Joined DJ Membraneous B. Sausage last night for a “sneak attack” DJ set and interview on the Ryders of the Plastic Groove show at KUCI FM. Anji was on hand to snap some pix.
KUCI DJ set and interview
Category Archives: Band News
DJ sets, radio appearances, and more
I’ve got a few radio spots coming up at KUCI, including a live remote broadcast that you can attend. I’ve heard that they can really get the crowd moving up there sometimes, so come join the fun! (but no booze, please…) All KUCI shows are broadcast via the internet, so you can tune in that way, as well. And later in April and May, I’ll be DJ’ing in San Francisco and Los Angeles. I’ll post more about those gigs soon.
- Wednesday, Feb 23
KUCI 88.9 fm, Irvine, CA
Music for Lunchpails – 8:00 pm
On-Air phone interview -
Friday, Feb 25th
KUCI 88.9 fm, Irvine, CA
Swope Transmissions – 8:30 pm
On-Air interview & CD giveaway -
Friday, Feb 25th
KUCI 88.9 fm, Irvine, CA
Riders of the Plastic Groove – 9:00 to 10:15 pm
Live remote broadcast: Ryan will be spinning a live on-air DJ set
This remote broadcast event will run from 9 pm to 12:30 am (and longer if conditions permit) at the University of California Irvine, outside in the Computer Science Plaza. It is free and open to the public, so come on down and dance! For directions, please view the Riders’ website.
A number of internet features are happening over the next few months, including an exciting interview with Radio Spy. I’ve also made my mix CD available through Live 365, so everyone can finally get a feel for what my DJ sets are like. More interviews with the band will be coming up in the next few weeks and months, so stay posted.
And then there’s the store promotions. We’re in a number of listening stations, so check for any in your neighborhood:
- Twist & Shout — Denver, CO listening station 2/1 – 2/29
- Rasputins — San Fran, CA listening stations 2/1 – 3/31
- Barnes & Noble — Nationwide listening stations 2/2 -2/29
- Virgin Sunset — Hollywood, CA listening station 2/8 – 2/22
- National Record Mart — sale price and positioning 2/22 – 3/13
- Borders — Nationwide listening stations 3/11 – 5/16
Temporal officially released
Temporal has been released by Projekt Records! We want to thank everyone who pre-ordered it at our webstore, and invite the rest of you to come pick up your copy (on sale for $13, including a personally signed band photo) at our e-store.
Several offers for interviews with radio stations, e-zines and magazines are coming in now, as well as a few DJ gigs, so keep checking back here for the particulars. If you are interested in setting something up with me, feel free to send an email.
New song, new album
It’s certainly been some time since I’ve had a moment to update the news section! Lots of things have been going on for me and the band recently and it’s all kept me quite busy.
First off, I want to mention our exclusive holiday song, “The Little Drummer Boy,” which is available FREE for your listening pleasure at our webstore. We’ve included both a Real Audio file and mp3 format, so be sure to take a listen (and download it for later enjoyment).
Secondly, I’m sure you’ve noticed the new look of the website; we’ve updated it in the style of…. our next album! Yes, we will be releasing a full-length album on Projekt Records this coming new year. Entitled Temporal, it features music from points covering our entire career, including 6 tracks which have never appeared on any Love Spirals Downwards albums. Check out the Releases section for further details.
Peace,
Ryan
Keyboard November 1999 Feature
BEAUTY AND THE BREAK
by Markkus Rovito
Ryan Lum may have tamed the breakbeat. His duo with vocalist Suzanne Perry, Love Spirals Downwards, has turned out three brilliant albums of majestic, guitar-wash dream-pop on the Projekt label, rife with heavenly ballads that conjure images of exotic cultures. But on Flux, the group’s fourth album, Lum adds breakbeats to the mix without compromising the band’s signature sound.
A follower of the dance music scene since the acid house of the late ’80s, Lum had wanted to do a more electronic Love Spirals Downwards album for years, but never found the right style. “When I first heard the more ambient, ethereal breakbeat stuff, I was amazed,” he says. “I haven’t heard music that moved my soul like that in years.” So when work began on Flux, the multi-instrumentalist/producer built many of the tracks on breakbeat foundations. “I’m used to making pop songs, like an A section, a B section,” Lum says, “but half the songs on Flux don’t follow that traditional pattern. It’s like having all these different parts and having them make sense as they flow together.”
Sony Soudbyte Winter 1999 Issue
LOVE SPIRALS DOWNWARDS FOUNDER RYAN LUM DISCUSSES USING THE SONY MDM-X4 FOR THE BAND’S LATEST ALBUM, FLUX.
I got the MDM-X4 mainly to record vocals, figuring that four tracks of audio would be plenty for our vocal tracks. But soon after I started using the MDM-X4 for recording Suzanne Perry’s vocals, it became apparent to me that I could get much more out of this unit than I first thought I could from a 4-track recorder. By planning my editing, I found I could free up a track or two, which then gave me ideas to add more guitars to many of the songs, which I did. Using the MDM-X4 gave me more creative options with my guitars, which in the end helped make the songs better.
DJ Ryan at Dervish
Had a chill time at Portfolio Coffeehouse’s Dervish club. Here’s a photo Anji took of me DJing.
DJ Gig in Long Beach
I will be DJ’ing in Long Beach, California on Thursday September 16th from 9 to 10:30 pm at the mellow coffeehouse club, Dervish. Dervish runs 7 PM to midnight at Portfolio, 2300 E. 4th St., 562-434-2486. Resident DJs Glenn Bach and Chowderhead, along with guest DJs and musicians, perform a wide variety of electronic and analog music, including ambient, dub, drone, downtempo, IDM, drum-and-bass, and free jazz. Visual artists provide a spatial environment of video, projections, and loops.
Losing Today, September 1999
THE DARLINGS OF PROJEKT
Interview & photos by Anji Bee
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 philopsher 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 anybody else does, for the fun of it.
Anji: What are you working on now?
Ryan: I’m working on getting live stuff together for us to do some shows soon. Not sure where or when yet, but you can check our web site for updates on that at the Projekt web site. I personally update our news, so there’s no rumors — everything is confirmed and absolute and will happen.
Anji: Playing live is not a usual occurrence for Love Spirals Downwards…
Ryan: We usually play a few shows a year. I don’t know what happened last year; we only played one — the Projekt Fest in L.A., 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.
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.
New webstore open!
Today is the launch of our new webstore! To kick off the opening of the store, we’ve put all four full-length albums on sale, including an extra special offer for the latest album, Flux. The first 50 customers will receive an autographed sticker for Flux, and the first 3 customers will also get a free copy of the Sideways Forest cd-single.