We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Lovecolor. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Lovecolor below.
Lovecolor, appreciate you joining us today. Can you open up about a risk you’ve taken – what it was like taking that risk, why you took the risk and how it turned out?
Ryan: There’s the old adage, “nothing ventured, nothing gained.” For most of my life, I’ve really taken that to heart. I’ve taken pretty big risks throughout my life. From my small, rural farm town, I applied to a prestigious university, as my Hail Mary plan to attend my absolute dream school, and… I got in. Coming from where I grew up, that definitely felt like a massive risk. It was very uncharted territory, and it was an entirely different world than that to which I was accustomed. It opened a new universe to me.
Then, two years later, and many rich experiences later, I realized that I was restless and yearning for something different. There was an even bigger dream taking shape. After my sophomore year there, I packed up every single belonging I had and moved to Los Angeles to pursue a career in entertainment. There was no safety net, as there had been in college. I was truly on my own — in a massive city with no friends and very few acquaintances. All I had was the money in my pocket that I had saved from my summer job, the moral support of my immediate family, a big dream to live an artistic life unlike anything I ever thought possible, and an enormous amount of naivety that probably worked in my favor just about as often as it didn’t.
For me, those are thus far probably the two most consequential (and equally risky) choices I’ve ever made. I could’ve failed miserably. But I didn’t have a backup plan. I actually think that’s a very important factor to taking big risks. Don’t have a backup plan. Backup plans make it easy to not fully commit to the risk — at least when it comes to big life choices that involve the pursuit of dreams. I can’t imagine my life without having made those choices. They’ve informed the person I’ve become to a great degree, and they sent me on a wildly different journey than I I would have been on otherwise. They lead me to the life I get to live today — which, though not without enormous challenge, is really my dream life by most metrics. Had I not chosen to take those risks, I would have missed out on traveling the world, learning about myself in ways unimaginable, and getting to create art, which as a child was my earliest vision.
The thing I’ve realized though about taking risks is that as I’ve gotten older, it’s gotten harder. I think when we’re young, we perceive that we have all the time in the world… time to make mistakes, time to figure out ourselves, time to go on less direct paths to where we’re ultimately going. As I’ve lived more years of life, I’ve felt more of an urgency to have it all figured out, to make fewer and smaller mistakes, to take a more linear path to my destinations. Unfortunately, not taking risks, or taking smaller risks, is antithetical to making art — certainly inspired art, at least. It’s also antithetical to creating a life well-lived. It’s not conducive to curating an expansive life, full of rich, varied experiences that can lead to beautiful self-discovery and surprises that can turn us on our heads in the best way. The truth is for me, that every time I’ve taken a massive risk, it’s made my life better. Every time I’ve dared to do something wildly out of my comfort zone, not only has it paid off, but it’s grown me and grown my life, and I suppose it’s expanded my comfort zone. It’s given me the confidence to dream bigger, to do things that some people only fantasize about doing because they are so risk averse, or because they’ve been lead to believe that safety lies in familiarity and comfort. To me, that sounds like complacency, and I hate complacency. So, I push myself and challenge myself to continue to take bigger risks, even though it feels harder now than it did when I was just entering adulthood.
I’d say the bottom line is: if you have big dreams and you want a big life (and that has nothing to do with money or fame, but rather a richness of experience) then it’s a requisite to take big, bold risks.
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
Lovecolor: LOVECOLOR is an alternative duo formed by singer, songwriter, record producer, and label owner Vanessa Silberman and musician and actor Ryan Carnes.
For a long time, Vanessa was a solo touring artist, performing extensively. In 2015, at a holiday party, she and Ryan met through a mutual friend. At the time, Ryan was looking for a record producer for his own project. The two connected over music and life and chose to stay in touch. Whenever Vanessa came to town on tour, Ryan would attend her shows, always admiring her tenacity and commitment as a performer. He had mentioned that if she ever needed a drummer, he would love to play with her, even if just for a one-off show.
In 2019, while Vanessa was on tour coming from Arizona, she needed a last-minute drummer for an LA show and asked Ryan if he could learn the songs and play. They didn’t have time for a rehearsal leading up to the show, so Ryan had to learn the songs from the recordings and be performance-ready. They played the show, and it went amazingly. From then on, Ryan started drumming with Vanessa, and they began collaborating on her solo music. Since they both loved a wide range of musical styles, they often said that one day they’d start a band together to explore different genres.
As time went on, Vanessa started creating music that was slightly different from her solo material, and the evolution of their sound slowly took shape. In 2022, Ryan and Vanessa officially decided to form a band, and LOVECOLOR was born. One thing that makes the band unique is that both Ryan and Vanessa are huge rock fans, but they also love pop, synth, dance, industrial, alternative, grunge, and classical music. As a result, LOVECOLOR blends a variety of influences into one dynamic and genre-defying sound. At its core, LOVECOLOR’s message is about exploring the many facets of love through music.
What do you think is the goal or mission that drives your creative journey?
Vanessa: For me, music has always been incredibly therapeutic and is a personal fulfillment. As a band, we love playing live and connecting with people. But as a mission and goal, ever since I was young, I’ve felt that music was my mission and purpose in life. My purpose is to uplift people through music and give them something good that fills their liveS with something positive.
Specifically, coming from LOVECOLOR, as an artist, musician, record producer, and as someone working in the business, it’s been about reaching as many people as possible. As a songwriter, my focus has always been on sharing love, hope, and positivity through music.
With LOVECOLOR, Ryan and I are very aligned on the message of love and these values. Love is at the core of our message as a band, and through LOVECOLOR we’ve really tapped into exploring all its facets. Our goal is to make people feel and to move them emotionally through different forms of love. That could mean diving into deep, introspective lyrics about self-love, writing vulnerable and sensual songs that embrace human connection, or bringing high-energy, fun music to our live shows. We want people to rock out, dance, feel joy and love, and just have fun. We hope all that leaves people feeling positive emotions and inspired to live life more fully and freely.
What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?
Ryan: I had to un-learn the lesson that I can only be one thing and that I have to pour every ounce of my creativity into that thing. I’ve always naturally had a multitude of interests and have been drawn to more than one discipline. When I first moved to Los Angeles, I moved out there to pursue a career as an actor, even though music was my first love and I’d played the drums since I was very young.
Not long after I moved to LA and started working as an actor, I started meeting other musicians who were interested in playing together. One guy was a co-star of mine on a show I was recurring on. He was gearing up to play a benefit show, needed a drummer, and asked me if I’d be down to learn the set and play the show. I was stoked to be offered the opportunity and said yes without hesitation.
I was really excited to play and invited friends and colleagues out to the show. One of the people that I invited was my then talent manager. He knew that I was a musician and was curious to see me play. After the show, he came up to me to congratulate me and tell me he was pleasantly surprised. That felt great. However, the very next thing that came out of his mouth didn’t. He told me, “You’re good, but don’t get any ideas. You’re an actor. Not a musician.” I was barely 20 years old at the time and still very impressionable. To hear him say that crushed my spirit. Because deep down in my heart, I knew I wanted to do both. I knew I wanted to act and play music.
But, tragically, as naive and impressionable as I was, I listened to him. I bought into that small-minded thinking about what was possible and what I was capable of doing with my life. After all, he was the guy who had plucked me from a obscurity and who was championing me as an actor. I couldn’t let him down… right? The problem was, I was letting myself down, and I continued letting myself down for the next decade. From time to time, I would get offers to audition for bands, or I would meet musicians with whom I could have collaborated. Instead, I turned down opportunities and sold myself short.
I basically woke up one day years later and thought, “What the f*ck am I doing? Music feeds my soul, and the fact that I’m not playing and creating it is a total waste. So, I decided to change that. I set the intention to start connecting with musicians, even if it was to just jam. I had no attachment to being in a band, though that was definitely part of my vision. In little time, I was jamming, auditioning for bands, and landing gigs. I was finally doing what I wanted to do, not what someone else wanted me to do, or thought I could do. I was only up against my own limitations, not someone else’s. I played in 3 or 4 different bands, that all ended up breaking up almost immediately after we cut our first demo.
Eventually, Vanessa and I found each other, started playing together, then collaborating together, and ultimately created LOVECOLOR. Now, I’m not only playing music, but I’m writing, recording, and co-producing music that I love. If I hadn’t decided to stop listening to other people and start listening to myself, this band wouldn’t exist, and I’d be missing out on a lot of joy and fulfillment. I’ve learned over the years, that a lot of people want to saddle others with their small-mindedness and perceived limitations. I no longer allow others to do this to me. I’m the ultimate arbiter of what I decide to do with my life, how I choose to spend my time, and what I want to create in the world — not anyone else. Often, we are capable of so much more than others lead us to believe and even what we tell ourselves. I had to learn this lesson the hard way. I’m just grateful that I finally learned it.
Contact Info:
- Website: http://lovecolorband.com/
- Instagram: http://instagram.com/lovecolorband
- Facebook: http://facebook.com/lovecolorband
- Youtube: http://youtube.com/@lovecolorband
- Other: SPOTIFY: https://open.spotify.com/artist/5EitiS5hCnz2cz732vvWYs?si=mq7-0VUHSOC-ygfYPkLe-A
BANDS IN TOWN: https://www.bandsintown.com/a/15512995
SONG KICK: https://www.songkick.com/artists/10255003-lovecolor
Image Credits
All images except for photo from live performance by: Zachariah Schmitt IG: @zachariah_shoots
Photo from live performance by: Amanda K Walker