Meet Luem: Eerie Harmonies & Faultless Songwriting
Luem is the quintessential artist to listen to when you want to feel every mood in her sundry vocals. Her latest singles “Wait,” “Pull Me Under,” and pop electronic cover of “Love is a Battlefield” by Pat Benatar just grace the surface of the ominous vibes that is shared through her music. Although she is new to the scene, Luem’s diverse songwriting and vocals are moody, etherial and unblemished. Her music journey continues to blossom single by single, pushing barriers in composition, vocals and production.
How long have you been doing music?
I’ve been writing poetry and lyrics since high school, but it wasn’t until four years ago that I really started writing songs and teaching myself guitar. I grew up singing in private girls choir and being classically trained. There wasn’t ever a moment growing up that I wasn’t singing. I’ve definitely loved music and been a part of it in one way or another passionately for my whole life though.
Your writing for your singles “Pull Me Under” and “Wait” are impeccable. What’s your songwriting process like?
Thank you. I usually start writing by being silent and listening in a quiet room alone and zone in until I begin hearing a melody or a few words or phrases. Once I’ve locked in on a melody or some lyrics, I stay focused until the song is in the moment complete. Everything I write begins with vocals and then instruments or a rhythm are added later.
Do you produce your own music as well?
The current singles that I’ve released someone else has produced based from bare boned vocal/instrumental ideas I’ve given. I write all my lyrics and melodies by myself though. That’s a process I value deeply for myself. Within the past two months I’ve begun to learn how to produce because there’s always been a difficult part for me in translating what I hear in my head to someone who isn’t me.
How would you describe your music?
This is always a tough question for me because everyone interprets music so wildly different from the next. To me it’s ambient, moody, synth electronic, indie pop.
Your music is very distinct to regular pop music, it has a different vibe; what music were you exposed to when you were growing up?
That’s a huge compliment, thank you. Growing up I didn’t listen to a lot of different artists. Charlotte Church and Michael Jackson, Elvis Presley, Frank Sinatra took up a lot of my headspace. Like most kids though, I listened to the Backstreet Boys, Britney Spears and N’Sync. But as I made my way into high school I was so moved by Imogen Heap, Birdy, Oh Land, Pat Benatar, Mutemath, and now London Grammar, Jaymes Young, Highasakite, James Blake. I’m inspired a lot by 80’s pop sounds and ambient anthems.
Since it’s so distinct, did it take you some time to craft your own personal sound that defined you as an artist or did it happen naturally?
It definitely took some time but honestly the sound that I’ve created came from writing and writing and writing some more. I used to worry about sounding unique quite a bit but somewhere between that deep concern and where I am now I found an appetite to write and create more and found my sound.
Have you had the opportunity to perform these songs live? Are you thinking of doing a live session?
I haven’t performed any of these songs live yet other than in my own bedroom 🙂 But there will be some live sessions coming up in the next year.
Is there an EP coming soon or other singles? What can we expect to hear?
There are three singles out currently, with four more following. Once the singles are released there will probably be an EP release with all the tracks together. My latest single was a cover of Pat Benatar’s “Love is a Battlefield”. The other three singles are originals and two of them are co-produced by myself.
Anjelihs: Beneath The Grapevine
Slow Runner: Sing About Your Feelings
Whether you’re sensing it through the pulse in the mellow rock instrumentation or in the illustration of their subtle harmonic lyrics, Slow Runner creates music to mend your damaged heart.
In the past decade, Michael Flynn and Josh Kaler, the two members of Slow Runner, have released four albums. Each of these albums showcases their vulnerability and reveals their sentiments to the world, relating to every core fan that still believes in their music.
With limited rise in the music industry and constant rejection from record labels, the group has decided to end an era of what seems to be a band with great music that never got its chance to shine.
The roots of the band go back to the late 90’s. Flynn and Kaler met in a music workshop at the Berklee College of Music in Boston. But it wasn’t until their graduation in 2003 when the duo became a band. They moved back to their home state of South Carolina and spent months fine-tuning a craft and a vision that they would devote the next 10 years to.
Their vision as artists consisted of making genuine and sincere music significant to others, yet maintaining their clever sarcasm as writers.
“To me, it’s sort of mildly weird pop songs with lyrics that at least try to be about something,” songwriter Flynn says about their writing style.
Fast-forward to 2013, when the band was still waiting for their big break. Kaler, who at first had low prospects for what it would take to feel validated, now feels the opposite. “I do sometimes wish more people knew that we existed.” Still, the band members thrived as underrated musicians.
Their success as a band should not be downplayed. In 2006, Slow Runner released their first full-length album No Disassemble, which got them a signed deal with J Records. Although that deal did not go in Slow Runner’s favor and was released a year later, their music was all over television soundtracks in 2006. They were featured in show soundtracks such as One Tree Hill and Grey’s Anatomy.
They also got to tour around the world with bands like The Damnwells, Josh Ritter, William Fitzsimmons, The Avett Brothers and Say Anything.
Since their label dump in 2007, Flynn and Kaler created three more exceptional albums. Shiv!, which was recorded after their drop from J Records, features hopeful ramble with songs like Varsity Drag, still carrying that same overemotional mellow ambiance. Flynn, the songwriter for the band mentions that it became harder for him to write as he made more music.
“It’s like you start off in a white room with perfectly blank walls, and each song is you coloring in a square on one wall. Eventually you look around and all the walls are covered and you’re just trying to find a blank spot to color on. Each of our records has been exploration of different walls and we always want it to feel that way to the listener.”
With limited coloring space, the band debuted their third album, Mermaids, in 2008. This time, they began to emphasize on creating more depressing beats with a video game concept. Songs like “I’m Gonna Hate You When You Go” and “Make You Love Me” bared Flynn’s complex songwriting skills. They created elegant, corroded beats, yet, maintained that hopeful emotion. On the other hand, songs like “Strange Days” showed Flynn and Kaler’s strength as dynamic rhythm makers.
Although they remained unnoticed in the music industry, their determination to stay together as a band never deteriorated. With no rise to fame, they produced one of their best albums, Damage Points, which was released in 2011. They freed their musical closet and created authentic Slow Runner music, completely accepting their sullen signature tones.
“Devil Moon”, a song from Damage Points, was written in the car when Kaler and Flynn were driving back from a show in Atlanta.
“On that drive back Kaler and I stayed up and talked a lot about playing music and getting older and trying to make a life happen amidst so much frustration and rejection,” Flynn said.
Flynn had made up his mind and told Kaler, “This is the last song I’m ever going to write.” Quickly, he added, “It wasn’t, but it was good for me to feel that way.”
Nonetheless, even after releasing one of their greatest albums, Slow Runner is still overlooked in the music industry. And not catching that break has caused frustration for both Flynn and Kaler.
Kaler began to focus more on other musical projects and Flynn had been entering a new chapter as a father. Slow Runner wasn’t a focus either of the guys anymore. This frustration and struggle between Kaler and Flynn grew and two years after the release of Damage Points, the duo decided it was time to say goodbye.
“It was weird at first… even depressing. It’s just so different,” comments Flynn on no longer being known as a band member of Slow Runner.
“Our last show as Slow Runner was on September 27, 2013 in our hometown at the Charleston Music Hall… we needed that closure.”
Kaler described rehearsal for the show as weird and fun for everyone involved.
“Ending Slow Runner in our hometown with our local crowd was surreal…It was the right way to end things.”
When asked to say a few words about each other it is obvious that there is a mutual admiration between the two artists.
“Kaler is the most talented person I’ve ever met, musical or otherwise,” said Flynn. “He’s made me a better feeling in life when someone ‘gets you.’ They understand you at some indescribable, fundamental level. To truly have that in a creative collaboration is rare.”
“Michael Flynn changed my life when I met him in Boston 13 years ago,” said Kaler. “Musically speaking, I haven’t come across anyone since then that extracts the very best out of me. I’m very proud of what we’ve accomplished over the years, and I’m optimistic that there will be more things to be proud of in the future.”
While the particular focus of Slow Runner is changing, both members are ready to end this chapter and start a new one.
Kaler adds, “We never really longed for anything close to fame. We just always wanted to make good art that meant something to others.”
Thuan Tran: Music Videos & Weed
While most individuals his age are eager to close the chapter of their undergraduate lives, Thuan Tran is rolling blunts in his office at 9 AM and meeting editing deadlines for video projects featuring artists like Beyoncé, Nas and the ASAP Mob. At the young age of 21, Thuan has achieved more accomplishments than the average college student.
Currently working at Karmaloop as the Director of Photography, Thuan gives himself no praise for his achievements. He humbly replies, “I’m doing okay,” almost as if he is unaware of his career successes in the past three years.
His job wasn’t always this entertaining and easygoing. At 18, he decided to drop out of Massachusetts College of Arts only after one semester. He gave up his scholarship and his life as a teenager to pursue a career in the video industry. “At first, I thought it was the worst decision I ever made.” He paused, meekly smiled and added, “This feeling only lasted about a week.”
Opportunity came knocking on the door early for Thuan, who began an internship with Karmaloop in Boston right out of high school in 2010. After a few months, the Director of Photography in Boston, Jackie Munoz, referred him to intern at the New York offices. “Naturally, I took the first bus I could find to the city,” leaving behind his younger sister and mother in Massachusetts.
He wasted no time transitioning from a college drop out to a dream chaser in the city. Filming three projects daily, his employment schedule became his life, working seven days a week from 8 AM to 2 AM. To Thuan, there was no such thing as eight-hour workdays. His life was consumed by work at all hours of the day. Still, to this day, he finds it difficult to have a social life. It is no surprise that for the first six weeks in New York, Thuan was living in his office. “This may seem like some pursuit of happiness shit to some people, but I thought it was awesome!”
Regardless of living out of his office, Thuan turned his negative situation into an opportunity to grow. At a young age, he knew he had to mature and focus on his career. “I had to humble myself and realize that I’m not the best anymore…I understood that I was nothing compared to who was killing it in New York.”
At times, Thuan did have regretful thoughts. Some predicaments would place him in a position in which he was tempted to walk away from it all. When faced with these situations, Thuan would just remind himself that “every artist goes through this, but quitting isn’t cool.”
Being a struggling underrated photographer in New York fueled him to stay up all night perfecting his edits. “I was filming two to three things a day with the biggest artists that I thought I would never be in the same room with.”
One particular artist Thuan made a connection with was the ASAP Mob, a hip-hop crew from Harlem. The group is lead by uprising rapper, ASAP Rocky. “I owe the ASAP guys a lot,” he says.
On Thuan’s 21st birthday, he got the opportunity to co-direct and edit ASAP Mob’s Bath Salt music video, which currently has over three million views on YouTube. Thuan created a mutual beneficial relationship with one of ASAP Mob’s group members, ASAP Ferg.
ASAP Ferg, who was awarded the “Rookie of the Year” award by the BET Hip Hop awards this year, admired Thuan’s skillful eye and asked him to direct his Persian Wine music video. Without any hesitation, Thuan agreed. “They (the ASAP Mob) understand that us photographers and directors need them as much as they need us.” An exceptional job that worked in both artists’ favors, Persian Wine has ranked up over one million views on YouTube, and ASAP Ferg continues to rely on Thuan for grim, violent videos and editorial pictures.
Working with music icons or soon-to-be icons is Thuan’s new field. As expected by most people who admire musicians, Thuan still gets nervous when working with some of his favorite artists.
Recently, Thuan had to do some film work for the annual Rock-The-Bells music festival in New York. “I remember throwing up in a porta-potty before an interview with Erykah Badu.” Nerves are inevitable, especially when you’re meeting one of your favorite music icons. For Thuan, dealing with nerves on top of stress from editing deadlines and long hours in the office take a toll on his life, which is why he has grown fond of smoking weed to calm his worries.
Thuan, who grew up smoking weed, comments, “I usually have like 10 things going on at once and when I take a smoke break, it gives me a second to prioritize things.”
Everyday, he takes five to six smoke breaks. At first, taking breaks during work hours affected him negatively. “I wouldn’t be able to process things quick enough at shoots orI’d make mistakes like forget a battery.” Quickly, weed became a tool instead of a roadblock. It became essential to his every day life. “How can I mess up now on simple things if I’ve shot crazy things whilst being crazy stoned?”
“Every day is kind of successful,” he simply answers, when asked about his most successful day since working with Karmaloop. He recently returned from a business trip in Houston, Texas. “I was working on a video project for Beyoncé’s new album,” he replies nonchalantly, while his job is one most editors would sell their soul for. But he counts getting his brother a job at Karmaloop as a superior accomplishment in his eyes.
With all these achievements at the young age of 21, Thuan’s main goal is not to become the best videographer in New York, although many would argue that he’s well on his way. His objective is personal. “I like knowing that my little sister can be confident in herself after seeing my brother and I do well.”
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