www.facebook.com/suspyriaofficial
From: Australia
Sounds like: Alternative Metal
1. How did you get started with music and how did you develop your sound? Who thought of the name "Suspyria" and is there any meaning behind it?
We all got our start in music at a young age, most of us playing instruments during highschool. We all tried to fit in and play with many different bands during those times. Most of which didn’t workout for various reasons. I’d also like to note that none of us went to the same high schools or knew each other at all in our teenage years, we sort of all come from different backgrounds.
But where SUSPYRIA started was a bit more interesting and in a way, tragic. In 2017, our vocalist was in a motor vehicle accident. He sustained a shattered left wrist and left femur. This was devastating and crushing to him as during his recovery his old band “Deadfall” disbanded. After months of physio and rehabilitation relearning to walk + play the guitar he happened across an ad for a “guitarist seeking musicians to play with”. That guitarist was Mitchell.
A few months after jamming Mitch revealed he had been sitting on the name “SUSPYRIA” for a while. The name came from the English essayist Thomas De Quincy, “Susperia de profundis” which means, “Sighs from the Depths”. Mitch knew of a drummer that he had played with prior, who had just recently had a falling out with his band “Furious George”. He was unsure about joining SUSPYRIA at first from lack of motivation. So we put out recruitment ads to find like minded musicians, jammed with a lot of different people. Eventually we had Beau join, then Christian shortly after. We developed our sound from hundreds of hours of jamming and writing. Seeking Influence from music we enjoy, and figuring out what we want to say with the music we put forward.
2. What do you want people to take away from your music?
We want people to connect to the music. To hear something that makes our listeners feel understood, heard and embody something that they haven’t been able to express in their life. It’s really about expression and connecting to people through that.
3. How would you describe your sound to the average listener?
I would probably lump our sound in, somewhere along the lines of Melodic Metal/ Alternative metal. We definitely touch on some heavier influences in our sound as well. We all listen to a lot of metalcore, so it’s hugely impacted our sound. But we are definitely a lot more clean vocal driven in our sound, so I wouldn’t say we quite fit the mold of your average metalcore band.
4. Who are three bands you’d like to tour with?
Architects, Motionless in White & Bad Omens.
5. How has Covid affected what you do?
It honestly just prolonged a huge part of creating “The Valley of Despair”. And there is still this lingering effect, like an aftershock throughout a large part of the music industry. Luckily as a smaller local metal band within the Australian community, we haven’t had our music hugely financially impacted. Because that would imply that we actually make money from our music hahaha.
6. What’s your take on the current state of Metal?
I think it’s cool. Streaming platforms have given rise to so many more bands, heaps of bands that in the past wouldn’t have been able to easily create records are pumping music out with bedroom producers who create fantastic products. I think we probably lump into that category. But with so many new bands constantly putting out music, it feels easy to get lost in the noise. I know that music isn’t a competition, but it’s still a challenge to start out, stand out from the crowd. And get recognised for having a unique quality. It’s a brutal industry to get ahead in.
7. What's the current music scene like there in Australia?
It's a bit of an exclusive club. When you’re a smaller unsigned artist, you basically have to just play as many shows with many different smaller bands until you either burnout or get sent better opportunities. A lot of these larger local bands just won’t play with you. But it’s not all bad, a large part of the music scene and the community is full of kind compassionate people. Go to any local show and you’ll easily feel welcomed and appreciated for being there.
8. What’s your take on the royalties that streaming services pay out to artists?
It’s pretty cutthroat. We’ve had almost 1 million streams on Spotify alone. That probably equates to roughly $4000 AU. That doesn’t even pay for half of the album we just released. Putting music out on streaming services is a double edged sword, it’s a disservice to the value of our art. But it’s a huge way to connect with our audience from all over the globe. Luckily we aren’t solely in it for the money.
9. What’s next for Suspyria?
We’re working on new music this year, it’s gonna be cool. It’s a little heavier, more down tuned stuff. For all our guitarists out there we’ve been playing around a lot in the Drop A tuning. Very chunky. We’ve got another producer lined up to work with for this new stuff. He’s the guitarist in Ocean Sleeper, Ioni. It’s going to be crazy and we can’t wait to record with him. Plus a lot of organization for shows and promotion is happening In the background.
10. Any shoutouts?
Mad shoutouts to Chris Vernon, our producer from the last two SUSPYRIA releases. Shoutouts to our friends in NTH RD, Ransom Revue, Druid, Priorities, Harroway, Emecia & The Motion Below.
