Overwhelm Your Senses With the Voluptuous Sound of SUSU In Their New Single, "Let's Get High"
- BUZZ LA
- Apr 20, 2020
- 5 min read
Soulful music duo SUSU is here to show listeners what an eclectic take on Soul music can really do for a person. Composed of artists Liza and Kia, SUSU seeks to explore themes relating to everyday life, their own personal lives, as well as the emotionality that is intertwined between them all. They're the kind of duo that source out this extreme and fervorous energy that quickly disperses into their sound, purely elevating it. SUSU has a powerful grasp on human connection, and with the clearest of intentions, the duo set out to deliver their pleasurable soundscapes for openminded listeners. SUSU showcases their vocal strength extremely well in "Lets Get High". The duo begins off with an arousing and appealing delivery, but that transitioned quite quickly into a fiercer and more intentive sound.
At some moments, SUSU is able to accentuate their voices in a way that presents itself as a warm embrace. You feel completely overwhelmed with the vivid colors and expressions you can hear from SUSU, which we found is what makes you so drawn to their musical presence. There's almost a psychedelic component to "Let's Get High", which is what we found ourselves easily hypnotized and charmed by. The rhythm and tempo held within "Lets Get High" are what ultimately had us feeling seriously alive! The mix of the song brought vitality, warmth, and a serious case of goosebumps, but that came right from the collective effect with SUSU's voice. "Let's Get High" offers a sense of clarity. You feel as if you can breathe, and that all will be okay for a moment's time. That's what the vocal sound of SUSU brings, and it's why we're forever compelled to their artistry.
Discover SUSU in their latest single "Let's Get High" here.
Welcome, SUSU, and thanks for chatting with us about your latest single, "Let's Get High"! The song truly debuted on the right kind of day and brought a true sense of euphoria. What was the incentive and insight that went into the creation of this song?
HIGH! LOL, and Thank You! So glad you got that feeling from the “Let’s Get High” experience. We started writing this song years ago and left it on the back burner. This past March (which feels like years ago now) we were in the midst of a European tour when this global halt began. So far from home and our loved ones (besides one another) and with only the media and panicked phone calls as sources of information, we were faced with the choice to either get sucked into the fear or go to ourselves for the answers. Our Tour Manager Max (shout out to Teenage Head) offered an opportunity for us to stay at a friend's place in the countryside with a studio... And when the shit hits the fan, the artist gets to work. We (collectively) are being faced with this wake-up call (not to make this issue one dimensional) and we chose to stoke some positive energy!
There were many layers to "Let's Get High", as we found the single offered various twists and interpretations. How would you say you were intending to make listeners feel with the complex production offered in this track?
What we want to offer through Let’s Get High and the SUSU movement (which spells US US backwards) is for each listener to make the soundscape their own. Take from it what YOU need at this time. It’s a beautiful game of telephone. It began with us but after we put the words and sound out there… if it connects to you perhaps pass the proverbial joint over.
As for the complex production, we owe that all to our boy genius guitarist, Joey Wunsch who mixed and co-produced with us. We all - including our drummer Ronnie Bruno and bassist Connor McClelland - were basically in the middle of nowhere when we finished writing and recording Let’s Get High. Honestly, none of us knew when or how the hell we were going to get home. With luck on our side, we were ahead of leaving each EU country we were in by a day or two before their borders closed. The remainder of our tour had been canceled. But despite all of that we were offered the opportunity to create. And we did. It was awesome, necessary, and healing. All those layers intrinsically became part of the song.
As a music duo that clearly plays around with the construction of their sound, where do you two feel you've garnered the creativity and desire for expression as artists?
Wow! Where to start with that one. Well, clearly we find that in one another… we have so many through lines and similar sensibilities and bring a myriad of different experiences and ideas to the table. EVERY DAY :). The constant pushing of one other (lovingly, but intensely lol) creates such growth as artists and because they are each other’s mirror, filter, and informant; what we ultimately express as SUSU or otherwise feels like the closest I’ve been to fulfilling what artistic life should be. I guess I’m saying collaboration is what feeds my creativity/expression the most. Liza always says we are spoiled when it comes to who we’ve worked with and it’s true. Coming from a band like Revel In Dimes that had so many individual artistic references and made music that honored the direction of the song as opposed to being a “blues-based rock band” was a valuable lesson that I carry with me always. And other mediums really goose my creativity. I studied film in college and for some reason the process behind making a film, working on a crew, putting the pieces together to create the big picture feels like the fraternal twin of how we make our music. So yeah, those two experiences are really where my creativity and process really started to merge... Of course, studying and reading and watching the greats: James Baldwin… Nina Simone... Maria Callas... Tina Turner… Barbra Streisand (that one was for our creative content connoisseur, Sarah KC ;) that’s always an eternal source of inspiration and drive.
I couldn’t agree more. Kia and I can’t help making art. It’s what we do and clearly what attracted us to each other. Neither of us likes to be put in a box. This allows us to explore a spectrum of genres and creative mediums and the two of us nurture and encourage that movement. Without the foundation of The Liza Colby Sound, I don’t think I would have had the experience or confidence to be as productive and prolific as we have been in our partnership. It’s a gas!
Where is the sound of SUSU going next, especially after the release of "Let's Get High"?!
Good Question! We have a yet to be released EP, Panther City recorded at Niles City Sound (shout out to Ilegal for quarterbacking that experience) and a 13 song full-length album in the works with songs ranging from a Nina Simone/Ted Nugent mashup to a heartbreak song that feels like it could be straight from Dusty in Memphis.
The sound of SUSU is going anywhere and everywhere that our music and creativity take us. Our bags are packed. Are you on the BUS?
