The Chillin’ with Lovespirals podcast was recently relaunched and the band are busy archiving past episodes including Ryan’s 2023 chat about the Flux Deluxe Edition. This ten minute audio show goes into detail about how Ryan remastered the original mixes that were used in both the expanded digital release, as well as the vinyl album — which hadn’t been organized yet at the time of recording. Stream the show here, or via your favorite podcasting service including Spotify, Apple, Amazon, iHeart, Podcast Addict, Podchaser, Deezer, and JioSaavn.
Continue reading Ryan Discusses Flux Deluxe on Band PodcastTag Archives: Ryan Lum
Ryan Lum on Black Tape for a Blue Girl Song
Did you know Ryan contributed guitar to the Black Tape For A Blue Girl song “Overwhelmed, Beneath Me“ released by Projekt and Hyperium Records in 1993? This song was originally recorded in 1992 with vocalist Lucian Casselman for the album ‘This Lush Garden Within,’ an album that has been reissued several times with different artwork. This recording was also featured on ‘The First Pain to Linger’ maxi CD that accompanied Sam Rosenthal’s 1996 novel of the same name.
“Overwhelmed, Beneath Me” was reworked in 2000 with then-current vocalist Elysabeth Grant. That version appears on the ‘With A Million Tear-Stained Memories’ 2-CD collection released by Trisol and Projekt in 2003 and on ‘A Retrospective’ collection released by Shadowplay in 2008 as well as by Projekt for the longer digital-only release, ‘The best of (deluxe: 2008+1991).’
Flux CD promotions
Thanks to everybody that came out to Nightnoise last weekend. I’ll be doing some more DJ’ing in conjunction with Flux giveaways over the next few months. The next one will be in San Francisco at La Belle Epoque (at The Top) on January 30, and possibly Mexico City in March.
And a very big thanks to everybody who has bought Flux, making it the most sucessful new album launch in the label’s history! It’s well on its way to surpasing our previous albums, which are the label’s top selling releases. Thanks!
Live shows: people keep asking us what’s up and we still have no confirmed shows to report. We are talking with several promoters, so hopefully soon there will be some set dates. In the meantime, Suzanne and I will be doing one live performance on radio, and there are several radio interviews coming up as well.
So here’s the complete rundown of confirmed things that we will be doing:
- Ryan of Love Spirals Downwards DJs
Saturday, January 30, 1999
La Belle Epoque, located at The Top, San Francisco, CA
Ryan will be DJing, spinning records that are in a similar mood as well as an inspiration to Love Spirals’ album Flux. There will also be a giveaway of Flux CDs and stickers. More info to come soon. - Ryan and Suzanne perform live
Wednesday December 16, 1998 at 8PM – 10PM PST.
On “Space Disco For Fish Tacos” KUCI 88.9 FM, Irvine, CA
Space Disco For Fish Tacos has been on the air for three years, featuring weekly live performances and interviews by electronic musicians from southern California and abroad. KUCI is now broadcasting via the internet! KUCI broadcasts 24/7 on the internet through java-based streaming technology. All you need is a net connection (the faster the better) and a modern browser (AOL may not work) — try it out at www.kuci.org - Radio interview with Ryan
Friday, December 4, 1998. 8PM EST.
On WRAS 88.5 FM, Atlanta, GA
Ryan will be talking live on the air! WRAS’ phone set up does not allow callers to ask Ryan questions directly, but you can e-mail your questions (in advance) to Jez and she’ll pose them for you. - Radio Interview with Ryan
Saturday, December 5, 1998. 10PM to midnight PST.
“Oblivion” on KLYK 105.5 CITY, Longview, WA
The show can be heard in parts of Portland, OR as well. - Radio Interview with Ryan
Sunday, December 6, 1998. 8PM to 10PM PST.
“The All-Purpose Nuclear Bedtime Story,” KUCI 88.9 FM, Irvine, CA
With DJs Anji B. and Justin J. KUCI broadcasts 24/7 on the internet through a java-based streaming technology. All you need is a net connection and a modern browser (AOL may not work). Try it out at www.kuci.org
Aether Sanctum #6 Interview
It is an arguable fact that there are three bands whose names are synonymous with the world-renowned Projekt label: Black Tape For A Blue Girl, Lycia and Love Spirals Downwards. In the case of Love Spirals Downwards critics have used the words ‘Ethereal’, ‘Angelic’ and ‘bliss’ full to try and capture in crude English the dreamlike music of the band.
Interview with Ryan Lum by Haydn Black.
When Ryan Lum (music) and Suzanne Perry (vocals) came to form Love Spirals Downwards several years back they were lovers, striving to craft a new kind of music.
They have clearly been successful. Their 1992 debut CD ‘Idylls’ became one of Projekt’s most popular releases. The tradition has continued through a number of albums which the band have successful been able to translate to live performances.
While most bands rely on a mix of songs, and raw sweat n’ power on stage acts such as Projekt are famed must engage the listener at a different level. Is it difficult to keep the audience enthralled show after show?
“I don’t think that is a problem. We just go out and play the best that we can and that’s about all we can do,” stated Ryan. “Fortunately, that seems to work fine for us most of the time.”
Continue reading Aether Sanctum #6 Interview
The First Pain to Linger Review
Audio Drudge # 7, Issue 7
With this 34-minute-maxi-CD and 92-page book, Sam Rosenthal simultaneously reveals the roots of Black Tape for A Blue Girl’s last album This Lush Garden Within, and brings this period of his art to a close. The book tells the story of how Sam opened himself to loving Susan, who inspired This Lush Garden Within. Consisting of seven tracks, two previously unreleased and five from various compilations, the disc is a nice introduction for those unfamiliar with BTFBG, and a must for die-hard fans. All the tracks occupy the warm ethereal ambient realm Projekt has almost single-handedly defined; synth washes and gently strummed guitars combine with floating female vocals to produce a sensation of being suspended in a nurturing ocean of sound. I was especially charmed by the shiny, ringing wine-glass like synth and guitar of “the glass is shattered,” in whose somberly contemplative tone I saw portrayed a man sitting alone at a kitchen table bathed in afternoon sunlight, staring at a broken glass occupying an empty place at the table, wondering: “the glass is shattered / is that what makes it beautiful?” The ebbing and flowing guitar (guested by Ryan Lum of Love Spirals Downwards) and dancing lights in fog evoked by the keyboards made “overwhelmed, beneath me” a standout track as well. And the menacing synth foundations of the closing, unnamed track support glittering undersea castles of sound, which build, shimmer, then swirl away in the dark currents. Although I enjoyed almost all of the tracks, I found the lack of continuity between them disturbing, even though I knew this was a compilation LP and I shouldn’t expect continuity. Still, this is a good place to start for those curious about BTFBG, and a welcome appetizer for their next full length album, due out in May.
![Mean Streets Vol. 8, #4 (1996) [Scan, Transcript & Audio]](http://www.lovespiralsdownwards.com/wp-content/uploads/1997/03/IMG_0250-672x372.jpeg)
Mean Streets Vol. 8, #4 (1996) [Scan, Transcript & Audio]
Article by Ned Raggett
For Ryan Lum, instrumentalist for the L.A. based duo, Love Spirals Downwards, sticking to just one means of musical expression is not an option.
“I go between making this pure acoustic music and then going into this analog synthesizer, drum machine sound, tweaking knobs and stuff — just to keep things fun! If I did the same thing for a while, I’d get burnt out!”
Combined with the truly beautiful vocals of Suzanne Perry, Lum’s work in Love Spirals Downwards is a lush, wondrous experience. The band’s third album, Ever, has just been released on Projekt, and clearly demonstrates that Lum and Perry have moved from being simply fine disciples of the Cocteau Twins school of performance to becoming distinctly intriguing artists in their own right.
For Lum, the question of influence is a tricky one, reflecting the tension between inspiration and the need to be one’s own person.
“It’s hard to say which bands listen to are my influences and which are not. I guess everything I listen to somehow gets mixed up in what I do. That’s a tough question, because I don’t know what I’m trying to get away from, or what I’m trying to be like.”
Continue reading Mean Streets Vol. 8, #4 (1996) [Scan, Transcript & Audio]
Muse: February/March 1995 Interview
Some music exists in a dreamlike world of softened colors and indistinct images, where words are scarcely remembered and beauty is the only thing of value. Perhaps this music speaks to us in a wordless language of the peace before birth and the worlds beyond waking reality. The only certainty is that it spirals gracefully downwards through layers of mystery like the depths of an enchanted ocean. This is the music of Love Spirals Downwards: the music of dreams and worlds beyond. Love Spirals Downwards is the voice of Suzanne Perry and the music of Ryan Lum on synthesizers, samplers and guitars.
MUSE: The Projekt label says they produce ethereal, gothic and dark ambient music. Which description most suits your music?
Suzanne: I don’t mind being attached to ethereal so much as being called a 4AD type That’s too specific. Ethereal is more vaguely descriptive.
Ryan: It could be The Moon Seven Times; it could be us; it could be The Sundays. It’s a very broad term.
Continue reading Muse: February/March 1995 Interview