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Love
Spirals Downwards are known as the darlings of Projekt Records.
And with just cause; they are the best selling band, with the hottest
moving new release of Projekt for 1998, "Flux." This latest of 4
popular full-length albums marks a turning point in the band's ever-fluxing
sound. Whereas the last album, "Ever," showcased several electronic-based
songs in the mix, "Flux" concentrates almost completely on the electronica
side of band mastermind, Ryan Lum's musical influences. There has
been some slight controversy over LSD's "sound change" and band
member relationships, but all of that seems ludicrous to the mellow,
well adjusted Lum. He's always created the music for Love Spirals
Downwards using whatever inspiration happened to hit him, be it
a fine dining experience, an exotic vacation, a shamanic vision,
or just simply a new piece of gear to fiddle around with. Although
a philosopher at heart, searching for his own personal truth in
life, Ryan isn't a terribly serious artist with an attitude or an
agenda. He just likes to make music like most people do, for the
fun of it.
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Anji:
So this time around, we're going to talk about the band, your new
album, musical influences, and then just generally shoot the bull.
Justin: And we're not going to mention fire tonight.
Ryan: Yeah. We won't mention fire, or stripping.
Anji: Yeah, no nudity. Or Goth clubs?
Ryan: Oh, anything, as long as there's no fire or stripping.
(Laughs) Last time, that's all we talked about.
Anji: Yeah, that Coven 13 show seemed to make a really
big impression on you.
Ryan: The one with the fire and the stripping? Or our show
there?
Justin: Actually, that <your show> was really cool.
You guys did the cover of that Fleetwood Mac song.
Ryan: Yeah, "Dreams."
Anji: It was so good. I wish I had a recording of that.
Ryan: Cool. We were surprised it worked good. When we first
started jamming it, experimenting, it was fun -- funny fun. But
then it was like, "Damn! This sounds good. Let's play it tonight!"
Anji: Yeah? Suzanne was holding the lyric sheet on
stage.
Ryan: I taped the lyrics to the floor. I wrote them out all
big for her, but she didn't want to do that. The thing that sucks
is that she still has my CD liner notes, she didn't give it back.
So I don't have the cover. Hopefully she hasn't lost it. I still
have my original vinyl from 1970 whatever. I was in 4th grade when
I bought it. (Chuckles)
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Justin:
The other people that were playing with you that night; are they
still in the band?
Ryan: We haven't done any shows since, but hopefully so.
Definately one of them, Drew, who was our percussion player,
is going to be working with us. That's for sure. And hopefully
Rodney; Rodney is a little bit more busy. We'll see.
Definately me, Suzanne and Drew will be doing stuff.
It'll be kinda like what you saw last time; more stuff than before.
We'll have guitars, bass, and all kinds of electronic gear.
Anji: Drew has a nice voice.
Ryan: That's right, he was singing with Suzanne on
that Fleetwood Mac song.
Anji: Yeah, he was great. It was good stuff.
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Suzanne
and Drew at the El Rey Theater
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Justin:
Well, we'll talk to you about something other than Fleetwood Mac.
(Laughs)
Anji: Didn't you tell me some story about Fleetwood Mac
and the other band that played after you at that show?
Ryan: Yeah, I think so. I forget. I was really drunk, so I
can't remember. (Laughs) People couldn't tell, but I was pretty
toasted that night. |
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Ryan
and Drew at the El Rey Theater
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Justin:
You were sitting down, so you didn't have to wobble too much.
Ryan: Yeah, it's easy to keep from falling when you're sitting.
I'd already had five or six beers before we went on. And then I had,
like, three onstage. Afterwards, I went to the other bands dressing
rooms and stole their beers, too. I figured, "If they're not drinking
them by now, then they're not going to drink them!"
Anji: That sounds like drunken logic. (Laughs)
Ryan: That was a fun night. Friends that came back and hung
out with us were surprised at how fun we are backstage. We're crazy.
People think that Projekt bands are -- and for the most part,
they're probably right -- kinda quiet and uptight or whatever. But
not Love Spirals!
Justin: You're kind of the black sheep of Projekt.
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Ryan:
Yeah, I guess so, on all levels. We have fun and laugh and joke
around. Projekt bands aren't known for that.
Anji: That's why I gravitated towards you guys at the Projekt
party. You were sitting at the table having fun, so I was like,
"I'm going to walk up and introduce myself!"
Ryan: That one at the little apartment in Los Angeles? Gee,
we were pretty mellow that night, too. You should have gone to the
Projekt barbeques. I think at that first one I had had a
Mickey's 40 ouncer. That is always a crowd stopper. If you're
holding a Mickey's 40, people are, like, "Woah! You're
serious about drinkin' here."
Anji: Mickey's is good, though.
Ryan: Oh yeah. It gets the job done.
Anji: I used to be into those, but it's all about wine now.
Justin: Oh no. I'm thinking about the last time I had a Mickey's,
and why I've never had one since. It was one of the two times I've
ever rejected things from my body as the result of them being poisonous.
You know, I've usually got a pretty iron stomach, but something
about Mickey's and a jug of wine...
Ryan: Oh yeah, malt liquor and wine is a bad combination.
You will hurl -- there is no doubt about that! Anji:
So, back to Love Spirals Downwards, what are you working
on now?
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Ryan:
I'm working on getting live stuff together for us to do some shows.
Not sure where or when yet, buty ou can check our web site for updates
on that. I personally update our news, so there's no rumors - everything
is confirmed, absolute and will happen.
Anji: Playing live is not a usual occurrence for LSD.
Ryan: No, we usually play only a few shows a year. I don't
know what happened last year; we only played one -- the one you guys
went to-- the Projekt Fest in Los Angeles, at the El
Rey. That's why I always tell people not to flake out on us; 'cause
you don't know when, or even if, we will play next.
Anji: It's always difficult to take such a studio based project
to the stage. |
Suzanne
and Ryan at the Chicago Projekt Festival
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Ryan:
Yeah. The way we work is kinda backwards. Most bands typically have
a song first, then they go into the studio and record it. We're
the total opposite of that. We have no song first. I just start
messing around in my studio, coming up with ideas, and at the end
of a long process, finally, a song emerges. So, it's kinda weird.
We don't rehearse ever, a song just gets created, almost through
chance accident and goofing around.
Anji: It's mostly just you, isn't it?
Ryan: Yeah, pretty much. Yeah.
Anji: You're the man!
Ryan: I am. (Laughs) I put a lot of work into it.
Yeah. It takes me a long time to make a record.
Justin: How many of the songs that you create end up on the
albums?
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Ryan
being interviewed at the KUCI studio
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Ryan:
Most all. I was telling you earlier that I had a few songs that I
tossed away this time (during the creation of Flux).
I think that was just because there was a bigger sound change.
There were some songs that just didn't quite click. I think all the
songs I tossed were early ones. Right now I'm in that same process
again; starting a new album and not wanting to make the same album
again. So I'm going all over the place. I mean, it's still gonna be
an electronic record, I'm not going back to all acoustic again, but
it's not gonna be a drum 'n' bass record, like Flux was.
Anji: It's not?!
Ryan: Nah. I mean, there might be some of that, but Flux,
in my mind, is a drum 'n' bass record. Six of the nine songs have
drum'n' bass stuff going on, so it makes it that. |
Anji:
So what are you working with now?
Ryan: I don't know yet. We'll have to see. I have a couple
things, nothing's finished yet. Actually, I completed a song that
seems like it might be for a side project. I thought it was going
to be a Love Spirals thing, but I go, "OK. No. This is just
way too off base."
Anji: How so? Tell us about it.
Ryan: Well, it's got some of my jazz buddies doing stuff on
top of, like, more hard core drum 'n' bass. A little harder, not insanely
hard, but a little more than our album, Flux, is. And
there's some really nicely played funky, bluesy, jazz sort-of Rhodes
keyboards and saxophone. I don't think there's going to be any vocals
either, so... It'll probably end up being a side project for all of
us. All three of us do other bands, so it would be something we do
for fun. It'll probably be just a 12" only thing, assuming someone
wants to put it out. We haven't even gotten that far yet, but I don't
think we're gonna go for making albums and all that.
Anji: Well, that could drain a lot of energy away from your
main project.
Ryan: Yeah, that takes up enough time. I wasn't intending to
start a second band. Love Spirals takes up so much time as
it is. |
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Anji:
I guess we'll just have to be surprised with the next sound morphing.
Ryan: Yeah, I'll be surprised too. I can't wait to get it
going! I mean, Flux, I was probably working on maybe a year
before the idea solidified and I saw what the end result was gonna
be. I was just kinda trying different things. And then usually,
hopefully, I have this moment of illumination where everything just
clicks together, like, "Aha! That's it!" I'm a firm believer
of always trying different things, trying to push myself, not falling
back into what I did before -- even if it was successful. I get
bored, and I feel as if I've cheated myself, too, if I don't push
myself to do something new.
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Ryan
in Studio A at KUCI in Irvine, Ccalifornia
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Anji:
Are you still going to work with guitar?
Ryan: Yeah. Uh huh. Probably just because it's so available.
I just reach out and grab a guitar off the floor and start playin'
it, and record some tracks with it.
Anji: Do you have a lot of guitars?
Ryan: Nah, I don't have a collection or anything. I have
like, four or five, or something.
Anji: Oh, is that all?! (Laughs) Do you have a lot
of gear, in general?
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Ryan
rocking at the Projekt Fest, Los Angeles, California
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Ryan:
That depends on what you consider to be "a lot." It's not crazy
-- you don't walk into my studio and go, "Wow, this guy is nuts!"
or anything. It's very compact and efficient. But I've been
buying stuff, and recording , since -- gosh -- over a decade.
Anji: I never even thought to ask you if you had a band before
Love Spirals Downwards.
Ryan: Not really. Just goofin' off stuff. Love Spirals wasn't
even really supposed to be a band. It just kinda happened.
Anji: That's funny. You seem to believe in just letting life
happen to you.
Ryan: No, not necessarily. I just never had these aspirations
to "make it," or be a musician and all that stuff. I just make music
because I love doing it.
Anji: That's the reason to do it.
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Ryan:
Yeah, and I always have to remind myself to keep that in mind. It's
so easy to get locked into, "OK. Let's make an album, let's make
an album..." That's what I like to do after an album is done,
just relax and get back into making music just 'cause it's fun.
And that's how I started this side band, whatever you wanna call
it.
Anji: Yeah, just 'cause you were goofing off and having fun.
Ryan: Well, it was gonna be -- I thought it would be -- a
Love Spirals song. That's what I was aiming for. I just like
to make music like most people make music - you just make stuff.
You don't think, "OK, it's going to be on this album, it's
going to be song four, it's going to..." -- ya know? I just
wanted to make a song, just make music, and worry about what to
call it - what band it's going to be and so on - afterwards.
Anji: That's cool. What is your studio like, anyway?
Ryan: What is it like? (Laughs) How technical can
I get on a radio show like this? (Laughs)
Anji: Oh come on! Do you have an ADAT or what do you use?
Ryan: Right now how it is? 'Cause it's always different,
always changing. It's totally different now than how it was when
I made "Flux."
Anji: Wow! Is it in your house, or your apartment or whatever?
Ryan: Yeah, it's at my place. It takes over a whole room
there. Right now it's tapeless; I'm doing it all off hard drive
- digital audio.
Anji: I think a lot of people are going that way.
Ryan: Yeah. The kind of music I make; it's great for that,
too. 'Cause I'm always cutting and pasting stuff all over the place.
I rarely ever lay down, like, four minutes of an instrument -- like,
lay down a drum track. I usually just put down a little bit and
move it all around. It works good for me.
Anji: Do you like to work in the night or the day?
Ryan: I usually work in the day. I like to get up about 11
or so, have some breakfast, spend maybe a couple hours doing
bureaucratic type things -- like e-mailing people, calling people,
I like to take care of that in the morning, then I get started about
1 or so, and then go to 6 or so.
Anji: Sounds pretty leisurely!
Ryan: It's really intense when I'm working, though.
Anji:
I was just wondering if the change in your creative process and
output is due to a changing interest in the music you listen to,
or the clubs you go to?
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Suzanne
& Ryan for Flux, 1997
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Ryan:
I think the biggest reason why I change my sound all the time is because
I'm always changing as a person. I mean, I'm a very different person
now than I was even at the beginning of this year (1998) and
I'm a very different person than I was a year or two ago. The change
between the albums is a reflection of the change in me, or Suzanne
and myself over that time. I don't know if everyone changes like that
or not, but we sure do, and I sure do. I don't listen to the same
stuff forever. I always buy new records and I'm always going out and
doing different things. The music is just a reflection of that. A
lot of bands on our label don't change ever; one album could be just
like the one before it and the one before that. I just wonder why
anyone would want to buy this new album when it sounds just like the
old one. |
Suzanne
& Ryan for Ardor,1994
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Anji:
Because then they're guaranteed that they will like it.
Ryan: I guess so.
Anji: Come on; people that go to Goth clubs want to hear
the same songs from 10 and 15 years ago every week!
Ryan: Oh yeah, tell me about it. That kinda sucks, too, because
I've been DJing and Goth clubs have been scared to have me. They
say, "Well, if you don't play the records that everyone is used
to hearing, they'll leave." It's like, "What kind of club
is that? I can't play anything new? I have to play stuff that's
like 10 years old that the DJ plays every week?" I can't come
and play my own stuff. I have to play the songs that they he woulda
played anyway.
Anji: Isn't that sad?
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Ryan:
I'm not bagging on Gothic music, but Gothic clubs that subscribe to
that philosophy, it's just, it just shows you that it's dead. Not
Gothic is dead, but Gothic dance music is dead. They play the same
50 records. One of my friends came out with me to a Gothic club. He
used to be a Goth DJ in the '80's and he's going, "God! I could
bring my same records -- I haven't bought anything new in 10 years
-- and I could fit in, I could play a set here." You can't do
that at any other club. DJs are always buying records -- it's an investment.
I'm buying new stuff. I'm blowing a lot of money on vinyl now, too.
It just says something... Electronic clubs have been a lot more open
to having me DJ, which is kinda interesting, because I'm less
known in those circles than I am in Gothic circles. A Gothic club
can put my name and Love Spirals Downwards on a flyer and it
will attract a lot of people, but at Electronic clubs, they're like,
"Who's Love Spirals Downwards?" But they see us around, they
know we're out and about, they know we have a following and stuff,
and they're been much more open. If I spun at a Gothic club, I wouldn't
be spinning all drum 'n' bass, I'd bring a lot of my old stuff.
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Ryan
spinning a DJ set at KUCI 88. 9 fm
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Anji:
Cool. Well, we've talked about just about everything I can think of.
Ryan: I thought you were going to dig all the dirt out, you
said?
Anji: Dirt? We could talk about your crack habit. (Laughs)
Ryan: The crack I kicked after a long battle.
Anji: Indeed. We were talking about Goth girls on the phone;
do Goth chicks like you?
Ryan: I don't know. Do they?
Anji: You are very post-post-Goth, I would say. Were you ever
Goth-Goth? As in ruffles and stuff?
Ryan: I never wore all the, like, dresses and, um, swords and
fangs.
Anji: Oh no! Contact lenses...
Ryan: Yeah, the contact lenses that make their eyeballs bulge
out. No. I would go to clubs of that sort before they were called
that, in the '80's, and it wasn't as crazy back then. People weren't
into vampirism and all that stuff. It was more of a music thing; it
wasn't a life style, it was just about music. I looked different back
then, I mean, my hair was freakier and I had some make-up.
Anji: No way!
Ryan: Yeah.
Anji: So what clubs do you go to now? |
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Ryan
spinning for Riders of the Plastic Groove on KUCI 88.9 fm
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Ryan:
A lot of the people I know in Los Angeles throw stuff. The
only big one I can think of is Dune, which happens once a
year, out in the desert. And then every year, at Super Bowl
time, they rent out a bowling alley and bring all their sound gear,
and light gear and blast music. They get really drunk and bowl.
It's all free. I bowl like, 30 games. My arm is sore for a week
afterwards. I actually go to small, hard to know about stuff. The
last cool one was up on a mountain top a couple months ago. There
was about 80 - 90 people dancing 'til the sun came up. Very, very
spiritual. It was the same for me with Dune, even though
that was 4 or 5 thousand people. One of those things where you're
dancing and it starts getting brighter...
Anji: You dance?
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Ryan:
Yeah, oh hell yeah. I have to be in the right mood, but yeah. I'm
into trance or drum 'n' bass. When I get going I dance for three
or four hours -- I don't stop. I love dancin'. I've been dancin'
since acid house in '89. I'd dance for hours. It's a very spiritual
activity, I gotta tell 'ya. I love it, but I don't get to do it
that much because it's hard to get me in the right mood. I don't
like dancing at like, Club Lingerie, I like somewhere kinda
interesting.
Anji: So you prefer to go to the party events rather than
somewhere like the Viper Room?
Ryan: Occasionally I'll go to stuff like that. Monday
night, by my house, there's something called Monday Social,
and I'll stop by. Sometimes I'll go to The Room; on Monday
nights they have good music. When I'm in San Francisco, I'm
always at The Top, for Belle Epoque. That's my favorite
club. I'll be there this weekend.
Anji: Oh really? Whatcha doing in San Francisco?
Ryan: I'm just gonna go and relax a little bit.
Anji: Oh, a vacation.
Ryan: Sorta. As much as you can have one there. It's kinda
a hectic place. You don't get to relax under palm trees or anything.
Anji: You were saying that you don't have a 9 - 5 job?
Ryan: Nah.
Anji: Do you subsist on your music?
Ryan: Yeah, music and other odd things.
Anji: Hey, what Sun Sign are you, by the way?
Ryan: Sun Sign? The Sun Sign is the planet
that rules... I'm a Leo, which is a Sun thing.
Anji: You are? Oh my gosh, I was going to say, "Let's
say you're a Leo,” and you are!
Ryan: You're psychic and you don't even know it.
Anji: No, I do know it. Well, Leos are known to be
performers so that makes sense.
Ryan: Yeah, they're supposed to be creative and... yeah…
Anji: All that.
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