Photo by Nina Westervelt
Band of the Month: Susu
With epic construction and passionate wails, these are the art-rockers we've been praying for since the Pixies
By Amy Kaufman
Published: September 26th, 2008 | 12:30pm
WHO IS IT
Andrea Havis on guitar and vocals. Mike Gabry on bass and vocals. Oliver Rivera-Drew on drums.
LOCATION
Brooklyn, New York
FILE UNDER
The youngest relatives in the post-punk New York underground family tree
IN A NUTSHELL
When they’re not wreaking havoc as the art-rock trio Susu, Andrea Havis, Mike Gabry, and Oliver Rivera-Drew rock the 9-to-5. Rivera-Drew makes frames for much of the artwork in galleries around New York, Havis works as motion graphics artist, and Gabry is a production manager and engineer for some elusive American designer’s fragrance line. The point is, once 6 o’clock hits, they’re just your average struggling Brooklyn artists. “My 9-to-5 day job and my extracurricular pursuit for personal gratification as an artist and musician are two distinct and separate entities—they have little or no bearing on each other,” Gabry says.
Initially a 5-piece, Surgery Sunday started casually playing gigs around New York in 2002, until inevitably, differing opinions drove away two of its members, leaving Havis, Gabry, and initial drummer Justin Bilicki to tighten in as the more succinct trio, Susu. “The five was a different thing. More jangly and loose. We never really had a chance to hit our stride with this lineup,” Gabry says. “With three it was leaner. We definitely got heavier.”
With new material, the band began looking for the appropriate means to display their work, letting friends “give it a whirl,” Havis says, “with less than desirable results.” But then, like kismet, the group came into contact with engineering demigod Martin Bisi, and the gap was filled. B.C. Studio, opened in the early ‘80s on the tail end of New York new wave, has been the home to recordings from the likes of artists such as The Ramones, Sonic Youth, Swans, and Afrika Bambaata.
"Our sound from the start has always been sort of physical and analog and raw," Havis explains. "Martin’s actual studio is much the same way, the space itself as well as the way the space is represented sonically: completely analog, no Pro Tools, no cut and paste, which influences us in that, yeah, this is on tape." And though it may be, "a pain in the ass to track and mix and all of those things that go with recording," Havis seems to appreciate the fact that "what you hear is what you get."
Oliver Rivera-Drew replaced Bilicki shortly after the release of their self-titled debut album in 2006, and they’ve been together ever since. “I think I actually had a premonition it would happen the first time I saw them play a year before I joined,” Rivera-Drew says. “It was the best thing that could have happened during a rough time in my life. I think it was an instant creative match.”
The first song they created together was “Hands Up,” an explosive denouement to their second EP release, Win. On the whole, the record is a progressive rock rollercoaster, taking twists and turns at every corner, but always leading you safe and settled back to where you started, six minutes before. Pairing up with Bisi again, they recorded Win for vinyl and MP3 only.
“We felt no one bought CDs anymore, certainly not us,” Havis says. “We wanted it to feel like something more special rather than just another commercial product, which I think CDs just have a rap for.”
With infinite MP3s and an overall DIY ethic, the group was approached by eMusic, the largest retailer of independent music in the world. eMusic allows its artists to sell work through their unbelievably vast database, while remaining completely in control of their own media. Shortly after joining, Susu was chosen for eMusic's Selects in March 2008, and they’ve been on the tip of every tongue in the industry ever since.
GOALS
Before they head out on tour—Susu has played only one show outside of New York since June of 2004—they’re focused on building up their catalog. “The plan is to write this winter. It’s a slow process for us. We’re not singer/songwriters,” Gabry says. “None of us has a pile of songs in our back pockets…I want to come back in 2009 with a whole new game.”
So, if you don’t live in New York, the chances of hearing them play in your town are pretty unlikely, but they do plan on heading down to Austin for SXSW, so check them out now—it’ll be March before you know it.
MORE INFO
eMusic Downloads
Susu on Myspace
---
Susu is Venus Zine's "Band of the Month" for October 2008. Visit Venus Zine’s Sonic Bids page to submit your profile for coverage consideration.
Issue #35
Comments
Please login to be able to comment on this article.