Ryan DJs Love Cat House

On Friday April 14, I’ll be spinning on the very unique “Dinner With a DJ” online music show, at the infamous Love Cat House. The show goes on at 9pm PST, and continues well into the early morning hours. I believe they archive their shows, so you might check for that later.

For those who’ve never caught one of my sets and are curious as to what they sound like, I’ve put up my mix set from last year, entitled “Atmopshere ’99,” on Live 365.com, under the Jungle and Dance categories. You’ll need a connection faster than a 56k modem to listen to it.

Launch.com just did a feature story, taken from an interview with Suzanne and I, at their site.

RadioSpy Interview Text

March 17, 2000 RadioSpy Interview by Sean Flinn:

Indie goths gone electronic, LSD’s sound now sketches its past while tracing its future.

“We’re the first and only for a lot of things on Projekt,” says Ryan Lum, the multi-instrumentalist and driving force behind Love Spirals Downwards, darkwave label Projekt Record’s top-selling act. Lum is sipping on a soda in a RadioSpy conference room and choosing his words carefully. He’s speaking of his band’s use of saxophone riffs on a song from its latest release, Temporal, a career retrospective that includes a number of unreleased tracks. Lum was concerned that Sam Rosenthal, Projekt Record’s sometimes finicky founder, might be less than enthusiastic about the sax track.

“[Rosenthal] actually made a positive comment about the saxophone. He said, ‘You know, it fits somehow,” recounts Anji Bee, Ryan’s self-described “partner-in-crime” and recent collaborator on everything from album art to vocals. Lum’s experimentation — with his sound and with the band’s direction — initially met with grudging acceptance from Rosenthal, who eventually warmed to the band’s new sound.

“It’s not his cup of tea,” Lum says of Rosenthal’s reaction to the band’s shift in sound from “shoegazer,” the ethereal style of feedback- and synth-drenched pop defined by British bands like My Bloody Valentine, Slowdive and the Cocteau Twins, to drum ‘n’ bass. “But we more or less have artistic freedom to do as we please. I guess being the top seller on the label doesn’t hurt us in that,” Lum says with a chuckle.

Continue reading RadioSpy Interview Text

Temporal promotions continue

Beginning Friday March 17, and continuing through the weekend, Radio Spy will run a Love Spirals Downwards feature interview and music broadcast. The program includes a number of songs I consider influential to our music, as well as a number of our songs selected by interviewer, Sean Flinn. After the weekend, the radio show/interview will go into their permanent archive, but try to catch the premier, as they’ll have a special flash animation on their main page. Radio Spy has also made my mix set, “Atmosphere 99” available for listening in their Jungle section, so check that out as well.

A very cool review and feature on the band just went up on a new website, The Stranger Next Door.

And for kicks, you might want to check out my guitar/music set up on the fanatical new site, Guitar Geek.

More articles in both web and print format are coming out soon, so check back here often!

Peace-
Ryan

UPDATE: You can now stream DJ Ryan Lum’s ‘Atmosphere 99 Mix Set via Mixcloud:

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.”

Continue reading Keyboard November 1999 Feature

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.

Continue reading Sony Soudbyte Winter 1999 Issue