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 music,” 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).
Requiem: Well, I heard on the “Echoes” radio show that you were pursuing degrees, amidst your musical career.
Suzanne: Well, that was a mistake (the “Echoes” feature). He didn’t tell me it was a New Age show, and I’m quite perky. It was ten ‘o clock in the morning. I just woke up and I had some coffee; I had to have some coffee in order to do this interview. But little did I know, they were going to overdub this really mellow voice over this guy who was asking us the questions.
Ryan: The person who you heard asking us questions on the show, was not the same person. The person that came over was a male, and the person who asked the questions on the show was a female.
Suzanne: He was more lively. Actually they dubbed both of their voices, none of it was him sitting there with us. If he was that mellow when I was interviewing with him, I would have picked up on that, and then I would have backed off a bit. But instead, you got perky Suzanne; it didn’t fit the interview.
Requiem: “Echoes” kind of made it sound like you were going to school, and then out of the blue, Love Spirals Downwards has two albums… Was LSD that spontaneous?
Suzanne: Yeah, it really was! I’ve always sang ever since I was little, so I think it’s something that’s natural in me. That was how I always expressed myself creatively, by singing. I often say to people, I wish I was given an instrument of some sort, because I think I could have played an instrument really well. I suppose I could start now, I’ve always wanted to play the violin… I do think I have a natural inclination for music. Anyway, the idea of doing LSD more professionally, as opposed to taking it more seriously, was spontaneous. There has always been that natural drive. We were even going out as a couple before it even dawned on us, that maybe we should do some music.
Ryan: I never really had heard you sing before, so l never thought about it.
Suzanne: Yeah, my singing was always something that I did leisurely and privately; It was never something I tried to get people’s attention by.
Requiem: You both have captivated quite a few people. Your latest release, Ardor, is a ’94 release. Are you working on new material? Can we expect more progressions from your first LP, Idylls, to Ardor?
Ryan: I’ve started stuff, but you (referring to Suzanne) haven’t even recorded your voice. I guess you’ve done a little bit. I’m working on the music more.
Suzanne: As far as singing goes, it’s really hard to tell what kind of direction you’re going in. Our directions are very unintentional, so until you’re doing it, you can’t really tell where you’ve gone. I couldn’t say at all how different it’s going to sound compared to Idylls and Ardor. I didn’t even realize Ardor was that much of a departure until it was a product. Then I could listen and reflect on it. I couldn’t tell you, because my singing is so unintentional. Maybe Ryan can?
Ryan: Musically I always try to change the direction. We don’t sit down and plot it allot, but I just try to get new instruments and sound involved. Time passes, years go on by, so you always start to think differently about things… I usually have a vague idea where I wanna go, but it’s not until the album is near completion that you really see that direction. If you’re asking us if we’re working on some new songs, yes, and when it’s done, will it be different than the previous stuff? Yes.
Suzanne: I gotta say that one thing that is intentional is that if we are doing music, and we start catching ourselves sounding the same, then we usually cut that part out. That is intentional, but for the most part it’s very natural.
Requiem: This question is directed towards Suzanne. I know that you create your own sounds to compliment the music. Is it easier to come up with sounds that fit the mood of the song rather than finding the right “real” word to make the sound?
Suzanne: I’m not really sure what prompted me to do that. I have a couple of theories about it, though. The first theory is that I don’t know how to write lyrics, so that’s the only thing I think I could come up with, the only thing I could produce. The other theory is that I like doing it. I like doing things that don’t have to be understood; something that doesn’t have to have an attachment to language. I think that’s limiting in a way, too! I think it’s nice to use a universal language that doesn’t get bogged down in meanings.
Ryan: l’d have to say we’re more into the sounds, feeling, and texture of the music.
Suzanne: Even if I have lyrics, I don’t stress pronunciation at all. In vocal training, they stress that; to speak clearly, to sound out every word, and make sure you end each word you’re singing. I don’t like that.
Ryan: We use what ever sounds best. That’s the rule: to not follow the rules.
Requiem: Now Ryan, I was wondering what effects you use on you guitar to get that ethereal, dreamy sound. I’ve messed around with some effects, and I just couldn’t get that LSD sound that’s on Ardor.
Ryan: Well, do you want a boring run down on the effects I use? It’s different for each song. In fact, I don’t even save the setting it’s on. I’ll just have all my effects together, and when I’m recording, I just start plugging different ones in to make different sounds. I’ll just record it right then and there, so l won’t have sounds I will come back to over and over again. A lot of times I make songs just from messing around with sound, as opposed to sitting down and songwriting. I don’t even intend to write a song, I just mess around with new effects trying to make some sounds, and the sound of all of it will inspire me. The main effects that are on there are: chorus, delay, reverb, phasing, etc… Since we’ve done Ardor, I got a sampler that I can do a lot of guitar looping and processing. Maybe the guitars will sound weirder on the next one, I guess.
Requiem: Do you think you rely too heavily on electronic percussion and atmospheres in LSD? A lot of bands will shy away from using acoustic instruments, simply because they lack the skills to use them.
Ryan: First of all, if we were to use a human drummer, there would be no Love Spirals Downwards; it’s just the way we do music. We don’t write the music first. In fact, after all the music is done, is when we get all the drums set up. It would be impossible to do that first. It’s essential for the way I write music, that I can do the drums last. I guess there are ways around that. The electronic technology is essential for the way we do music.
Suzanne: I don’t like that answer at all. I think we use it because those things are at our disposal, and it’s practical because we don’t have somebody around. Actually, both of us have a pretty good sense of rhythm, and I think if it was practical, we could get by as far as percussion goes. For a long time I felt that we hid behind all the effects. We get that a lot too!
Requiem: LSD is the acronym for Love Spirals Downwards. Do you have a lot of people asking you about that reference? Does it ever get tiring?
Ryan: No, I think it’s interesting. There’s a lot of bands that I wonder what that name means. I ask people that too, so no, I don’t think I get tired of it. The whole drug connection to our name, l don’t know what to think. We were aware of it when we made the name, but we didn’t want it to be an endorsement for the drug.
Requiem: Do you think LSD transcends genres? LSD is by no means stuck in the goth corner.
Suzanne: I hope so. If there’s anything intentional about LSD, I hope that it transcends genres, definitely. That’s so limiting, and it’s such a shame that some bands that appeal to a larger audience get stuck in that rut. They often get attached to you and they tend to make it very personal, like “LSD is our kind of band”. The worst thing about that is, that’s not what music is about. When you start bogging down music with Elitist views about your music… I don’t know. I hope our music transcends genres.