Lovespirals have launched a brand new podcast in conjunction with Chillcuts called “Chillin’ with Lovespirals.” Ryan and Anji discuss the evolution of the band’s fan interaction and computer use, answer fan email, and more in the premier episode. Download and subscribe via RSS for future episodes via the handy visual links on Lovespirals’ site.
Things change
I don’t get heckler fans that write to say, basically, that they do not accept Lovespirals and want Love Spirals Downward to return. I mean, how do they think Ryan is going to react? “Oh, they’re right. I better try to record another album like Idylls now.” I suppose these same people hassle Robin Guthrie about Cocteau Twins? Bands can’t remain static forever. People change and move on. Band members grow apart and lose interest. Things change. A decade is a long time for a little indie band to stick together, really. The bands that stay together longest are the ones who attain great popular success, and even those don’t always make it. Like Pink Floyd. They had to go through several different variations to get through their 30 years. I can hardly believe that Roger has rejoined the others for this special gig they just announced. Hopefully it will turn out better than the Cocteau Twins reunion that was supposed to go down earlier this year…
Garageband Podcasts
I totally forgot to mention the other week that I’ve been checking out the new Garageband podcast feature! Right now they’re offering free bandwidth to members for podcasting, which is pretty cool. I uploaded the half hour Hungry Lucy Interview Feature as a test, so now you can check that out at any time of day you like, rather than waiting for it to come on Chillcuts. Now I’m editing down a Lovespirals/LSD feature to upload next. Stay tuned for more info on that. Here’s a link to my :[chillcuts]: Garageband podcast.
Jewel box or Digipac
We were wondering what kind of CD packaging people prefer these days; jewel box or digipac? It seems to me that we used to think digipacs were somehow inferior when they came into the radio station at KUCI, but now I see that they actually cost a bit more to produce. There’s something a bit weird about them; the way they feel and how they sit in the CD rack amongst the other CDs. But then again, it seems like a lot of people just take the disc out of the case and put it into a vinyl folder style case. Of course, these days, I imagine many folks are ripping them into their computers and portable listening devices, and just shelving the CD.
Ryan was saying that he’s never released a digipac, so he might like to do that for the next release. And when he found out it uses much less plastic, he was even more interested. We just saw someone talking about how plastic is ruining the ocean’s ecosystem because so much of it finds it’s way into the water, and it never breaks down, so it stays there forever. Animals eat the plastic thinking it’s food, and then they starve. In some places, there is more plastic than actual food in the waters. Its really sad.
So maybe we’ll be more hippy and do a digipac.
You can read more about plastic nurdle environmental impact on Alquita.com
Chillcuts Hungry Lucy Feature
I’ve scheduled my 1/2 interview feature with Hungry Lucy to run twice daily at 1pm and 8pm PST so that hopefully everyone will get a chance to check it out. I think it turned out pretty cool and am planning to get some other features up in the near future. I’m also considering doing band features like this as Podcasts. Just not sure how long to make them or how often or how I’ll issue them etc etc…
We’ve been talking about doing a Lovespirals Podcast feed, but now I’m thinking it should be a Chillcuts Podcast, instead, so it can be more broad in scope. Or maybe it can be a group effort somehow? Like “Lovespirals in the Chillcuts Studio” or something. We’re really bad with names… I don’t relish coming up with our Podcast title and blurb. That’s the worst part of art, naming it.
Back catalogue on iTunes
The entire back catalog of albums by Love Spirals Downwards is now available on iTunes Store USA, UK, Canada, & Europe. If you are unfamiliar with the former band incarnation, this is a great opportunity to explore the many sound and style changes Ryan explored from 1992 to 1998. We’ve created a special Lovespirals/Love Spirals Downwards iMix with some of the highlights from both Love Spirals Downwards and Lovespirals.
Troubles with anjibee.com
Man, what a fricken flake I am! I just now realized that my personal site has been down for months and I had no idea. I paid to renew my domain not that long ago, too. I totally forgot I was hosting it on Earthlink, and when I switched servers, I just totally neglected to move my site. Duh! I’ve been thinking the past week or so that I really need to redesign my site because I made it in, like 1999, and haven’t updated it once. I spend all my time working on this Lovespirals site (and the Love Spirals Downwards site) so I never think about mine. Plus I’ve got the new Chillcuts site and about a dozen other sites like MySpace and Soundclick and stuff that I maintain… Hmm… I don’t even really feel like I need a personal site, per se, but there is a lot of stuff I’ve done outside of Lovespirals that might be nice to archive. It’ll take a lot of time and work though, which doesn’t sound that fun. I dunno. I just forwarded to my bio on here for now.
Hungry Lucy
This weekend I edited together a half hour Hungry Lucy interview feature for my Live365 internet radio station, Chillcuts. I’m kinda sneak previewing it in a half hour, just to check it out. Not sure what time will be the best to play it at for folks to tune in. Ryan thinks most people listen at work, so that would be daytime weekday hours. Even if I just plan for American listeners, I have to consider West Coast VS East Coast. Hmm… Wish I could just stagger it for a different time each day, so everyone will get a convenient timeslot. But that would be more of a pain in the ass with Live365’s Broadcast Scheduler. Oh well, people should just set their little ripping programs to grab it, anyway.
"Psyche" on Dawson's Creek DVD
The 1998 Love Spirals Downwards track, “Psyche,” featuring vocalist Kristen Perry-Gow, was included on episode #501 of Dawson’s Creek, on the WB Network. This season premier episode was just released on the Season 5 DVD set on May 3, 2005.
Ryan is Personality of the Week
Ryan is currently the Personality of the
Week on the South African based Underground Press website.
They’ve included some nice photos of him alongside his rather brief
interview. He’s a man of few words…
Lagging on CD release
Man, we are totally lagging on getting our new album out. Everything is so fricken weird in the music biz right now that it leave a lot to consider. We are in the midst of one of the most revolutionary times, making everything seem really unstable. I mean, seriously, are kids even buying CDs anymore? It seems like all I see are iPods these days. Are CDs going the way of vinyl and cassette? And which digital audio format is really going to win out. iTunes doesn’t actually sell mp3s, they’re AACs. That’s what I listen to, too! I don’t think WeedFiles are going to make it… Glad I didn’t end up bothering with those. Anyway, where was I going with this? Oh, we’re not too eager to sign a contract where the record company (haha, archaic term) will require us to give them our digital rights. It’s one thing to give them the rights to print CDs within a certain time frame, but quite another to let them distribtute digital files. Still lots to think about… Meanwhile, our album sits in limbo and new songs are being written for a third.
Robin Guthrie
Crap! I just realized I missed Robin’s show at Club Violaine last night!!! I was working out in Santa Monica and went to dinner afterwards with some friends and it totally slipped my mind. Somehow I was thinking it was tonight. What a bummer… I really enjoyed his show at The Knitting Factory a few months back. I wonder how it went last night with the whole improv set thing?