was vey much Robert's band, and Mark felt he would be better off playing elsewhere.

Going Solo
This decision was very much the end for the Lotus group. Rob and Johnny planned to get a new bassist and continue the group, possibly even adding a keyboard player and second guitarist, but new members were hard to come by; and those that did audition did not pass muster.

Rob decided to break up the group. However, he also wanted to keep using the name Lotus, as he was sure he would get another line up in the future. As it was, Lotus meant more to him than just a band name - it was something he was aiming towards his whole life.

The next logical step was recording. Ever since reading "The Complete Beatles Recording Sessions" by Mark Lewisohn, Rob was intrigued by the recording process. His previous experiences in the studio (in '94, '96 and '97) had wheted his appetite and now he wanted to do more. Old friend and supporter Paul Byrne graciously donated some recording equipment, and before long, Robert had his own top range studio.

The music came - it took a while, but soon Robert got into his stride in the studio and started making good recordings. A new mixing desk and a proper bass guitar completed the picture and soon he was able to get the sounds he was hearing in his head onto tape.

The Lotus Albums
The 8 Lotus albums took shape over the years. The first of these, "Ballet Dancer" (written 1993 - 1994) is complete, as is "Lotus" (written 1996 - 1998). These two albums are quite different. "Ballet Dancer" is innovative and surprising, and contains the most emotive songs of all the albums; "Lotus" leans more towards traditional rock and contains most of the songs the band played live.

Following these come "Chasing The Sun" (written 1994 - 1997) and "Faithful In Your Heart" (written 1995 - 1997). These two albums develop the sound of the 2^nd album but feature stronger songs and are probably the most cohesive sounding Lotus albums. The 5^th album, "Secret" (written 1998), is a departure, featuring off-beat songs and unusual arrangements. More experimental than the previous two, it still fits in perfectly with the development of Lotus' music.

After "Secret" comes "Radiate" (written 1999), a mixture of the rock of "Lotus" with the experiments of "Secret". Following this is "Painted In The Sky" (written 1999 - 2000) which is probably the best of the later style Lotus albums. Every song on "Painted" is a highlight.

The 8 ^th album is "Just Another Universe" (written 2000 - 2001), and is another step forward. Although it harks back to the originality of "Ballet Dancer", it features some amazing songs and incredible performances. "Universe" displays many new styles of songs and different genres are represented. This album is fully recorded and represents Robert at the peak of his powers.

The Future
Whether these albums will ever be officially released is unknown; what is clear is that as soon as they are all fully recorded Robert intends to find some method of distribution to his CDs out there. Gigs are not out of the question either; in fact Robert is planning some acoustic gigs to try out his new material.

All in all the future looks bright for Robert and Lotus. Soon people will be able to hear his music on a bigger scale, and he will get the acclaim he has long deserved.

(written by Tanya Mastin)