For those people that haven’t heard of Suris could you tell us a bit about the band and your story?
We’re a husband-and-wife team who met at University when we were in separate New Wave bands. We’ve been working together musically all our married lives, initially with other musicians, more recently as a duo. Over the years we’ve become less concerned with following trends and more interested in the craft of writing and producing, which is why we’ve built our own studio and acquired the necessary technical skills to be self-sufficient. We’re passionate about creating songs that tell stories with broad sonic landscapes.
Who inspired you to get on stage and perform?
For Dave it was Thin Lizzie & Dr Feelgood – among the first bands he saw, appreciating for the first time that rare blend of energy and power you just can’t get from a record. Lindsey was always drawn to charismatic performers and voices such as Nina Simone, David Bowie and John Martyn.
Are there any particular artists or albums that have influenced your sound?
David Bowie simply has to be mentioned for his brilliance, art of reinvention and renewal – and his ability to find great collaborators! Kate Bush is another; whose unique musical ambitions have never faltered.
Portishead, Massive Attack and Radiohead have all encouraged us to ‘do our own thing’. Bjork’s fearlessness and Jeff Buckley’s passion also made a huge impact.
But we don’t consciously try to ‘sound like’ anyone; if there is a cohesiveness in our material it’s derived from our natural playing styles.
Could you tell us a bit about the writing/recording of the ReverbNation winning track Bonehouse?
‘Bonehouse’ is a Medieval British word meaning ‘body’.We wanted to create a dynamic, energetic track for our eponymous album. In reaction to recent uncertain times, the song is a joyous call for freedom in mind, body and spirit.
Musically it started with Lindsey tapping out a ‘sticks’ beat on her Yamaha keyboard – we knew immediately we had a groove for the chorus. We worked back from there to develop a more restrained, atmospheric launch in a tense, minor key, opening out melodically using layers of guitars and keyboards, exploding into a chorus that pulls you to your feet without taking itself too seriously.
Lindsey sings all the vocals and between us, we play all the instruments, so inevitably the track was built up ‘layer by layer’. Like most of our current material, our recording process is also a writing tool. We’ve worked together too long for ego to get in the way of a valid critique so we both need to be happy with each step of a song’s evolution.
I see that you are working on a new album how has that been going?
It’s ready! ‘Rare Brew’ is a collection of our pre-Bonehouse material, revisited and remastered. As technology has progressed and our skills have evolved, we had an opportunity to improve some of our favourites, from the delicate alien minimalism of ‘’Great Wide Open’ to the frankly bonkers ‘Warrior Queen’. The material ranges from rock, pop and ballads to mysteriously psychedelic, but is a pretty good representation of our ambition to avoid the obvious.
https://soundcloud.com/surismusic/sets/rare-brew
What are some of your favourite venues to perform at?
During lockdown, it’s obviously been difficult to play live – and the complexity of our arrangements means we need several musicians to do our music justice. Historically, we prefer more intimate venues where we feel close to our audience. Venues in London such as the 100 Club and Mean Fiddler were just the right size.
Here at Artistic Echoes, we are always on the lookout for new artists do you have any to recommend?
Sam Fender is an excellent songwriter, singer and guitarist from the North East of the UK.
Australian RY X makes brilliant and beautiful sparse arrangements with a superb voice and multi-layered vocals.
I see that you are also an author, could you tell us a bit about that?
Lindsey’s novel ASO came out in 2008. It’s a piece of speculative fiction and tells the story of a post-apocalyptic Britain set in 2050 where the country is divided into age-related regions.
This thriller is told from the viewpoint of a security officer who uncovers a reality which sets her on a path to ultimately challenge the regime. It is also a story about the meaning of family.
Lindsey has also written many short stories and a growing poetry collection, some of which are featured on our website. https://www.suris.uk/author
What plans do you have for the rest of the year?
We’re always writing and recording new songs and hope to have another new album ready by the end of the year.
Lindsey is singing at the Judy Dyble (Fairport Convention) Memorial festival in Ardley, Oxfordshire, UK on July 10th.
Post lockdown, we’ve been travelling around the UK collecting amazing background footage on which to base our forthcoming video releases. During lockdown, we couldn’t film on location, and we realised there’s so much you can do with great locations and greenscreen technology. You can check out our self-made videos for ‘Argus’ and ‘To be Known’ here: https://www.suris.uk/videos
We’re really looking forward to visiting the USA in September, starting in Boston and driving around New England. We want to tell the world we attended Harvard and Yale!
