La Luz’s Shana Cleveland is “Living in a State of Love”

La Luz’s Shana Cleveland has experienced a whirlwind decade since her last interview with SLUG. In that time, she’s released five more records, including a solo album, and delved deeper into a lush, experimental psychedelia sound. Cleveland also faced a personal battle with cancer, drawing profound inspiration for the band’s latest album, News of the Universe. The record is a rich tapestry of innovative sounds, exploring themes of control, resilience and new beginnings.

Ahead of La Luz’s upcoming performance at Urban Lounge on Wednesday, October 30, Cleveland—lead guitarist and one of the creative forces behind the band—spoke with SLUG, sharing intimate insights into the creation of News of the Universe and how her personal struggles shaped the album’s emotional depth.

SLUG: It’s been nearly a decade since SLUG last interviewed you in 2015, and you talked a lot about working with Ty Segall on It’s Alive and Weirdo Shrine. What has changed for you as a band since then?

Cleveland: So much has happened. I feel that the tour with Ty feels so close to the beginning and I guess it was. We had only been a band for two or three years at that point and just started to realize who we were. The band has evolved a lot over the years and now we released News of the Universe in May; it’s our fifth record and the band lineup is totally different. And personally it’s just been an insane 10 years. 
It’s truly hard to know where to start. 

SLUG: Speaking of your new album, I absolutely loved it! And to me, it sounded like it leaned more towards psychedelic sound compared to some of your previous records. Was that a deliberate direction you aimed for, or did it emerge more as an unconscious transition and experimentation during the creative process with the new members and the new producer? 

Cleveland: Yeah, I think probably a bit of a combination. 
I think the influence of Maryam Qudus, who produced the record definitely pushed it toward a more of a psychedelic side. She’s really into synthesizers, maybe more into synthesizers than anyone I’ve ever met. There were a lot of really cool elements that she brought to the table as far as sounds that we haven’t used before. 


When the band started I wanted the records to sound the same way we sound live—I wanted to use one guitar pedal, that’s it. I was sort of this purist for rock and roll energy. Over the years I’ve loosened up and really gotten more interested in the way that an album can be more expansive than what a band can do live. So with this new record, I feel like like we have “The Beatles”’ trajectory. They started out by covering R&B songs with their matching suits and then got to the point where the albums were just these weird amalgamations of different styles and sounds and things that can’t really happen live, but they’re more beautiful and interesting for it. And for us, Maryam [Qudus] was really the perfect person to come in to the recording experience at the time and then also join the band on keyboard. So she’s also helped us realize these records in a really cool, weird, expansive way live as well. 
That’s been really fun!

SLUG: 
Yeah, I think the synth made it sound almost alien, in a good way! 

Cleveland: Yeah, I trip out on how synthesizers are the instrument that we think of as the most, like, artificial or inorganic. 
But then they’re also the best vehicle for recreating the sounds of the natural environment, like the sounds of bugs, of wind, of any weird natural sound that is around us. I think they were really good for creating a natural environment on a record in a way that is also a little eerie sometimes.

SLUG: I read that you worked with a female sound engineer on this album and noticed that female artists were involved in creating the album cover as well. Did having a predominantly female team impact the creative process in a noticeable way? How was your experience working with an all-women crew?

Cleveland: The experience was great! 
It was an accident, we weren’t intending to just work with women, but then as we kept going I just kept realizing we’re only working with women. 
And it’s  interesting to keep in mind when you when you listen and experience the record. Even the music videos were all directed by women. And the album art, and mastering, and producing, and mixing, and engineering and of course everybody that played on the record. I feel like there’s just so much strangeness and mystery around womanhood, So I felt like this album embodies that. 


SLUG: Yeah, what I find so fascinating is how it was a series of coincidences bringing all these women to the project. I love how you’re embracing it. It’s clear that it’s really about the music and the people who worked on it, which makes it feel so genuine.

Cleveland: It’s sort of a side note. We don’t really think about a lot of those parts that make up an album. Things mastering, or who directed the videos, or who did the artwork aren’t talked about very much. It’s an interesting way to look at the album holistically and say “this is what an example of what happens when it’s only women that work on a project.”

SLUG: Something else you talked about in the past is your diagnosis, so how would you describe this new album in relation to your diagnosis? Is it more of an exploration of the loneliness and fear you experienced, or did it serve as a way to process and release the negativity that came with it? 

Cleveland: I wrote the lyrics during a time when I felt like the worst was behind me. I was coming out of this really difficult, traumatic and scary experience, and I was still processing everything—trying to understand what had happened and how to move forward. That made the songs feel really personal, raw and even a bit strange

Even though I’ve listened to the album a million times, I keep discovering new things with each listen. The songs feel like they exist in this mysterious space—just like I felt unsure about my place in the world and life itself. When someone tells me they know exactly how the world works, or that people are either good or bad, or when they seem certain about anything in life, it feels really suspect to me. These songs, in that way, feel very open, like they’re still working things out.

But I think the main message underneath all of them is this deep love at the core of everything. It’s what helped me get through that difficult experience and move forward, even while still feeling a bit traumatized. I guess it’s about accepting that whatever happens, happens. As long as I’m living in a state of love, that’s really the best—and maybe the only—thing I can do.

SLUG: I’m curious if there’s a specific message or emotion you wanted people to really pick up on, or if it was more about creating a general vibe, like that feeling of love you mentioned earlier.

Cleveland: I think that the record is a real embrace of the chaos of the human experience and the idea that you can’t hold on to anything and [that] everything is going to change and just sort of embracing that change. I think that’s part of the reason that so many of the songs on the album revolve around nature. 

Another big reoccurring theme on the record is letting go of control. I think that I’ve found a lot of comfort in letting go of control, I see it as something that tortures people. I’ve been reading a lot of Buddhist philosophy to help me cope with the trauma of the uncertainty around my cancer diagnosis. I think the undercurrent message of the album is about reaching a place where you surrender control to the universe.

SLUG: This is your sixth time in Salt Lake City, and you’ve toured numerous countries around the world, recently completing the European leg of your tour. Can you share more about your experiences on the road, live vs in studio?

Cleveland: I love playing live! I’m so happy we get to tour so much for this album, especially since it’s my first time touring after my cancer diagnosis—it’s felt really triumphant for me. We’ve put so much preparation into this tour, more than I’ve ever done before. This time, we really wanted to bring the record to life, so we’ve thought a lot about the visuals, like projections, and we even have props on stage. We’ve carefully chosen the music we walk onto and off the stage with. Every little detail was considered to really infuse the performance with the spirit of the album!

SLUG: Do you have any other artistic inspirations from other mediums besides music that you look up to?

Cleveland: Yeah, I think I’m influenced by this book of poetry that I was reading at the time. It’s metaphysical poetry about nature. 
It goes through the history of people looking to nature to figure out larger ideas behind life and humanity. The book is called News of the Universe, edited by Robert Bly. I also watch a lot of movies. I don’t know how much of that comes in to the music, but I tend to like movies that are slow and strange. And I think the biggest inspiration is living in the country (rural California). It’s so different from living in a city and that change is really exciting to me still every day. 
I just really appreciate just being able to be so close to nature. 

SLUG: Is there a band/artist outside of your genre that you’d love to collaborate with? 

Cleveland: Maybe Solange. I also really love the director that we worked with on the video for “I’ll Go With You.” 
It is a pretty absurd video made by Rocio Mesa. She made a full length movie, Tobacco Barns, which I find really beautiful and [I] would love to collaborate with her more!

SLUG: I’ve read that you were a big fan of Smashing Pumpkins, I think a La Luz and Smashing Pumpkins collab would be crazy good! 

Cleveland: Yeah, that would be great! 
I mean, Billy Corgan seems like a total freak, but I’m down, totally down!

SLUG: What does your music smell like? 

Cleveland: I think our music would smell like this cactus I have by my stairway. I actually mention it in the song “Always in Love.” It has this flower that blooms randomly—you never know when it’s going to appear. It only blooms for a really short time, but when it does, the smell is absolutely gorgeous! I love how it just hides away and then suddenly bursts out, is magnificent for a moment, and then disappears. So yeah, I’d want our music to smell like that flower. I think it’s called Queen of the Night.

Catch all the stunning visuals and props La Luz has in store for their tour by seeing them live on October 30 at Urban Lounge! Grab your tickets here.

Read more interviews with national musicians:
Catalyst 20 Years Later: A Conversation with New Found Glory
Reflections of the Future: Man-Made Men