Susu

Artist Information

Biography

From the All Music Guide:

Brooklyn noise rock trio Susu are part of a noise rock continuum with roots that stretch all the way back into pioneering '60s freaks like Captain Beefheart, the Velvet Underground and the Godz, through the Fall in the UK and Sonic Youth in the US, and from there into '90 acts like Unwound, Helium and Tsunami and thence into the contemporary likes of Deerhoof. Guitarist Andrea Havis and bassist Michael Gabry favor both non-standard tunings and physically aggressive performances both vocally and instrumentally, over drums that ride the fine line between free jazz and utter chaos. Susu began as a more standard post-hardcore band called Surgery Sunday, which also included drummer Justin Bilicki and two other guitarists. As Andrea Havis and Gabry took control of the band's musical direction, the band slimmed down to the trio of themselves and Bilicki and shortened their name from Surgery Sunday to the equally meaningless but more lyrical Susu. Working with producer Martin Bisi, a key figure from the New York avant garde scene of the 1980s that's one of Susu's key musical touchstones, the trio recorded their self-titled debut in 2006. Following its release, Bilicki was replaced by Oliver Riviera Drew for the band's second set, the 2007 EP Win. Win was released both as a six track digital download and as a limited edition three track vinyl EP, bypassing CD formats entirely.

Instrumentation

Michael Andrew, Bass & Vocals
Andrea Havis, Guitar & Vocals
Oliver Rivera-Drew, Drums

Discography

"R and R and R" Release Date: January 26, 2010
Track Listing:
1. Mustang Sally
2. Seeing Octagons
3. M.B.T.
4. Clean vs. Dirty
5. Easter Weekend
6. Calling
7. Clockwork
8. Las Sirenas
9. Sympathy is Free

Susu "WIN" EP - eMusic Selects Release March 2008
(Digital Release)
1. Anarchitect
2. Part Bloodhound
3. Hands Up (The Race)
4. Sawtooth
5. Get Hip
6. In The Pool

"Sawtooth" and "Hands Up The Race" has been played on WFMU and Boston's 92.1 WFNX in addition to many internet blogs..

Susu | "WIN" Vinyl Edition

1 - Hands Up (The Race)
2 - Anarchitect
3 - Part Not Bloodhound

All songs recorded by Martin Bisi at BC Studios Brooklyn, NY 2007

Susu | "S/T" LP (Self Release, 2006)

1 - In The Pool
2 - Get Hip
3 - Sawtooth
4 - I Sleep With All My Friends
5 - Steal My Air
6 - Sister's Brother
7 - England's Airports
8 - Flotsam and Jetsam
9 - Land of Lost Cars

All songs recorded by Martin Bisi at BC Studios Brooklyn, NY 2005/6
Mastered by Fred Kevorkian, Kevorkian Mastering, Inc.

Out now on CD

Official Website

http://www.susuband.com

Audio

• M.B.T.
  Listen  
• Hands Up (The Race)
  Listen  
• Sawtooth
  Listen  
• Anarchitect
  Listen  
• Calling
  Listen  

Video

Photo Gallery

Press

• RELENTLESS [+ Show ]
  

  This band's shouty, raucous noise rock is both aggressive and relentless, only slightly softened by ...This band's shouty, raucous noise rock is both aggressive and relentless, only slightly softened by guitarist Andrea Havis' backing vocals.
  
  http://www.spin.com/articles/spin-picks-8-undiscovered-bands-worth-listen-0

• "With epic construction and passionate wails, these are the art-rockers we've been praying for since the Pixies." [+ Show ]
  

  WHO IS IT Andrea Havis on guitar and vocals. Mike Gabry on bass and vocals. Oliver Rivera-Drew ...
  
  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.

• CHAOTIC and FURIOUS [+ Show ]
  

  "Susu is the type of band who is further refining a well-established and respected sound. Do they do..."Susu is the type of band who is further refining a well-established and respected sound. Do they do it well? Well, for a first EP, absolutely. “Anarchitect” opens with the kind of precise, hungry, simmering rock and roll that propelled Greensboro’s Tiger Bear Wolf into my Top 25 Albums of 2005 list. It’s music that seems unbalanced, chaotic and furious." March 2008
  
  Full article - http://www.aquariumdrunkard.com/2008/03/17/susu-win/

• PRIMAL FORCE [+ Show ]
  

  "Local trio Susu covers a lot of ground on the recent WIN, from dreamy and dramatic to scuzzy and sl..."Local trio Susu covers a lot of ground on the recent WIN, from dreamy and dramatic to scuzzy and sludgy. Whatever the mood, though, the band plays with primal force." March-July 2008

• BRING EARPLUGS [+ Show ]
  

  "Susu brought raw power and noise in the vein of Sonic Youth to the stage and absolutely killed. Thi..."Susu brought raw power and noise in the vein of Sonic Youth to the stage and absolutely killed. This is what noise rock should be, go see them when you can (and bring earplugs)."

• NOT-SO-SUBTLE [+ Show ]
  

  "(Susu) makes a not-so-subtle impression on all who cross it's path. With Mike Gabry on bass, Justin..."(Susu) makes a not-so-subtle impression on all who cross it's path. With Mike Gabry on bass, Justin Bilicki on drums and with Andrea Havis conjuring vocals, these Brooklynites shatter through styles such as no-wave and noise."
  

• ROCKERLARDAN [+ Show ]
  

  "Susu New York soundunun temsilcilerinden, Brooklyn'den Áikma ¸Ál¸. Sonic Youth sevenlerin pek yadir..."Susu New York soundunun temsilcilerinden, Brooklyn'den Áikma ¸Ál¸. Sonic Youth sevenlerin pek yadirgamiyacagi bir grup. Afislerinin The Decemberists afislerine olan bezerligi de beni cezbeden diger bir etken. Noise'lu indie rockerlardan hoslaniyorsaniz, Susu'ya g–z atmakta fayda var..."

• FIST-PUMPING [+ Show ]
  

  "They thrill and wow and now I totally know many of their songs which makes for some moving and fist..."They thrill and wow and now I totally know many of their songs which makes for some moving and fist-pumping. ...I'm the fist-pumping idiot and I have Susu's awesome music to blame."
  

• FUZZY and GORGEOUS [+ Show ]
  

  With their dissonant, guitar-based noise rock and echoing male/female lead vocals, New York's Susu a...With their dissonant, guitar-based noise rock and echoing male/female lead vocals, New York's Susu are understandably compared to the reigning champions of distortion: Sonic Youth.
  Although SY's brand of noise has a bit more melody, Susu's Hands Up (The Race), from the Win EP [buy], is a fuzzy and gorgeous example of experimental guitar rock.
  
  http://mybigmouthstrikesagain.blogspot.com/2007/12/my-big-track-review-strikes-again-susu.html

• DESERVES TO BE WATCHED [+ Show ]
  

  "In Susu, we believe we've got a NYC band that deserves to be watched. They do psych-pop with a bit ..."In Susu, we believe we've got a NYC band that deserves to be watched. They do psych-pop with a bit more of an edge than you'd expect." January 2008

Setlist

We typically play a 35-45 minute set consisting of 8-11 songs.

Basic Requirements

Calendar