Who/what inspires your music?

 I feel like I get inspiration from all sorts of bands and genres. to throw a few out; Janis Joplin, Nirvana, Amy Winehouse, and Michael Buble, I never pin it to just one. 

 

How did you come up with the name?

 Sushia is my real name! It's American Russian, I was born in Russia and later moved to the US when I was about 5, and I feel that Sushia is a good mix of the two. it seems to really engrain into people's minds. 

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​How would you describe your sound?

 I always say I never like to go by one specific genre. 

​I feel a heavy influence from the “words, what are they?” mindset and that overall part of the music industry. I also feel a heavy influence from Soul, but I tend to switch between genres these days. I feel as though it’s all about the personality, you can make whatever music you’d like but you have to put that soul into it. 

Again, to throw out a few names; Janis Joplin, Nina Simone, and Nirvana. 

 

If you had no choice but to become a cover band, who would you cover?

 I would have to say The Beatles or Nirvana. They have a nice funky sound, and went through some good changes and had many different phases, so I feel I’d have a lot to choose from with them. 

 

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​What is the hardest part about being a musician? 

 Not getting caught up in comparing yourself to others, or others' paths. we all go on our own paths, and if we get hung up on that, I feel that’ll really put a chip on your shoulder. Personally I would also say perfectionism, it has to be just so, or it’s garbage. it can be hard to create your own/try new sounds with a perfectionist mindset. 

 

​What is your end goal? 

 I would love to do it for a living and the whole shebang. I would love to teach it as well, I would want to do it for people who are genuinely interested. 

​I substitute teach during the school year, and I see many kids get to a certain age and  they seem to lose their spark in a sense, but I would love to teach groups of willing students and get really involved with it. 

I would also love to learn more about guitar repair. I've taken apart my guitar and I find it so interesting to see the inner workings of everything. 

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​If someone wrote a book about your music, what would it be titled? 

 “The Soulful Loop”. 

 

​If a middle aged white man wrote a review on your music, what would it most likely say?

 This is a tangent, but it’ll tie in at the end. I’m very androgynous looking, and I love it. but sometimes when I’m performing I’ll notice men looking me up and down, so I feel like if they’re brave enough, the review would mention my androgyny. They would compliment my guitaring and my soul, but it would mostly be about my gender. 

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​What is the craziest/coolest thing you've experienced as a musician? 

 just this past weekend, I performed at the Broken Buttons festival, and the stage was absolutely phenomenal. 

 

 ​Which song of yours was the most fun to write & make? 

 The first one that pops up in my head would be my song titled “Silver”, whenever I first laid down the guitaring, it was comprised of three loops, but in the lead guitaring, there’s a really fun part on the lower strings that I think coincides with the rest of the loop beautifully, and vocally I can go wild on it. 

​I also really liked making my song “Old Friend”, because I can have fun on the vocals, same with “My Old Lady” and “Sober”. I love to project on my songs and I feel as though those in particular give me a really big opportunity to do that. 

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​What is your dream venue/place to play?

 The first thing that comes to mind would be somewhere in New York, or anywhere overseas!