The daughter of NSA linguists, Suzy Callahan writes dark, dreamy songs filled with vivid, raw emotional honesty and delivers them in an unfried, thick and creamy dulce de leche voice. A little country, a little folk, a little psychedelic.
Raised in the UK, she played pubs in her teens, then continued stateside in the minimalistic psychedelic folk-rock band Devils Wielding Scimitars with Mark Kramer (Low, Galaxie 500) producing. After DWS and time off raising children, she returned with her own moniker and landed on KCRW’s “best of 2005” playlist, TV syncs and NPR which called her work “thick and atmospheric” with “rich and sensual songs”.
On “I’m Nothing,” Callahan uses a swooning steel guitar to bring a little twang to her dream vocals, contemplating the freedom of detaching. Callahan writes about how that freedom influences her songwriting.
Tell us about the first song you wrote.
I Want to be a Boy, which was also my first single.
Who are some of your musical influences?
Linda Ronstadt was a big influence on how I sing. I even covered You Tell Me That I’m Falling Down, which was on Prisoner In Disguise, on my new album. I also learned all the Beatle songs in the Beatle songbook that my Dad bought me.
Recent release you cannot stop listening to?
Kacy and Clayton, Strange Country. Not new, but new for me. Mindbogglingly good! Great title also.
What’s the best venue you’ve played in?
The best place I played was CBGB in NYC. I liked the way the (only) toilet didn’t flush and how the alcoholic soundman turned off the sound system in the middle of our set.
Do you have any songwriting tips you can share?
You’ll really want to read these tips from me because I have no hit songs. There are no rules for songwriting, which is why it’s so fun. The only rule is to not follow rules. You can start with words. You can start with chords. You can wake up in the middle of the night and sing a voice memo. You can dream a song and write it when you wake up. Just write lots of songs, get some feedback, learn from your work and enjoy!