Italian Goth fanzine, DUSK MEMORIES – N°5 Winter 94 (ATARAXIA ROSA CRUX CRANES),, features an interview with Ryan. Below is a translation into English and the original ‘zine.
LOVE SPIRALS DOWNWARDS: Un amore mai perduto (A Love Never Lost)
By Di ANNA MIONI
Ryan Lum, who plays all the instruments in Love Spirals Downwards, a new group from the Californian label Projekt, answered some of our questions.
DM: Which groups have influenced you the most?
RYAN: I’ve been influenced by many artists from different genres, including Harold Budd, Brian Eno, classical Indian music, Cocteau Twins, Dead Can Dance, Slowdive, the other Projekt groups, The Orb, Primal Scream, The Grateful Dead, Pink Floyd, and The Beatles. I recently discovered the Ordo Equitum Solis, and I like them a lot. A long time ago (1986–88), I was very passionate about 4AD artists, especially the Cocteau Twins, but my subsequent evolution led me to more “psychedelic” bands like Popul Vuh of the early 70s. I still like Cocteaus, though: the first song of the new album is incredible!
DM: What does the name of the band mean?
RYAN: We didn’t have any specific meaning in mind, we just liked the sound of the name.
DM: Is there a message you want to give with your music, or a project you want to implement?
RYAN: We don’t want to give any particular message. At most, I would like the listener to be able to ‘escape’ inside our music, immersing themselves in it and having their own personal experiences with it.
DM: Do you think other forms of art can influence your music?
RYAN: I think so. Maybe because our music is in a certain sense visual’, I’m influenced, or if nothing else very impressed, by the visual arts.
DM: Who are your favorite artists?
RYAN: I would say that my favorite paintings are those of Rothko. Some of his works make me burst into tears within a few seconds.
DM: Do you have preferences about the type of people who should listen to your music?
RYAN: I don’t care what kind of people listen to our stuff, it’s something that’s completely out of my reach. I’m fine with anyone who listens to it and appreciates it, regardless of who it is.
DM: You had any reactions from fans after the release of “Idylls”?
RYAN: Yes, quite a few people wrote to us, and this surprised us. Unlike the fans who write to other Projekt groups, ours seem nice, decent people. Maybe I would like some ‘strange’ people to write to us, too.
DM: The influence of India in your music is evident. Have you ever been there?
RYAN: You’re right, there are Indian influences, at least in ‘Idylls,’ because when I was working on the songs, I was listening to a lot of Indian records and going to Classical Indian music concerts. The new songs I’m working on, however, don’t have these influences. I’ve never been to India: I go to Indian restaurants and go to concerts, but that’s all: I haven’t made enough money to go there yet!
DM: Are there any American underground groups that you like?
RYAN: Generally speaking, I think all the bands on Projekt are incredibly good, especially Lycia, Black Tape For A Blue Girl, Soul Whirling Somewhere. It’s really a nice thing that there is a label like Projekt.
DM: Why did you decide to write incomprehensible lyrics for your songs?
RYAN: Suzanne (the singer, ed.) takes care of these things, but she’s not here now, so I’ll answer for her. The lyrics are sometimes partially understandable, especially in the new songs we are working on. Often, however, we invent a language for a song: we use English if we think it works better, or French, or an invented language if it seems more suitable.
DM: Would it bother you if someone gave your songs a meaning that you hadn’t thought of?
RYAN: No, not at all, in fact I would encourage people to do it. A friend recently transcribed what she thought were the lyrics of our new songs, and they were different from ours. But the interesting thing is that her lyrics were just different from ours, not better or worse. The way she had transmitted her meaning to the lyrics was really intriguing. That’s why I think it’s so exciting to use lyrics like ours: there’s not a single meaning that everyone is expected to understand. I bet there are as many different meanings for our songs as there are people that they listen to them.
DM: What are your plans for the future?
RYAN: As I mentioned to you prior, we’re working on a second album, which we hope to release in spring. It’ll be a little different from the previous one. I think the new songs are better than the old ones, so I can’t wait to finish this album
DM: What are the features you like in the old sound 4AD? Are you trying to carry out some of them in your songs?
RYAN: Probably the surrealism and the ability to transport you to another world that the first Cocteau or the Dead Can Dance had. That of being transported to other ‘places’ is a quality that I like in art: a certain kind of mysticism. I could say that these are the characteristics of the 4AD sound that we carry forward in our music.
