Astrid Suryanto

At the tender age of 5, with the help of her biggest musical inspiration, her dad, Astrid Suryanto made her first song entitled “Sanur Beach”, written as a tribute to her favorite place to visit on the Indonesian island of Sumatra, where she was born and raised. Even as a child Astrid had a desire to learn, practice, and write music. Singing, playing piano, guitar, and percussion, were all part of her daily life. Frequently joining her father on business excursions around the world, inspired her curiosity with music as a form of communication. Absorbing the vitality & culture of distant lands undoubtedly attributed to her striking personality. Astrid embodies a raw natural talent, never identity starved, she isn’t a carbon copy, and she’s definitely not an “off the assembly line” pop princess. In fact, her road to success has been interrupted with sharp turns, bumps and potholes, but shear determination continually fuels her desire to project her soul through song and lyric.

From Acid Jazz to Deep House to Electro to Alternative Rock, Astrid’s versatile talent has given her the freedom to explore all genres of music. At just 22 with only a handful of commercially available titles, she already has hit makers like Victor Calderone, John Digweed, and Neil McLellan (The Prodigy) gravitating towards her beckoning voice and musical style. She is endowed with an effortless glow on and off stage, suppressing a villain-like quality that compliments her exotic and subtly erotic style. Having the dynamic power of a true “Jane-Of-All-Trades”, she writes, composes, and produces, all of her own music and lyrics.

Step into Waveform Studios. Welcome to Astrid’s comfort-zone, where producing experimental tracks brings her out of the huddle and provides her with an overhead perspective on her creative journey. Victor Calderone, (her newest mentor and collaborator) listens on as the ingénue belts out the tunes she dreamt up last night; a smile is inspired, as he can’t help noticing a glimmer of himself within her intense character. Victor was initially turned on by her mellifluous voice after hearing “Rainwater” (her debut Statra single) while in a business meeting at Statra Recordings …”We were all talking, and in the background I heard this beautiful piano playing, then this amazing voice followed. I was completely distracted, I knew in an instant that this was an artist I wanted to work with”. Within 24 hours of hearing her voice, plans to develop Astrid’s musical career were under way. Although this is Victor’s first venture into executive production, he is no stranger to turning out “monsters” for some of world’s most well respected artists. Victor’s discography includes work for Madonna, Sting, Beyonce Knowles, Orbital, Garbage, Sheryl Crow…the list goes on and on. With Victor in the producers seat it’s evident that something dynamic is about to happen, and its soon going to be Astrid’s turn to take center stage in her own musical revolution.

Saturday night around midnight…Union Square Station NYC. Astrid awaits the next train as the party people are heading off to cause mischief. She’s thinking in song: one that woke her last night and wouldn’t allow her to fall back to sleep. It was four years ago that she was an art student by day and by night a performer, right on this exact platform. However, fate would lead her to Houston where Michael Davila (a/k/a Blaze), a local Drum & Bass promoter and DJ would expose her to the underground world of jungle. Together they formed the duo Inner City Soul Project, a team that would go on to perform at all the major local club events. Her connection to the scene gave her the opportunity to meet many well-known electronic artists. This experience fueled her professional interest in music.

In 2001, armed with only primitive audio software that she had downloaded for free off the internet, a Yamaha keyboard, a set of headphones, and an old beat-up SM-58 microphone she got from a pawn shop, Astird began a new endeavor: production. She jokes now that “getting new gear or software” is the number one reason for her to get excited. “I thought that my head would explode if I didn’t get these sounds out. The things I can do with technology amaze me. I’d get into a groove and give birth to some songs ranging from Deep House to Down-Tempo, to Trip-Hop.” Spun from these minimal resources, the amazing demo “You Give Me (Love)” caught the attention of Sweden’s deep-house whiz, Jonathan Axelsson (a/k/a J. Axel), after it was randomly sent to him following a chance meeting on an internet chat board. With Axelsson’s help, the tune turned into a stellar deep house lullaby that found its way to Statra Recordings musical director, Dave Tomaselli, who realized the undeniable potential in the single, and even more so in Astrid.

Since the release of the J.Axel single on Statra and its strong DJ and press support, Astrid’s career has been sent into over-drive. “You Give Me (L