Category Archives: Interviews

Anji Bee of Lovespirals interviewed on Bite Size Bonus podcast

Bite Size BonusLovespirals vocalist/lyricist, Anji Bee, was interviewed by GD about the band’s new album, performing in Second Life, and more on Bite Size Episode #509. To hear this podcast, you must sign up for a free subscription to the BsB Members Only Podcast. BTW, GD holds the honor of being the UK’s first podcaster, and he has long been a supporter of Lovespirals podsafe music.

Shameless Plugcast Features Lovespirals

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Download Lovespirals’ Shameless Plugcast MP3

Zack Daggy interviews Ryan Lum and Anji Bee of Lovespirals about their band history, musical process, brand new album, Long Way From Home, and more in a Shameless Plugcast feature. Included in the show are two podsafe Lovespirals songs. Zack’s also running an autographed CD contest – see shamelessplugcast.com for details!

Lovespirals Feature on PodShow Radio

lovespirals 2007Lovespirals are the featured artist on this week’s PodShow Radio. Host, Brent Bradley, presents 43 minutes of podsafe Lovespirals tunes selected from all 3 albums, including their brand new single, “This Truth,” from Long Way From Home. The band also give a little background on why and how they recorded a cover of “Motherless Child.” It’s a very smooth production you won’t want to miss!

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Download PodShow Radio Lovespirals Feature Mp3

Anji Interviewed on Shameless Plugcast #2

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Anji is the special guest on today’s Shameless Plugcast, being interviewed by show host, Zack Daggy, about Lovespirals, vocal influences, podcasting, vidcasting, radio DJing, The Chillcast, Unwind, Lovely Ladies et al, plus a listener question from Ed Ovett, of Ed’s Mixed Bag Podcast.

Anji Interview Feature on Podcast Alley

Anji is currently a featured podcaster on the Podcast Alley site. Check out her “6.5 Questions” interview:

The 6.5 Questions

1. How long have you been podcasting?
I began my first podcast, Chillin’ with Lovespirals, in June 2005. Before that, I had been producing prerecorded music features as early as 2002, for both terrestrial and Internet radio, including my own Live365 station. It’s too bad I didn’t learn about RSS enclosures earlier! The Chillcast began in January 2006 via Internet Archive, then was officially launched on PodShow in March.

2. How many shows have you done?
As of today I’ve done 42 Chillcasts, 26 Chillin’ with Lovespirals band podcasts, and 8 Chillin’ with Anji Bee vidcasts.

3. How has your quality/performance changed since your first show?
A lot! Not only is my sound much more pro, but the overall tone and production value. I’m constantly upgrading my gear, so it sounds better all the time.

4. What podcasts do you listen to and which are your favorites?
My regular podcasts are Diggnation, Mysterious Universe, commandN, and the Daily Source Code, though I often skip through a lot of that since it’s daily… I just became regular with In Over Your Head, since I’ve pledged to lead Julien’s cult fan army. I also keep up pretty well with Dave’s Lounge, Tea with Hungry Lucy, and Senator Barack Obama’s Podcast. I check in from time to time with Accident Hash, Rumor Girls, Infected, The Lounge King Show, Inside the Net, and lots of others.

5. Tell us about your show and who should be listening to it?
The Chillcast is a weekly music show with commentary that offers a cosmopolitan blend of Electronica, Jazz, Soul, and World music. I play a wide variety of genres and styles, seldom repeat artists, focus on recent releases, and always offer plenty of information about the songs. From time to time, I do special artist interview features, or other one-off shows to keep things fresh. Listeners say my voice is as relaxing and sexy as the music I play, so I guess that’s one of the show’s draws! From the feedback I receive, my listener base seems like a pretty varied mix of age, gender, nationality, and musical taste — all with the common goal of chillin’ out, whether they are commuting, working, or relaxing at home. One listener in France says he and some friends get together Tuesday evening with a bottle of wine to listen to The Chillcast!

6. What is your background (especially if relevant to your podcast)?
I come from a long background in music, actually. I took recording classes in college, had 3 years in college radio as DJ and station manager, I created 4 different music fanzines, wrote music reviews and interview features for IGN’s now defunct RadioSpy site, I’ve been in a number of bands and collaborated with many others, and I’ve been really active in the online music community since 1998. So, I know a lot about independent and underground music.

6.5 Is there anything else your listeners should know about you, your show, etc?
I’m a multifaceted person with abundant curiosity and drive to create, so you really never know what I’ll be up to next. From my music show, to my band podcast, to my vidcast, you’ll see many different sides of me. I’m always coming up with fun new ideas and looking for others to collaborate with. Which reminds me, other podcasters and bands are welcome to contact me to get involved with The Chillcast!

Gearwire Artist Feature on Lovespirals

November 28, 2006, Gearwire Artist Feature, Patrick Ogle:

“On Pro Tools, GarageBand, And Pitch Correction: Lovespirals’ Ryan Lum And Anji Bee”

Ryan Lum has been making electronic based music for a decade and a half. First working with Suzanne Perry in shoegazer/ambient/electronica band Love Spirals Downwards and now in the successor project Lovespirals with new vocalist Anji Bee.

Lum’s music has ranged from the beautiful, meandering, shoegazing of Love Spirals Downwards to the new project’s fusion of downtempo and electronic jazz. Between the two bands Lum has released 9 full length releases and one single. Yet despite this electronica pedigree, Lum and Bee often eschew the electronic cutting edge for what some might consider old-fashioned [musical values]. Lum especially eschews the over-use of plug-ins.

“Two big reasons I don’t go crazy with audio plug ins and all: first, my computer is a bit old and a bit too slow and outdated for going nuts with that stuff.” says Lum “Second, I don’t really need them beyond basic stuff like compressors. I’d rather use a good rackmount reverb than a plug-in. Plus, some plug-ins just sounds horrible.”

Continue reading Gearwire Artist Feature on Lovespirals

Jason Knows Lovespirals Special Podcast

Take a listen to a recent interview with Ryan and Anji on the Jason Knows podcast, Episode 24. This intimate 24 minute feature focuses on the band’s writing process and includes rare demo and live audio from the band, as well as album cuts. This interview was conducted after our show at The Blue Cafe here in Long Beach, CA, which is also where the live tracks were recorded.

Atmosphere69 Lovespirals Artist Profile

The Lovespirals “Music Therapy” Artist Profile with DJette Agent69 is now available for free download as part of the launch of the Atmosphere69 podcast. This half hour feature produced for The Lounge King Radio Network was previously aired on April 2nd via Mix96 FM Canada, as well as on the streaming internet radio stations Luxuria Music and Lounge Radio.

Music Tap interview with Ryan & Anji of Lovespirals

March 13, 2006: Music Tap by Matt Rowe

“Honey and Cool Jazz ‘n’ Rock: An interview with Ryan Lum and Anji Bee of Lovespirals”

Matt: Ryan – Anji’s voice is hauntingly memorable; her voice sticks in my mind long after I heard the songs. Are you as hypnotized by her ability to mesh with your vision of how Lovespirals songs should be communicated as we are hearing it?

Ryan: Yeah, it’s surprising how her voice just fits perfectly. I’m very lucky. Her voice has been as important as anything in the evolution of our music together.

Matt: Anji, obviously you are an excellent fit with Lovespirals. The forward progression of the band incorporates you better than many bands undergoing a shift in style. How do you feel your involvement with Lovespirals changes the band? Have you brought your own influences into the structure of the band’s musical vision?

Anji: It would be impossible for me not to bring my own influences into the band, since we are a collaborative team. I think I bring an earthier element to the music. My vocals are very lyrically based, as opposed to Suzanne’s more non-verbal stylings, and my sound is more soulful compared to her purely ethereal sound.

Continue reading Music Tap interview with Ryan & Anji of Lovespirals

Stratosphere Fanzine Interview Lovespirals

Interview by Jen Stratosphere

JEN: Do you consider Lovespirals to be a continuation of Love Spirals Downwards or is it a totally separate creation?

RYAN: It’s a new band for sure. But on the other hand, I’m just doing my thing: making music. I never sat down and decided to make music in a way that wasn’t natural for me. I’m just doing what I’ve always done; making music that moves me, something that challenges me to grow musically, and something I’d want to listen to when it’s all done. With each album, I think I’ve been sucessful in being genre-less. That’s something I’ve pretty much always wanted to do; not be confined by the restrictions of making music that a certain kind of genre or following expects. I’m a free musical soul and I’ve always aimed at following my musical bliss. So older fans that got that from my music should still be just as pleased, if not more so, with Lovespirals. But if you liked my older music because you were a fan of the record label and their narrow genre and style, then you probably never really got what my music was about and won’t necessarily be into Lovespirals.

ANJI: This is a complicated question. You can look at it in different ways. Sam Rosenthal said that Lovespirals are to Love Spirals Downwards what Jefferson Starship are to Jefferson Airplane, or Pink Floyd are to The Pink Floyd Sound. In each case, a band member left and the name was shortened. Is it still the same band? Then again, Love Spirals Downwards were never really a band, per se, but a recording project headed up by Ryan. Of course, we don’t perform his old songs live, which fans would probably expect if they thought of us as being the “continuation of Love Spirals Downwards.”

Continue reading Stratosphere Fanzine Interview Lovespirals