Susie Suh

Distinct from the British frontwoman Siouxsie Sioux, who fronted Siouxsie & the Banshees, Korean-American artist Susie Suh hails from Los Angeles and crafts adult alternative and folk-rock material. Her style draws frequent comparisons to Fiona Apple, Sarah McLachlan, and Aimee Mann, the onetime vocalist of ’Til Tuesday who later pursued a solo path.

Although Suh was born and raised entirely in the United States, her parents emigrated from Korea to Southern California during the 1960s. Her musical journey started at age eight, when she joined a Korean children’s choir whose material spanned traditional Korean pieces and American pop songs. At thirteen she relocated from Los Angeles to New Hampshire to attend boarding school, where she began composing songs throughout her teenage years. Around age seventeen she tracked a six-song EP, manufactured one thousand CDs, and sold roughly seven hundred copies to fellow students.

After high school Suh enrolled at Brown University in Rhode Island, completing an English degree while regularly traveling to New York City to perform in clubs throughout Lower Manhattan. Her parents, who favored a more secure profession, discouraged a full-time music career and viewed it strictly as a pastime; those tensions directly shaped the song “Your Battlefield.”

In 2003 Epic/Sony signed her, pairing her with producer, songwriter, and arranger Glen Ballard, whose credits encompass work with No Doubt, Paula Abdul, and Alanis Morissette—most notably the 1995 multiplatinum album Jagged Little Pill. Ballard initially committed to only a handful of tracks yet ultimately helmed the entirety of Suh’s self-titled debut, which Epic issued in April 2005.