Talking to: Suchy
Hailing from Bristol, Suchy released her latest single 'Laylow' in September. Filled with soulful emotion & a diverse mix of instruments, the track also contains important messaging around the often overlooked topic of coercive control - a subject matter currently gathering real momentum both in the news & entertainment.
Suchy's soul-filled and alternative R&B-infused vocals drenched in Latino strings and ska inspired horns are enriched by the rich musical culture of Bristol and the city's distinctive flair. Suchy is definitely a bona-fide Bristol voice you need to look out for.
So where are you at the moment? You’re based in Bristol, aren’t you?
Yeah, I am, I am here! I am originally from Bristol, from Hotwells originally, then I moved to Easton, Clifton, Sea Mills, Fishponds…. I am a little bit of a butterfly.Then I moved to London for a bit, but I have been back in Bristol for a year now.
How did you get into making music?
From a young age, I remember, my mum was a cleaner. She was heavily into Motown, and I remember her singing when she was cleaning. And the energy was kind of infectious, and I remember thinking that if this can move someone, if it can make someone that I care about that happy, this is a good energy. I was writing from a young age, poetry and songs, for years and years I was so shy about it, I didn’t really believe in myself. I was listening to a lot of soul music, and things like The Prodigy, and the way that it made me feel.. I was like, ‘Yes! This is what I connect to. There is nothing else that I am doing that is making me feel this high’. That is kind of where it started from.
So how did you make that jump from being shy about your work to actually deciding ‘Yes, I can do this, and I can do this in public?’
Because it was my dream, you have to push through for your dreams, you have to push through that comfort barrier. I remember just thinking that if this is something that is achievable with belief, I just have to keep it moving. I was writing songs from about the age of 6, I would just grab a keyboard, I didn’t know how to play any notes, but I would just vibe it man. I was always hearing things walking down the street and I would turn it into music and I would do this crazy stomp! And I had the whole of Glastonbury backstage once just stomping along to it. So everything has always just been music.
When I was 17, I was doing an internship at Next, the clothing shop, and I was just thinking that this wasn’t what I wanted to be doing, working in a shop, I just wanted to be a performer. There was this guy who took a bit of a shine to me, and he was all like ‘Oh, I have got a studio you know, you should come around to my house’. And even though I was a bit apprehensive I just thought ‘You know what? I am going to try this’. So I recorded a Destiny’s Child track on a tape, and I remember thinking, I need to do this, I need to make my soul feel alive. So it was then I really decided.
I am 35 now, I have been offered major deals, tours, publishing, but I will be honest, I have always been willing to bend for this industry, but I am not willing to break. I am not in this industry for the money side of things, it has always been about expressing my art. I remember being offered a lot of money for a deal, and I had to think about it, and my lawyer had to have a look at the contract, and I had to turn up to a meeting and say ‘I am so grateful for this, but I would rather just stick with the £5 in my back pocket with music that I feel’. If you don’t have freedom as an artist it feels like you are caged in and you are doing what you are not made to do.
So you have waited for an opportunity where you can still stay real to yourself as well?
100%. I was only talking to my manager yesterday about how the most content I have ever been is when I was just busking. That is the most real a stage you can get, because you are just putting it in people’s faces. And for every 50p that someone drops I am just so grateful for that, it is more that people stop and notice what you are doing, that is worth more than any money.
What keeps you in Bristol? What do you take from the music and culture here?
The realness of it; Bristol is real. It is a different feeling down here, it is embedded in you, it is rooted in your soul. I noticed it when performing all over the globe, and Bristol people because we drink cider, and smoke and all that jazz, we will sit back and watch, and when we think ‘Actually, this is wicked’ we are loyal. That is what I find about Bristol, when you get in their hearts, you are in. Bristol has got your back if they believe in your vision.
How does that compare to the time you spent in London? It is always interesting to compare the local UK music scenes to the larger, central scene in the capital.
With London, it is a lot more cutthroat. There are 10,000,000 other singers up there doing what you are doing. London is different depending on the different boroughs. You go to East London and it is a lot more trendy, and then south is more… it’s got Brixton… Brixton reminds me of Bristol, and it is a lot more rooted to the sound I am doing as well.
But I am Suchy and I am doing my thing. That is what I am always trying to express when I am singing, I try to leave my mark. Not everyone is going to like you, music is Marmite, some people are going to like jazz, some funk, some people aren’t going to like dance. But I always get up and try to give it my all and if people connect to it I am truly grateful.
Who are your influences, past and present?
It is a hard question to ask, I kind of go with different songs and artists depending on my mood.
I used to think that David Bowie was my Dad, from when I was about 6.
Wouldn’t that be nice?
Ssssh, he is my Dad! I remember watching Labyrinth every day, I just remember thinking ‘He is a don’!
I am really into The Prodigy, I really like D’Angelo, the new soul influence. I am a bit of a muso, but I would say my biggest influences are Etta James, David Bowie, Prodigy and Jill Scott.
And what new music is exciting you at the moment? What are you listening to?
There’s an artist called Octavian, he is more rap, but he is deep, he is an Aquarius.. What it is, right, is his vocals. His voice is so raw yet so vulnerable, I love it. You could do vocal lessons your whole life, but if you don’t have that vulnerability….
Do you know the song Kissing You by Desiree? That is my song that I go to, the lyrical content, the string arrangement in that, so I always rinse Desiree.
Your latest single Laylow, let’s talk about that. I am really interested in talking to you about the issue of coercive control and why you have chosen to talk about that.
It was just basically seeing it, I think the majority of humanity have experienced that. You have got (physical) domestic abuse, where you can kind of split…. whilst I think that mental abuse is so much harder, you can’t get away from it, it is embedded in your mind. When I was close to this person who was experiencing it I was trying to be that kind of guidance. When you are in it you can’t see it, because you end up going on this kind of autopilot. So for me you just want to help that person.
The first lyric I wrote was ‘she’s gold-tipped, and you’re brass based’, and that just shows you the different levels of these two people. Energy is like magnets, what you put out is what you get back, when it’s not connecting anymore, you have outgrown that person, that is what I meant.
Do you think music is a good platform on which to address these kinds of issues?
Music is such a powerful element in life that people connect to it. It is a scientific fact that if you are feeling shit and you put on music, your whole energy in your body changes. You are going to connect with that. It is very empowering.
So how is the single doing?
It is doing alright. Spotify has gone nuts, it is getting a lot of love. We have been on quite a few write ups and blogs as far as New York, it has been picked up by BBC Introducing, I have had personal emails, which for me is love. When you are working in the studio you get people giving you that kind of feedback it makes it all worthwhile.
What I love about Laylow is it shows the two very different paths I was on. I was living in Spain, I totally got into the Spanish way of life, and the flamenco guitar wasn’t even supposed to be on there. What happens with me is that I go into the studio with a brief, and then the natural flow of music organically comes out the way it does, and that is the way it is meant to be. And then I came back to Bristol, and that’s when the drum and bass element came in. Some people love it and some people don’t like the clash of genres.
It’s getting more love, but that’s what I have always had with labels as well, they can’t pigeon hole me. I have another single that is coming out, called Darkside, and again, it has this kind of Gorillaz-esque vibe, and then it goes straight into reggae. That just shows you the mixed bag of music I listen to, that comes out in my music.
How are you finding being a musician in the pandemic?
Covid worked for me, I just moved to the studio, and thought ‘What can I do to make a difference?’ I felt hopeless and wanted to do something, so we did a single for NHS Heroes. I’m very verbal, and very passionate in my opinions, and I was thinking the government wasn't standing up and helping the front-line workers how they should have, and I was wondering if that should go in (to the single), but it had to go in.
I loved that NHS Heroes were going out of their way to help care homes and stuff, with no government funding, so I decided to write a single to make money for these guys. It was quite a hard song to write because I had to write to a brief, where when I write naturally it just flows, I can’t keep up with my pen, I am just channelling. Whilst with that single I think I wrote it over about five times, with a lot of rum!
I was doing a lot of studio work (before lockdown) and we were getting everything prepared to go live, and then with the shutdown, it worked because I was able to focus on getting the plan together. We have been rehearsing, we have been getting bookings, but everyone is apprehensive. No-one wants to buy tickets; it’s very up in the air. It’s been very frustrating because we have had to hold back on our bookings. We wanted to go busking, but no-one wants to touch you! I just want to sing! Studio is great, but it comes alive when you perform.
What sort of live performances do you like doing, and what sort of venues have you performed at in the past?
My favourite performance that I will take to the grave was St Pauls Carnival in 2019; it was next level, I grew so much as an artist at that one. I remember looking back at my manager and thinking ‘they are getting it!’. I got the best reviews for that one.
But I am just content to be put on a stage. I performed at Webster Hall in New York and that was amazing; Americans are so excited as soon as you jump on stage; I got three marriage proposals during that gig. I have performed with loads of DJs, and I always go in with that shark mentality to get them under the spell of Suchy if you know what I mean. Another performance I did was the Grand Prix in Monaco last year, it was on a yacht and it was all very sha-la-la; I nearly fell off the yacht twice from rocking out babes! I was on top of a speaker just killing it!
How did you get into performing all around the world? How did you get to that point?
It’s basically believing in you and your art, and if you want to make it work you make it happen. You make sure you are on that circuit, keeping your social media going; it is a massive plug. I remember rolling around Bristol, I used to be so hungry I remember just going around with a microphone and lead and a CD and I would be like ‘Put me on! Put me on!’. I went to Nocturne at the bottom of Park Street one night, they were putting a dubstep night on, (I MC as well); and there were all of these boys, like going back to back, back to back, and they didn’t want me to touch the mic so I just jumped it! And I was MCing about all of their mums and being really cheeky! I got booked by the host because of that.
So would you say it is still quite hard being a female in the music business?
It can be, but your art speaks for itself. I have that shark mentality, but I have come across those male egos. I remember when I was in the studio with loads of (male) rappers, and they were like ‘what are you doing here?’. So I make sure my shit is on point, that I am going to be that one that they remember. I think that you have to have the mentality, as a woman, of just going at it and murdering it, against whoever you are up against. I have noticed some elements for me have been a bit difficult, but it has opened doors for me at the same time. I think if you have your shit together with your art you are just going to kick it anyway.
Any last thoughts for us, Suchy?
I am going to make the world say ‘Sha-la-la’ babes. When I am on the Pyramid Stage at 8.30 on the Saturday and I have made the crowd say ‘Sha-la-la’, that is my thing. I love interaction. Sha is my motto of life, I just want to spread happy energy that people can connect to.
Music can heal, and give strength, so if I can give someone the strength to say ‘I HAVE got gold tips, and he is brass-based, fuck this shit’; that’s it. If I can help and give that food of nourishment for the mind then I am happy. Even if one person out of 1000 says that they have got that from me, I have accomplished what I need to.