Lucas and the Melodic Miners

Interview (10/14/10):

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 don't 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, 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 past 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 t - Junior's Cave Online magazine, Isaac Davis Jr. MBA

Interview (10/14/10):

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 don't 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, 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 past 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 t - Junior's Cave Online magazine, Isaac Davis Jr. MBA

We're proud to announce our May Showcase performer is singer songwriter and friend or the Heritage Coffee House,

Lucas Rotman

Brooklyn based with prolonged hang time in Sullivan and Orange counties, This talented musician has been creating some very interesting music. Playing in the East Village or in our studios at WJFF Lucas is always entertaining and his music intriguing. see http://www.myspace.com/lucasrotman - Aldo Troiani

We're proud to announce our May Showcase performer is singer songwriter and friend or the Heritage Coffee House,

Lucas Rotman

Brooklyn based with prolonged hang time in Sullivan and Orange counties, This talented musician has been creating some very interesting music. Playing in the East Village or in our studios at WJFF Lucas is always entertaining and his music intriguing. see http://www.myspace.com/lucasrotman - Aldo Troiani

I had planned to send out a something different for the free monthly song, but because "immigration" is the hot topic in the news I've decided to send the attached: "Longing No Border Can Tame", donated by Lucas Rotman who performed at the Music for Humanity Free Performance Night in February.

Lucas was inspired to write this song by the award winning book "Enrique's Journey" by Sonia Nazario http://www.enriquesjourney.com/about.html Lucas said "It should be required reading for every American."

Whatever your political persuasion this is songwriting at its best. And whatever your political position, we (99.99% of the people on this list) are all immigrants or children of immigrants who longed for freedom. Thanks Lucas for sharing it. You can find out more about Lucas here: http://www.myspace.com/lucasrotman - Barry Adelman (Co-founder music for Humanity)

I had planned to send out a something different for the free monthly song, but because "immigration" is the hot topic in the news I've decided to send the attached: "Longing No Border Can Tame", donated by Lucas Rotman who performed at the Music for Humanity Free Performance Night in February.

Lucas was inspired to write this song by the award winning book "Enrique's Journey" by Sonia Nazario http://www.enriquesjourney.com/about.html Lucas said "It should be required reading for every American."

Whatever your political persuasion this is songwriting at its best. And whatever your political position, we (99.99% of the people on this list) are all immigrants or children of immigrants who longed for freedom. Thanks Lucas for sharing it. You can find out more about Lucas here: http://www.myspace.com/lucasrotman - Barry Adelman (Co-founder music for Humanity)