All posts by Anji

Adios Mexico

Well, we’re back from our little Mexico tour, but we’re already making plans to go back and do some more cities. The response was amazing at every show, from both the fans and the press. We did TV, radio, newspaper, and magazine interviews every day. I can’t tell you how strange it is to be featured on the front page of the newspaper alongside Mariah Carey and Kim Basinger! Ryan says I’m a sex symbol in Mexico, and I can’t say I disagree. The boys seem to like me quite a bit more than here in America… I’ve never been kissed by so many different people in my life! But then again, people seem much more open and expressive in Mexico. Crowds are much warmer at the shows there in general, it seems. The three venues we played were all very different, with a different vibe, but all the shows went very well and I know that I gave the best performances that I ever have. I was inspired to give my all to the people. All in all, it was a crazy 4 days, but very good.

Leaving on a jet plane

So we leave for Mexico tomorrow. We’ve had several last minute changes in venues and travel plans, so it’s been pretty crazy. Not sure if we’ll end up doing any of that promotion after all, since we’re travelling much later and arriving in Leon. Oh well! Hopefully plenty of people will show up, anyway. Our manager had asked for a video to use in commericals, but we don’t have one! It would be cool to make one sometime, though.

Hope I don’t get scared on the flight. I’ve been much better about flying since I’ve been with Ryan, but I bet if he weren’t there with me, I’d be terrified. I also hope that screening and such at LAX isn’t as huge a hassle as it was when we travelled for ProjektFest. I had to keep taking off my shoes and Ryan had to keep unpacking the guitar effects and explaining what they were. UGH. I heard it’s a bit more lax at LAX now, thankfully.

Lovespirals featured on Forever 21 Site

Fashion retail store, Forever 21 just launched a brand new website which features an all new recording of the Lovespirals song, “Hand in Hand.” A clip of the track is used as a loop for the company info area (click the green dot), but the full song is also available in the Featured Musical Artists’ area. Just click on the speaker icon, then scroll over the band’s photo for a band bio and option to play the full track.

Mexico, here we come!

Well, it’s finally finalized. We’ll be going to Mexico next month for 3 shows and a day of promotion. Apparently we’ll be interviewed for TV and newspapers. Sounds very busy, all in all. I hope we’ll still have time to enjoy the 3 cities we’re visiting. Ryan’s told me so much about Mexico City. He’s happy to be able to see a few new places this trip. Guanajuanto is said to be very beautiful. The club in Leon looks very, very nice too! Should be a good time.

Lovespirals Featured by WRTU FM, Puerto Rico

Radio Universidad de Puerto Rico stations WRTU 89.7 FM and WRUO 88.3 FM are running a series of programs with Lovespirals on the ecclectic music show Frequencias Alternas. Last week, host Iohann Rashi, interviewed Ryan and Anji about their new release, Windblown Kiss. Tommorrow he will run a special show hosted by Anji, highlighting some of the bands and songs which inspire Lovespirals. The program runs from 9pm to midnight.

Here is a Google Translation of Rashi’s recent review of Windblown Kiss.:

The Sound of a Kiss to the Air
By Iohann Rashi, WRTU

Lovespirals Windblown Kiss

THE GROUPING
Lovespirals is the fusion of talents of Anji Bee and Ryan Lum. Anji, is the one in charge to give voice to the project, Ryan music through different types from guitars.  Both create a unique sound that explores all type of styles and textures, that include from eclectic and the ethereal thing, until experimentations with I touch of jazz, ambient, folk and world music.  A quality that distinguishes them is its expressive freedom in its musical composition, allowing the imagination to travel freely by any route that the sound of its compositions allows it.

THE DISC
Windblown Kiss is the turn out to join tastes and influences of both integrates in a unique style that has given the seal them that distinguishes them.  We can appreciate in the voice of Anji Bee a sweet and enthusiastic voice that molds its intensity in each cut, showing to us the guitar and enchantment much that can express a voice that without technological complications can fill to its ears and their minds with beautiful stamps.  This disc includes 10 songs, plus a hidden additional song at the end of the CD Between the additional enchantments of this disc, a song sung in titled Spanish “Déjame” and “Windblown Kiss” is included who includes letters in English and German, in addition to a tribute to the America band with the song “You girl”.

THE RECOMMENDATION
When listening to this album you will notice a mixture of all type of styles, which gives it its particular singularity:  it has something of blues, jazz, rock, folk, world music, ethereal, gothic.  But it is not any of them.  Or perhaps it is all them all simultaneously.  That is what is so special about Lovespirals, its capacity to fuse so many influences and turn them something so simple and simultaneously so diverse.  Reminding us that music is a freedom of expression, as a kiss sent to the air.

Our qualification from 0 to 5:  5 radios

Mexico City Area Tour

Plans are still underway for us to do a few shows in and around Mexico City next month. It is unnerving waiting until the last moment like this, but our manager assures us it is happening. He even asked us for some video footage to use in television promotions — but we don’t have any! Right now, talk is that we’ll do Mexico City, Guanajuato, and now possibly Morelia, as well. Leon was also asking about us. The show dates fall between the 12th and 15th so far. Looks like it will be a full week!

Most like LSD

I was just thinking about how funny it is that many of our reviews have claimed that our album is largely unlike any of the Love Spirals Downwards albums, aside from one song — but that “one song” is always a different song! Some claim the song “most like LSD” is “Swollen Sea,” others “You Girl,” or “He Calls Me,” yet others claim it’s “Windblown Kiss,” or “Dejame” (which is the one I figured would be cited). So, if all of these people are to be believed, then actually about half of our album sounds pretty darned close to Love Spirals Downwards. Yet, still, most people seem to be in agreement that Lovespirals are really nothing like LSD. How can that be true?

The one thing that really bugs me is how many people want to tag it as a Jazz album, when it so obviously isn’t. I mean, come on — none of the songs listed above are even Jazz songs, and neither are the two songs with Sean, or really even “Oh So Long,” since that’s Blues. “Our Nights” is not truly Jazz, either. In fact, there is only 1 true Jazz song “I Can’t See You,” and we saved that ’til last. Sheesh! Throw in a smattering of saxophone riffs and Jazz guitar chords and suddenly you’re JAZZ . PUH-LEASE!

Break downs

A few folks have written or posted, asking us about our so-called “vacation at home” that Ryan mentioned we’d take after our L.A. show. Others just wonder in general what’s going on with Ryan, since he hasn’t posted in a bit. Well, let me just tell ya that he’s been busy as heck trouble shooting the iMac and trying to fix various broken down things the past few weeks. They say ‘when it rains, it pours’ and that must be true! We don’t know if we have a curse on us or what, but just about anything mechanical we touch seems to be breaking down, from effects units, to cars, to dryers. Blech!

One day we’ll have a clear shot to record some music again.

Knitting Factory

Wow! The Knitting Factory is a great venue; beautiful stage, great sound, super nice crew — top notch, all the way around. Our show was very intimate, with lots of friends in the audience, so it was really fun. It was nice to have Doron join us on stage again, too! We were much tighter this time around, so he didn’t blow us off the stage, like at Projekt Fest, heh heh heh. All in all, it’s nice we saved L.A. til last, as it was a nice way to end our little West Coast tour.

We plan to chill on live shows for awhile, so we can get back into the studio to record the many song ideas we’ve had since “Windblown Kiss” came out. Playing live is fun, but writing and recording is the thing that really keeps us excited.

Ipso Facto

The in-store acoustic show last night went well. I’d say that just the right amount of people showed up. The store was nicely filled, but not too packed. It was good to see Bob and Terri, from Ipso, again. We also saw Gary and Dach, both of whom I know from way back when at KUCI. It was a good crowd all the way around.

It was cool to see Audra perform acoustic. Bart borrowed Ryan’s steel string guitar, which sounded quite nice with Bret’s voice. After the show we were talking with them about doing a show together in Arizona. Bart was saying that we should have played a song together, so I suggested we do that in AZ. Today it occured to me that Bret and I could do one of the duets together; maybe “You are the Gun.” That could be cool.