Sui et Sui Talk Between Themselves: On being an Outsider, being a Loner, and Dating Musos

Sui Zhen is no stranger to THUMP. We've been jamming out to her tunes for a while now. So when we found out that she's started a band, we couldn't have jumped on the opportunity to interview them quicker. But considering the band are all good pretty conversationists, we decided to let them discuss the more personal issues themselves.
Here's Sui Et Sui members, Ashley Bundang (AB), Alec Marshall (AM) Becky Sui Zhen (BSZ), on Sui Et Sui.

BSZ: I like that we're all from outer Sydney. I feel a deeper connection to you guys through that arbitrary fact. It gives a sense of assumed history, though I only met you both properly in the last 12 months. Do You think that growing up as an outsider shaped you to become a musician?

AM: I got to go the beach a lot and play guitar in my parents garage and life was easy.
AB: I also grew up near the beach but the subcultures were very limited there so all the girls were either beach babes or goths.
BSZ: And what were you, Ashley?
AB: I don't know.
BSZ: Were you a goth babe?
AB: I was more in the middle, an emo that went to the beach. But at that point I didn't play music.
BSZ: We all have that beach culture in common. When I first moved to Melbourne I was astounded by the different relationship (or lack of) my Melbourne-born friends had with the ocean. Less so an affinity, more like a casual acquaintance that required the tolerance of sand. I never thought of sand being a problem before moving here.

AM: Can I borrow this guitar, for tomorrow?
BSZ: Yes, of course you can. When did you guys start playing music or when did you feel like you were going to be musicians?
AM: In year seven, I had my first music class at high-school. It's not very interesting.
BSZ: Like a 15-watt light globe moment?
AM: No. I just wanted to be able to play Rage Against the Machine riffs. But I've forgotten how to play them all now.
AB: About 2 years ago.
BSZ: That's so ridiculously recent, I can hardly fathom. How many bands are you in Ashley?
AB: Um, I think four or five (Totally Mild, Sui et Sui, Hot Palms, Ciggie Witch, Velcro, Zone Out).

AM: Why did you start playing music Ashley?
AB: Because my new boyfriend at the time was a muso and he was sick of just hanging out in his room making out when he wanted to play guitar. So he made me play drums to him playing guitar and I decided that I liked playing drums, so he taught me how to play.
BSZ: What was the first band you played in?
AM: I honestly can't remember the name but it was a death-metal band with high-school friends. What about you?
BSZ: I played trumpet in the school jazz band, the orchestra and the concert band. They made me play the Last Post by myself in front of the whole school. And I fucked it up really badly one time. I was shamed out of playing trumpet again. I previously resented the trumpet because I had always wanted to play the saxophone. Apparently when I first started to learn (seven years old or so) my physical frame was too small to support the weight. Ironic now that I schlep 30kg analog synths around week to week. At fourteen I started playing guitar and writing songs. I've been trying to delete the early recordings but they pop up on last.fm from time to time. Meta-data dies a slow death.
AB: Toby Park. Classic dole wave.

AM: Do you use music to socialise? Whenever I play in bands or put on gigs, or release people's records, it's a social thing. I don't know how else I'd have friends.
AB: That's true. I guess friends with some sort of substance beyond just face value and partying stuff, they're all musos.
AM: Everyone of my friends is a musician pretty much. So who would my friends be if it wasn't for music?
BSZ: I think I want to try and date a non-muso. Since I've only ever dated muso's for the last 15 years. But, it's not intentional. I find myself mainly attracted to musos or artists, but even if they are artist they are musos as well.
AB: What is it about musicians that you're attracted to?

BSZ: um, we speak the same language – as cheesy or simple as it sounds. Perhaps it's the compatibility of the lifestyles and priorities. The things that take away from relationships are the same – tours, synths, drum machines, a desire to make songs and to perform. But it's also about being deeply understood by another person. The way I approach music making is much like - oh, I don't know if I should go there… well it's intimate and ultimately unfiltered through the verbal language although it does use similar structures, lyrics occasionally. I'm attracted to the intellect that drives someone to choose to be a musician, above other art-forms or practices if they are multi-talented.

AB: In the same kind of vein do you recommend musicians in a relationship together to make music together, to collaborate, as someone who has done it before?
BSZ: That's a good question. I guess I should expand it to artists, because, most of the musicians I'm close with have a holistic approach to their form of expression. So, when in the context of a relationship, it's just another way to hang out, to spend time together doing something productive. It can happen easily, without any kind of plan if the relationship is solid and comfortable. But, I also think you have to own your own projects to form a sense of self. Music is so all encompassing that you can easily step on each others' toes. Losing yourself in a collaboration is amazing if both parties value it for what it is. If the balance shifts it's best not to force it. And also, make some time just to be two people together without a project or desired outcome bringing you together. If you approach it more like a casual activity, then it can be hugely rewarding. But, what can I say. I have two near finished albums with exes that may never be released.

BSZ: Have you ever felt like music is a condition, a mental condition that you're supposed to grow out of? I think conservative societies impose that notion.
AM: Naa. Music is a whole lifestyle thing more than anything else. I have no interest in making money from it or being successful. The only time when music is bad is when people play music only for money, or when those things get in the way, just because it's perceived as success. And I hate practicing too.

BSZ: Back on the topic of 'becoming a muso' I think humans are inherently musical and people make choices to explore their own ability more so than others….
AB: For me, I agree that humans are inherently musical but it is definitely a choice that one makes more on an unconscious level than a conscious decision. I think that if I hadn't discovered that I wanted to be a musician, I'd probably be a lot richer and more comfortable but those are not my priorities and I can very easily make them my priorities but every decision I make always leads to the musical lifestyle.

AM: I think my life revolves around it because it's a really fun way to hang out with people and get to know them by playing music together.
AM: Should we talk about the live show, for the gig, coming up? What's the motivation behind playing live and putting on a show? Is it just to sell tapes? Is it to socialise? Or… what?
BSZ: Well it should be to sell tapes but I hardly remember to bring them, and even less so to talk about them. I feel that is the internet's job. And these days, if people want to buy something, they'll buy it however they can. It doesn't seem as much of a hassle to go online we're always online…The show excites me because I get to get in that deep music zone with you guys and share that with other people whom I respect and admire. The other bands, I can honestly say I love their output. Both Zac (RUFF RECORDS) and Nic's (NO ZU). I can't think of a better context to perform music in, than with a bunch of musical like-minded friends who are all doing their own things but there's a mutual appreciation of how we translate our views and experiences into our music….And yeah, it's to socialise. I generally only socialise at gigs. It just happens that way.

BSZ: Are you yourself on stage?
AB: Yes, different versions of myself. But I am never someone else.
BSZ: I think I am the most myself on stage, when I am in that moment.

BSZ: Do you think that we're all loners? Is that why we are in a band together right now?
AM: Yeah
AB: Yeah I reckon I am in a lot of ways. I think we're all a bit weird. And I think we definitely have a good social dynamic and that is evident in when we play music together.

AM: Did the music scene in Melbourne influence you moving here Becky?
BSZ: Yeah, kind of.
AM: I used to think the Melbourne Music scene was super cool. But now I am in it. It's just a bunch of daggy people in bands.
BSZ: A bunch of loners, being loners together. Does that make us social? We come here because we can do our thing and it's accepted. It's not treated like a juvenile pursuit. People seem to get it.

To get an idea of the talent behind the discussion, here's an Appendix for each band member and their musical connections:

Becky Sui Zhen (BSZ):
Sui Zhen, NO ZU, DJ SUSAN, Hot Palms, Fox + Sui & Sui et Sui

Alec Marshall (AM):
Hot Palms, Emma Russack, Why Don't You Believe Me? Records & Sui et Sui

Ashley Bundang (AB):
Totally Mild, Hot Palms, Zone Out, Velcro, Ciggie Witch & Sui et Sui

See Sui Et Sui in action December 13 at Hugs & Kisses