Love Spirals Downwards – Constantly In A State Of Flux
By Daniel Bremmer
Love Spirals Downwards has always had a problem fitting in to any specific category. As on the first artists signed to Projekt, Ryan Lum and Suzanne Perry have been lumped in the same ethereal category as label mates Black Tape for a Blue Gil and Lycia. “I think our music is somewhat melancholy. Some goths really get off on it, some don’t,” remarks Perry. A friend introduced the duo to Projekt, which at the time were a small Pasadena label which largely served to release label owner Sam Rosenthal’s band, Black Tape for a Blue Girl. “I’ve seen the piles of demos from bands that would give their left arm to be on Projekt, and we had never even heard of them. They were really small then, we were at the right place at the right time,” says Lum.
While the swirling guitars, dreamy female vocals, and lush atmospheric landscapes of their first three releases have not exactly clashed with other dark wave artists, the duo have certainly not considered themselves to be a goth band. Nowhere else has Love Spirals Downwards experienced the effects of being considered a goth band as when they perform live. With the exception of a few small shows, a majority of their performances have been promoted as goth shows. One recent example was ProjektFest 98, hosted by Coven 13 and billed as “An Evening of Gothic Music.” When remarking on Coven 13’s resident DJ, Jason Levitt’s rather unethereal and wholly uninspired teeny-bop top 40 set, Perry laughs and states that “He’ll play the same records next week, and the week after, and the week after that! As though he has not been playing them since 1985 or something? That’s pathetic. I’m embarrassed for those people.”
Projekt Records hooked us up with Love Spirals Downwards’ mastermind, Ryan Lum, to –ostensibly– discuss next weekend’s first-ever ProjektFest LA show at the El Rey Theatre hosted by Coven 13. As Ryan lives within walking distance of the venue, it makes for the perfect choice for this chill, go with the flow musician, who apparently was reluctant to leave his neighborhood as he opted to phone-in his interview rather than drive over for an in-studio conversation. None-the-less, Justin and I had a fun, informal chat with the composer, producer and multi-instrumentalist, who is currently on the verge of completing the band’s fourth full-length album for Projekt. But first he has to figure out the lineup of musicians for next weekend’s concert and whether or not he should strip on stage or set himself on fire. Read on to find out more.
Interview by Anji Bee & Justin Jay of KUCI 88.9 fm. Intro by Anji.
Anji: Gosh, this is really weird doing a phone interview. It’s weird not having the person in front of us. Are you there? Ryan: I’m just a few miles away, so I’m kinda “there.” Justin: What, you’re in a phone booth a few miles down the road right now? Anji: (Laughs) Ryan: Basically I got lost trying to find the station, so… No, actually I’m at my place about a half an hour, an hour away. Justin: Don’t give away the location! Ryan: (Laughs nervously) LA, somewhere. Justin: LA. Okay. That’s good and general. Ryan: (Chuckles) Justin: That should protect you. Ryan: (Chuckles) I dunno. I’ve never had any, like, psycho fans or devoted freaks try to find me. Anji: You haven’t?
Justin: Well, you know, if you wanna give it a shot you can always give out your home address right now. All: (Laughs) Ryan: And my phone number. Justin: There you go. You can at least get some crank calls. Ryan: (Laughing) Yeah, no, I don’t want that. It’d probably be people that don’t even like us, they just wanna crank call us. Anji: You’re a pretty visible figure as it is. I mean, I see you at clubs and stuff. Ryan: I’m tall. I guess I’m easy to spot and stuff. Anji & Justin: Yeah. Anji: You really are. Anji & Justin: (Laughs) Anji: Yeah, in fact, I saw you at Coven 13 the day. They were filming for some Gothic underground thing on Fox, or whatever. Ryan: Oh, is that what was going on?
Anji: Yeah, we inadvertently got filmed and put on TV. We didn’t even know what was going on.
Ryan: Oh, like a few months ago? In January? Anji: No, it was just last Sunday. Ryan: Last Sunday? Anji: Yeah, last Sunday they were filming there. Ryan: Oh, they were filming that? Anji: Yeah, you missed your big promo shot. Ryan: Nah. They probably wouldn’t have put me on. I wouldn’t have had anything sensational to say.
Anji: Plus, you’re just like a regular guy. You don’t have any, like, spiderwebs drawn on your face or anything. Ryan: Exactly. That’s a prerequisite to be on those Fox Underground specials. You have to be a freak, or like a major loser on heroin or something. Justin: So wait a minute, we were on there — so what are you saying? All: (Laugh uproariously)
Ryan: I live really close to there. I heard a freak was going to light himself on fire and I wanted to see that. Anji: Well, did you see the guy spinning around with all the needles through his flesh? Ryan: Yeah, he was supposed to light himself on fire. I don’t know if you noticed the reference to that when they played the Jimi Hendrix song? Anji: I was wondering why they were playing Jimi Hendrix. Ryan: That’s why, because he was supposed to burn himself. Even though I got in free, I felt like I wanted my money back. Anji: Two of my friends were there because they wanted to see Joel take his clothes off so they wanted their money back. Ryan: Who’s that? The guy that was spinning around? Anji & Justin: No! Anji: No, this is Fate Fatal, the singer of Deep Eynde.
Ryan: Oh the singer was going to take his clothes off? Anji: Well, he usually kinda strips down to, like, a loin cloth and a razor blade vest. Ryan: You had friends that wanted to see that? He’s wasn’t exactly Brad Pitt. Should I strip down then? Is that the way it works out? Justin: Yes. Anji: You’re going to be playing there next Sunday, right? Ryan: Mmm hmm. Yeah. Maybe we’ll strip? I’ll try to get all of us to strip, if that’s what people are into. We’ve never done that before while playing live. Anji: “All of us“? How many of you are going to be performing? Ryan: I dunno. Anywhere between 2 and 4. (Laughs nervously) Anji: Really?! Oh, I didn’t know that. Ryan: We have a guitar player who’s, he played on a song or two on the new record we’re working on. Anji: Oh cool. Ryan: So the idea kind of extended out of that — “Hey, why don’t you play the song that you played on the record with us?” And we’re going to try to do a few more songs. The only setback for Rodney being there Sunday is that his wife is expecting a baby right around that day. Hopefully the baby won’t be coming that day. Justin: Oh, wow, yeah, that wouldn’t be good. Ryan: So, I’m just taking it all as it comes. You know, I want him to play because we got together a few nights ago and it sounded great. I really loved what it added to the songs that he played on. And then another friend coming out who might be —we’re going to see — we’re just trying to work him into either drums or another guitar. I don’t know, he’s bringing both pieces of gear out. I don’t know what will happen. I have no idea. I know we’re playing, but I don’t know if it’s going to be two, three or four people yet. Justin: Have you ever played live before with more than just the two of you? Ryan: We have, but just for like a song or two. Like, yeah, just one song. We had friends that do percussion. Anji: Cool. I think last time I talked to you about the live experience, you were kind of complaining that you were bored with the set you’re doing. So, this ought to throw a lot of excitement into it. Ryan: Oh, yeah, totally. Yeah, it’s kind of painful to play the same songs over and over and over again. I mean, the way to make it less painful is to pump a new kind of life into it by doing something different to it. I started working with Rodney on guitar, and it’s like, “Wow, this is cool!” It brings this whole new… you know, I thought it would just be adding something to what Suzanne and I do, but more than that, it’s like a whole ‘nother human adding a whole ‘nother layer to it. So, it’s cool. Anji: Yeah. It’s something for you to react against too. Ryan: Yeah, then we could jam. We could rock out too. Anji: Ooh you should. Ryan: We’re going to, like, do our poses and stuff that we, you know, always wanted to do, but I couldn’t do before. So now I can rock out. Anji: Hot licks. Justin: Have you been practicing those? Ryan: Practicing the poses? They’re already working out how we’re going to destroy our guitars at the end of the set. Anji: Aww, yeah. Well, maybe you could be the man that sets himself on fire? Ryan: Yeah, I’ll strip, I’ll light myself on fire, put needles in myself, and spin around on a wheel like a freak. Anji: Oh, I better contact Fox so they can get down there. Ryan: Oh, yeah, they’ll wanna film that. (Chuckles) Justin: Oh, you know they’re listening right now. They’ve already got their tipsters calling it in. Ryan: Yeah, I hope so. Yeah, come film us. We’re all freaks, Fox, come film us. Anji: Oh, my God. Ryan: We’re just four nice people. If we tell them that, they won’t come. So, we’ll tell them we’re freaks. Justin: Yeah, we’ll keep this secret. Anji: That’s funny. So, you know, I don’t know if you want to talk about this or not, but you kind of mentioned to me earlier that you were going to be asking a KUCI DJ to come up and spin a little bit? Ryan: Oh, yeah. Well, just before our set, I kind of consider it like a part of our set, like the 20 or so minutes that immediately proceed when we come on, it’s a critical, it’s an important time. So, yeah, I like to have music play that I like. Often I’ll bring CDs and stuff at our shows and play something that I’m into or I think kind of sets a good mood for us to come on afterwards. So, I know Daniel’s kind of music he plays on a set would be something I want to have played, anyway. So yeah, I think it’s going to work out good. Anji: Wow, that sounds really great. Ryan: I’m keeping it a secret from Projekt though, so… I think they might get mad that I’m not playing the kind of music that I officially should, or I don’t know… they’re kind of dogmatic about certain things. So, I dunno know. I just don’t tell them all my crazy ideas about like, you know, how I’m going to burn myself and stuff. Anji: Yeah. Ryan: All this is going to be a total shock to them. Anji: I love it. Yeah, you’re going to go beyond just wearing the psychedelic shirt on stage. Ryan: (Chuckles) I don’t think I’m gonna wear the psychedelic shirt for a while. Anji: Oh, you learned your lesson, huh? Ryan: (Chuckling) Yeah, yeah, no. Only at our own shows will I wear the psychedelic shirts again.
“Love Spirals Downwards’ Ryan Lum reported that his un-gothic orange psychedelic shirt got mocked by vampires” per the Alternative Press review of ProjektFest Chicago in 1996
Anji: Aww yeah, I’m sure you’ll be seeing a lot of black lace and stuff. Ryan: Yeah, that’s cool. See some cute goth babes? Anji: Yeah. Ryan: That’s why I was there in January. I was a judge for a “Goth Babe” show there. Yeah, they asked me and said, “Well, sure, I’ve seen many goth babes in my day. I can definitely tell you a goth babe when I see one.” In fact, I kind of appreciate the goth babe look. It’s cute. It’s sexy. It’s nice. But it sucks though, like the girl who won was not goth, though. She was somehow more of a fetish or industrial kind of chick. Anji: Oh. Ryan: I think why she won is she was like — oh, it comes back to fire! She was, like, eating fire. Anji: What? Ryan: I think she just friends with a lot of the people there too, the judges. I don’t think the judging was right. It was kind of biased. I dunno know. After it just got started, I thought it was stupid. I thought it was gonna be really cool, but I thought it was really hacked. Justin: You know, any contests like that is just a popularity contest. Ryan: Yeah, basically it was like, yeah, like high school, basically. Justin: Yeah. Ryan: I told the girl that I voted for with the highest points later on, I said, “You know, I gave you the highest points because you were the best Goth Babe there.” She goes, “Well, your vote didn’t count.” I said, “Yeah, I was one of the judges.” Anji: Oh, you know… Ryan: I didn’t have my fangs on again. Anji: You should remember the needles in your eyelids. Ryan: Oh, yeah, I got to do something next time to stand out more. You guys noticed me because you know me, but if you don’t know me, I’m just some tall guy that you don’t notice. Anji: Well, I dunno. You’re so tall, it’s hard not to notice you — “Who’s the tall friendly guy that’s smiling over there?” Ryan: Here’s a guy that’s tall, smiling, laughing, drinking a beer. Justin: He’s having a good time here. Anji: He looks relaxed and happy. Ryan: Yeah, I guess you’re right, I guess I do stand out there. All: (Laughs) Anji: That’s funny. You know what? I better tell the people that they’re listening to KUCII in Irvine. This is Ryan from Love Spirals Downwards, and we’re talking to him about the Projekt Fest —ostensibly— that’s coming up this Sunday. What time are you guys going on at? Ryan: At 11. Anji: That’s a good time. Ryan: Yeah, not too late, not too early. Justin: Yeah. So what did you mention who else is going to be playing with you there? Ryan: Black Tape for a Blue Girl from Projekt, and us —Love Spirals Downwards— and Faith and the Muse — I have no idea what label they’re on anymore, they were on Tess. Anji: Yeah, it’s kind of odd if it’s a Projekt Fest? Ryan: Yeah, it’s kind of weird. Like, it’s a Projekt Fest, but there’s only two Projekt bands. Anji: Yeah, if its a festival that’s a little… Ryan: I should try to pump it up, but to me it just seems like a Projekt Fest by name, you know, because the other ones are usually two days and there’s a whole bunch of Projekt bands, maybe one or so non-Projekt artists, I don’t know. Anji: Yeah, I thought originally there was supposed to be a couple other bands? Ryan: Yeah, well, originally it was supposed to be just a Thanatos and Love Spirals Downwards show. Anji: Oh, is that how it started? Justin: Hmm. Ryan: That’s what I agreed to when they first asked me to do it. Padraic from Thanatos was going to bring his band out west. Justin: Right. Ryan: I don’t know. They wanted to have a bigger show than what would have been if they just played. So, you know, piggyback onto a Love Spirals Downwards show and that would be a nice little show. But it kind of got morphed and twisted. Thanatos is no longer playing, now it’s a Project Festival. Anji: That’s really odd. And then when I talked to Lisa, she said that Coven 13 is actually putting it on, not Projekt, so I was really confused. Ryan: Yeah, it’s weird. Anji: Yeah, it’s very odd. Ryan: I mean, if anyone’s ever gone to the Projekt Festivals in Chicago, this will be completely different. That’s why I say it’s more of a Projekt Festival by name, because other ones, it’s like a big thing. People travel from all over. There’s a hotel where a lot of people stay at. It’s an event of sorts, you know? It lasts for several days. This will be one that just lasts for several hours, you know? It’s kind of communal in a certain sense, the Chicago ones. You know, there’s all these people all together. You see them all around. Anji: Yeah, well, hopefully we’ll get a real one out here sometime. Ryan: Yeah, I don’t know. I wouldn’t count on it. This is probably the closest you’ll get. So go, people, if you want to sort of see one. Anji: Yeah. Ryan: As far as I know they are not going to have a Chicago one this summer. So, maybe that’ll all change, but I don’t think so, because they’ve really got to start planning it now. So, this is probably it, that’s my best guess.
Anji: So, hey, tell us about your new album you’re working on. I’m really curious about this. Ryan: Oh, it rocks. It’s really good. Anji: It rocks? Ryan: I hate talking about something like that. I mean, I don’t hate it. It’s hard. It’s difficult to do, just because… I don’t know… I never know what to say. I know what it sounds like. I’ve heard all the songs a ton of times and I’m really jazzed about it, but to describe it… That’s always difficult for me. That’s why I just like to make records and just let people describe it themselves or something. But it’s a little more, I don’t know… Each of our albums change. We’re not, you know, frozen in place since our first record or anything. And, you know, as we progress through life and, you know, age and experience different things… You know, you change as people and, you know, your aesthetics change a little bit, and your art changes a bit. This album’s another kind of change, I guess. I don’t know, it still sounds like us. It’s very, you know, pretty and sensual and spacey. But it has more, I don’t know, more electronic stuff than acoustic guitar. Justin: Oh, nice. Anji: That’s what I was wondering! Ryan: Ethereal Breakbeat, is what I said a couple times. Anji: That works! Yeah, I was going to ask you if it had more beats, like you were starting to work with beats on the last one [Ever]. Ryan: Yeah, the last one is more of a straightforward kind of trance beat. This one [Flux] is much more, I don’t know, it’s more funkier beats, I guess. Yeah, breakbeats, you know. Anji: So, speaking of beats and electronic stuff, were you telling me that you have kind of a solo, like, more techno type thing that you’re working on as well? Ryan: Ummm… No? Anji: What were you saying about what you were going to do up on Dan’s show? Ryan: Oh, I was going to play some of our stuff. Anji: Oh, okay. Ryan: Yeah, without Suzanne. Just like, come and play the music and samples of her –and other stuff– and kind of rock that all together live. Anji: Oh, I hope you’ll still get a chance to. Ryan: Yeah, I hope to. Yeah, after the show’s done and after our album’s done next month, then I can start doing other fun things that I’ve been putting off just out of necessity because I’m just trying to direct all my momentum to finish finishing this record up. I’ve been working pretty hard on it for about a year, really hard since summer, and I just want to finish it. Anji: Wow, so where are you recording it at, at home? Ryan: Yeah, my studio. Anji: Oh, you have a studio. Justin: Nice. Ryan: Yeah, I always do everything at my studio. I would spend like $100,000 —no, more than that — if I had to use a real expensive, you know, real studio. Anji: So, have you worked alone or do you have someone that helps you? Ryan: I work alone. Anji: Really? Ryan: I mean, other than the people I record —like Suzanne’s voice and stuff— but I work alone. Anji: Wow, so you just… Ryan: I do everything. Anji: You produce and everything? Ryan: Oh, yeah, that’s the only way to do it. Justin: I do, too. Anji: Yeah, that’s what we do, too. But sometimes it gets to be a little bit difficult, you know, when you’re, like, playing guitar and then also trying to push the buttons and everything. Ryan: Yeah, you get used to it, I guess. Anji: Yeah. So, hmm, anything else that you wanted to let us know about? Ryan: Um, I don’t know. Love Spirals Downwards, buy them. Go down to Tower, buy them. Anji: You could promote the website. Ryan: Oh, yeah, um, there’s the project site, which is projekt.com. Projekt is spelled with a K, not a C. Justin: That’s helpful. Ryan: And from there, you can just click on to our page, which is a really long, I don’t know, well professionally done page. Not just like a hacked together thing or anything. Justin: Like ours. Justin & Anji: (Laughs) Ryan: I haven’t seen your guys. Justin & Anji: (Laughs) Ryan: Yeah, we got a lot of stuff there, actually. I update the news on there regularly, like every month or so. There’s not always something to talk about, but whenever there’s something going on like, you know, a show, or album progress, or something I want people to know, I’ll put it on there so they can know what’s up. Um, you can email us, there’s a way to do that on there. And we have a guest book too, so you can, you know, read what other people all across the world have to say. So you’re not the only one that likes us — if you happen to like us, you’ll find a whole bunch of other people– and you can add your comments. And I have some reviews of some of our records — in case you’re kind of wondering more or less what it sounds like. And also we have audio for some songs on Ever, our most recent album, which is about a year and a half-old now. It requires a plug-in, a shockwave plug-in. And I don’t know, check it out. There’s a lot of stuff there. Anji: Cool. Ryan: Yeah, projekt.com Justin: That’s nice and easy to remember. Ryan: Yeah, very easy. Anji: So do you have any requests or something we might play right now? Ryan: Um, of mine? Anji: Of yours or anyone else. Ryan: I don’t know, I won’t be able to hear it, so… Justin: We’ve actually got Ever in the player right now, if you wanna pick a song off of there. Anji: Oh, yeah. What’s your favorite song off of Ever? Ryan: A favorite song? Oh, man. I was just out with someone last night and she kept asking me questions like this that put me on the spot. Anji: Oh, no. Ryan: Like a whole bunch of times! I think she started doing it after a while just to watch me squirm. Anji: What?! Ryan: Because I would freeze. My brain just freezes, you know? Anji: I’m like that, too. Justin: That’s great. Now we’ve got a recording of it. Anji: Squirming. Ryan: Of my brain freezing?! Justin: Ryan squirming. Ryan: Can you hear that? My brain freezing? Anji: Sort of. Ryan: Um, off Ever. Let’s see. That was kind of like, um, let’s see… “Madras,” song 3. Justin: Yeah. Anji: Alright, we’re gonna do an instant request now. Can you do a show ID for us first? Ryan: This is Ryan from Love Spirals Downwards, and you’re listening to KUCI. Anji: In Irvine. Ryan: Damn it. So I have to say “KUCI, in Irvine.” Justin: That’s right. Ryan: Okay, I’ll try to learn to, I’ll get it right. I have a good memory. Justin: Good. Ryan: (Chuckles) If I did, I would’ve got it right the first time. Okay, um, this is Ryan from Love Spirals Downwards, and you’re listening to KUCI in Irvine. Justin: Oh, that’s so amazing. Anji: All right, thank you. Justin: Yeah, that’s going to be our next station ID that we make up here.
(Interview taken from the show page on the KUCI website with permission)
Mean Streets So Cal, March 1998, Volume VIII – Issue 9
PROJEKT FESTIVAL: One of the most dramatic and beautiful nights of music awaits you…
By Ned Raggett
About 2000 years ago. plus a few, the Ides of March proved to not be a pretty good day. At least for a balding fellow named Julius Caesar. However, that was Rome and two millennia away, not Los Angeles and the middle of this March.
At the El Rey Theatre on Sunday, March 15, the third Projekt Festival will be hosted for many an appreciative fan, likely providing one of the most dramatic and beautiful nights of music for years. Organized by Projekt main man Sam Rosenthal, the festival, previously held in the in the label’s headquarter city of Chicago, will feature two of Projekt’s flagship bands— Los Angeles’ own Love Spirals Downwards and Rosenthal’s group Black Tape for a Blue Girl — and Santa Barbara’s faith and the Muse (who though not on Projekt are closely associated with the label via Darkwave distribution). Tickets can currentIy be purchased via Los Angeles at Retail Slut on Melrose, in Orange County at Ipso Facto in Fullerton, and through Projekt at 1-800 CD-LASER. All very well, you say, but why should you care?
They say that every style has a limited life, from its prosperous origins to decline. There is, however, a current that has been in force for quite a few years and that has not declined at all: the heavenly voices. What began in the 80s with 4AD and continued with Hyperium now starsProjekt, a very successful American label that treasures some of the best ethereal music bands, such as LOVE SPIRALS DOWNWARDS, a Los Angeles duo formed by guitarist Ryan Lum and vocalist Suzanne Perry. In 1992 he made his debut with ‘Idylls,’ followed by ‘Ardor’ and his great and last work, ‘Ever.’
By Sonia Garcia
SUD: What is the meaning of the band name?
Ryan: Love Spirals Downwards? Does it have something to do with the acronyms that are formed with the initials, that is, the psychedelic LSD, and the effect that your music can cause?
Ryan: It’s just a name, we had to call ourselves somehow: it doesn’t mean anything.
It’s a beautiful name, Love Spirals Downwards. It calls up so many wonderful images, but the name would mean little if the band wasn’t so good as well. With Ryan Lum on guitars and other instruments and Suzanne Perry on vocals, LSD have created three excellent albums for Projekt Records over the past few years. The most recent, Ever, is quite something; a wonderful wash of Lum’s layered, exquisite acoustic and electric guitar work and Perry’s truly angelic vocals.LSD played an acoustic set on KUCI on Friday, November 15, after which they sat down for a talk about many and varied things — and during which they proved to have, as a duo, one of the best repartees around!
Ned: Ryan has mentioned elsewhere that he was trying to experiment more with electronics on this album. As the singer, what do you try to do on the new album that was different from the past?
Suzanne: I don’t know if ever try and aim for anything, I just see what comes out. The only aim is to do something different — or at least feels different. I don’t necessarily make something different, or consciously try to be different… I don’t know if this makes sense?
Ned: I’ve heard stranger explanations!
Ryan: I lost her!
Ned: Well, here’s another question for you, Suzanne…
Suzanne: Ask me a simple one, ‘cause I’m really stupid!
Ned: A simple one it is. Who are your influences, singing or lyrically?
The duo of Ryan Lum and Suzanne Perry had no clear musical ambition —or even a band name— when they contacted Projekt Records. They jokingly called themselves as “The Flower People.” The response to their first full length CD ‘Idylls’ was no joke. At that time Projekt was run out of Sam’s house with a fairly small advertising budget. Nonetheless the band sold over 10,000 copies. Two years later the bands sophomore effort ‘Ardor’ again sold over 10,000 copies– this time taking far less time to do so.
Eschewing comparisons to “shoegazer” and “gothic” acts, Love Spirals Downwards have crafted a following that transcends genre and even generational “pigeon holes.” The label has received enthusiastic fan letters from teeny boppers and sitting Circuit Court Judges.The band has gradually evolved over the past five years. ‘Idylls’ dreamy aura, layered acoustic guitars and electronic was taken in an ever so slightly darker direction on ‘Ardor.’ The band’s third release ‘Ever’ combines elements of their acoustic live show with Ryan’s trance ambient influences. Currently a remix single for “Madras,” off the ‘Ever’ CD is in the works.
Ryan: Well, I don’t remember it being that overwhelming of a response. But I suppose that many people that had an initial liking to our music was because our songs are pretty songs, which is something a bit rare in music today
Pat: Don’t you think a good deal of the other artists on Projekt make “pretty” music? I can tell you that there was a pretty big reaction to your songs on that compilation…
Ryan: Sure, most of the rest of the Projekt artist make music that is pretty. But I think that we are the only one’s whose main aesthetic is in making a pretty and otherworldly sort of sound. Most of the others have something else going on in their music as well, more self-expressionistic things. I’m not saying that makes us better or worse than the others, but I think it makes our music stand out a bit, we have a quality that is distinct.
“ONE THING I LIKE ABOUT OUR NEW album is that it’s almost impossible to categorize with any of the conventional musical categories,” declares Ryan Lum, guitarist and keyboard player for Love Spirals Downwards. “There are really folky songs, really electronic ambient dance songs, and then these weird, loopy psychedelic songs. I think it all works together really well. It isn’t a huge shock from one to the next.”
Lum and vocalist Suzanne Perry create a lush, inviting sonic template on their third and newest album, Ever. Important components to their sound are Perry’s beautiful, dreamy vocals, Lum’s delicate, sometimes cryptic acoustic six-string melodies, and their integration of swirling keyboards and subtle effects, all of which produce a captivating kind of romantic, ethereal folk.
Live, Lum uses two tunings: standard and E A D G A D, a variation on D A D G A D. “Instead of my first note being D, it’s E,” he says. “That way, all the strings are tuned normally except for the high two strings, so I can fret chords on the low strings as I normally would and have all those drones on the top two strings.”
California’s LOVE SPIRALS DOWNWARDS is an enchanting outfit indeed! For those of you who aren’t familiar with LSD, please allow the words of vocalist Suzanne Perry and guitarist Ryan Lum to soak into your soul; just as their music does much of the same. LSD were formed out of two minds swirling towards one goal: to make ethereal music. And this Los Angeles-based duet have done nothing but make ethereal, transcending music on their two LP’s for the Projekt label (who have since relocated to Chicago). While the band are in the mid-way stages for their as-yet-to-be titled third LP, I urge anyone into billowing vocals and celestial guitar work to check out their latest release titled, “Ardor.” Ascending with LSD…
Requiem: You’re currently pursuing degrees at the university there, but what led you to start the on musical side of things?
Suzanne: l’ll answer that one. That’s a neat question
Ryan: Well, it was kind of something I had always been doing… It was never like, “I’m going to quit school to make music.” I never looked at music as something that I wanted to pursue seriously. I enjoy doing it, and it doesn’t take up that much time. So I’m going to school and whenever the time struck me to make music, I go off on my own way.
Suzanne: So what was the question again? Sometimes he changes it when he answers it (laughter).
Love Spirals Downwards is only nominally a band. Really, they are something more of a recording project undertaken by the duo of Ryan Lum and Suzanne Perry, just having fun with their music in a home studio. The result, though, has been three albums of atmospheric, ethereal music that has the ability to transport the listener in remarkable ways. Lum and Perry have degrees in philosophy and psychology, respectively. The effectiveness of the music makes one wonder how much of their academic training plays into their art, though they tend to deny any specific influence. Their first two albums, Idylls and Ardor, were critically acclaimed, and even if this isn’t exactly the stuff of top-forty hits, they developed a solid following. Ever, their latest effort (on the Projekt label), will likely take these musicians even farther, although that may not have been their intention in recording it.
PHF: I’m only familiar with your current album, Ever. Are the previous two albums similar in tone?
Ryan: They are similar in a certain respect. I think they are very different in a certain respect. We don’t like to make the same album. Once we’ve done it, we like to move on and do something different. The first one, Idylls, is more dreamy-sounding, more eastern, more like Indian music, not much intelligible English. The guitars are more processed. It’s a floaty-airy kind of record. The second one, Ardor, is more poppy, I guess? We have some structured pop songs. She sings in English a bit more. There are less effects on the guitars. Ever branches out in all different directions. Each of the previous two had a certain sound that was at the core of it all. Ever just went off every which way that we indulged ourselves in.
PHF: What’s the creative process that goes into a Love Spirals Downwards album?
Ryan: We develop it and do it all at home. We’ve got our own home recording studio. We’ve had it for years, and have just been growing and expanding it since then. We’re pretty well equipped to do it all home. In fact, the way we write, too, we have to do it at home. We don’t make up ten or eleven songs and say, ‘Okay! Time to go to the studio and record all the songs!‘ I’ll have some rough sounds or ideas and I’ll record them down on tape or into the sampler, and from there I’ll start getting more ideas. It will build from what I previously recorded. That would be a very costly, practically impossible, thing to do in the studio. We would be racking up the kind of budget of Sgt. Pepper’s or something like that. I’ll do the music and then afterwards I’ll give it to Suzanne and we’ll record her parts. Very often, especially on this album, I’ll record some more instruments after she does her parts, to let her influence me a little bit, too. It used to be that I would do all the music, give it to her, she did the vocals and that was that. Now I kind of vibe off her a little bit.
PHF: Do you play live much?
Ryan: We started doing live shows last year. Our first album came out in 1992. We did our first live show in 1995. It just shows that we are essentially more of a recording project than a live band. We’ve actually gotten pretty good at doing the live thing, if I can not speak so modestly. One reason that we didn’t play live before is that we had no real band. It was just the two of us. It would be kind of hard to recreate our weird sound live, just the two of us. The way we did it, and still do it — I might change it a little bit in the future — as it has been up to now, it’s all acoustic, kind of an Unplugged thing, just me on acoustic guitar and her singing. It works out very well, probably because at the core of all of our songs, that’s what it is. That’s usually how I write the songs. I lay down one acoustic guitar track on tape and build it up in the studio from there. It’s a quite powerful setting, too. People have to get quiet and listen, open up their ears. I don’t see how it would be better if we got a huge band or anything.
PHF: Is there anything that you hope that your audience will experience or take away with them from your music?
Ryan: I guess the kinds of things that I experience when I listen to my music, or music that I enjoy listening to. More of a spiritual experience. Some kind of musical listening experience that guides them in a higher direction. Not higher like taking drugs, but lifting them up a little bit, engaging their spiritual dimension.
PHF: Do your backgrounds in philosophy and psychology influence your music?
Ryan: It’s hard to say what in your psyche influences other parts of your psyche. I am what I am. I don’t consciously think I’m making philosophy in my music or anything like that. It’s guess it does cross over. It’s part of my whole world-view. It’s hard to separate out philosophy and art and religion and music. It’s just kind of the way I look at things, holistically. Suzanne is the psychology person… I don’t think psychology comes in too much into her lyric and vocal stuff. She does survey research, social policy research. It’s what she did in graduate school.
PHF: Has your music gotten to the point where you can do it full time? Or do you have day jobs?
Ryan: It’s teetering on the gray area between it. I guess it wouldn’t support the both of us. It might support one of us. It’s not something that either of us have these big hopes and dreams or even desires for. Suzanne only works on music once in a while. It’s usually me that is constantly working on stuff. Even for me, I don’t think I could work on music all the time. It would probably drive me nuts a little bit. It wouldn’t be as fun or special if that was always what I was doing…
As far as recording goes, it just when ideas are happening. Things aren’t always flowing. When they do come, that’s when I really work a lot. Other times, I won’t work for months. It depends on how ideas are coming and how inspired I feel.
PHF: I just noticed that Love Spirals Downward equals LSD…
Ryan: We were aware of that when we made the band name. We didn’t intend to align ourselves with the drug or anything like that. It’s hard to say. We thought it was kind of cool, because our music has a drug-like or spiritual effect, something a little different than your everyday consciousness. It was an interesting parallel, I guess. We were trying to find a band name to send out with our demo tapes. Since we didn’t play live, we had no need or purpose to find a band name. When the time came, we were searching. It’s tough to find a band name. Originally, we thought of Love Spirals Upwards. We went out one night and at two or three in the morning, we were listening to a show on a public radio station, some new age talk show. We were both kind of tired and getting kind of loopy. The lady started talking about love spiralling upwards and upwards… It stuck with us from there. We were calling it that for maybe a week. A friend pointed out that if you change it to “Downwards” instead of “Upwards,” you get the LSD acronym. We said, ‘okay, why not?‘
Suzanne: I just got back. I was driving like a mean person. When people piss me off at work, I drive really scarily. I really hate those people who run the red lights… they all band together and five of them go… So I pull out in front of them all and hope that they’ll clip me… in my demolition vehicle. I’ve got an old car and I thought about buying a new one…
PHF: I’ll ask you what I asked Ryan… Does your background in psychology influence your music?
Suzanne: I don’t think anything that I do plays into my music too much. That’s what’s so weird about it. I keep completely separate lives as far as music goes, and then the rest of my life. I don’t even remember that I do music, most of the time. It’s not like I’ll be at work or in my regular day and I’ll think about music, or a song, or performing, or anything — unless I’m worried about it. I look at it as a time to, not necessarily escape, but it’s a different time, a time when I’m different than I am usually. I don’t spend a lot of time bringing either world into the other. When you say “psychology” to me, I think about my work. Because of the type of psychology I do. I do research, so it doesn’t really fit with the music. Maybe if I were a clinical psychologist, or if I were into eastern philosophy and how that relates to spiritually. There are different types of psychology. There’s the touchy-feely psychology people, and the hard science psychology people. I’m more the hard science type.
PHF: Is there anything that you’d like your audience to experience or take with them from your music?
Suzanne: I really don’t think about it. I hope people have a good experience, or a positive experience, but beyond that, I don’t expect people to get much from it. That’s not my intention when I make it. I don’t even know why I do it. It’s fun for me. It’s fun. When you get past that, you get in trouble. Nobody ever experiences anything like you want them to. And who am I to want people to experience in a certain way? Beyond that, I can’t even control that… I can’t control if people are going to buy it, or even care about it. I really loathe the music business. At the same time, I’m not the fluffy artist, ‘Like, I hope people will get this from my art, because it’s, like, the universal language…‘
Ryan: Listening to your own music is kind of like looking at yourself in the mirror. Everyone else in the world can look at you and see you, but it’s hard to perceive your own self. There’s too much you know about yourself. Often, I’ll have a really great time listening to it. Other times, I’ll hear all the mistakes… It’s kind of painted by all those things that only I know and no one else knows.
Love Spirals Downward is only nominally a band. Really, they are something of a recording project undertaken by the duo of Ryan Lum and Suzanne Perry, just having fun with their music in a home studio. The result, though, has been three albums of atmospheric, ethereal music that has the ability to transport the listener in remarkable ways.
“We develop it and do it all at home,” explains Lum. “We’ve got our own home recording studio. We’ve had it for years and have just been growing and expanding it. We’re pretty well equipped to do it all at home. In fact, the way we write, too, we have to do it at home. We don’t make up 10 or 11 songs and say, ‘Okay! Time to go to the studio and record all the songs!’ I’ll have some rough sounds or ideas and I’ll record them down on tape or into the sampler, and from there I’ll start getting more ideas. It will build from what I previously recorded. That wold be a very costly, practically impossible, thing to do in the studio. We would be racking up the kind of budget of ‘Sgt. Pepper’s’ or something like that.”
Their first two albums, Idylls and Ardor, were critically acclaimed, and even if this isn’t exactly the stuff of Top 40 hits, they developed a solid following. Ever, their latest efforts, will likely take these musicians even farther, although that may not have been their intention in recording it.
“I really loathe the music business,” Perry exclaims. “I really don’t think about it. I hope people have a good experience — or a positive experience — but beyond that I don’t expect people to get much from it. That’s not my intention when I make it. I don’t even know why I do it. It’s fun for me. It’s fun. When you get past that, you get into trouble. Nobody ever experiences anything like you want them to. And who am I to want people to experience in a certain way? Beyond that, I can’t even control that… I can’t control if people are going to buy it, or even care about it.”
