At first listen, I thought that if I could find a common thread that stitched together Suzi’s debut record Patchwork, it would be the beloved Naarm/Melbourne-based artist’s trademark gut-punching honesty that shone through the strongest. 

But zooming out and fully absorbing this cathartic capsule of Suzi’s young adult life, it was suddenly clear that the fabric of the album, stretching out to envelop you in a giant warm embrace, was in fact woven from honesty’s predecessor – courage.

Self-released through Suzi’s own record label, Very Good Records, Patchwork entwines deep knots of trauma, brought to the surface, amidst swathes of soaring choruses and headbanging bridges. 

Together, the 12-track collection encapsulates a palpable freedom that perfectly sets the stage for a purging thrash about the living room or gig floor. It is a narrative of Suzi’s heart bravely sewn to her sleeve, wide open to healing.

“I grew up in a really poor household with five kids,” Suzi recounts. “I had a pretty rough upbringing and entered my early adult life pretty messed up and dealing with a lot of different mental health issues. A lot of depression and anxiety and PTSD… all of the above. It kind of got to a point where I wasn't really able to function like a real person – I felt very numb and away from the world.

“So I made the decision maybe two years ago to do super intensive, active trauma therapy. Weekly sessions. And I think that was a really big part of writing this album. Discovering myself as a person without the chains of all this extra stuff around me.”

Right off the bat, the record imparts the first of many close to the bone confessions:

“I was comfortable with the pain until the pain hurt someone else / Now I’m responsible for ending the cycle / It ends with me, it ends with me / I swear to God it ends with me.”

Determined to not re-initiate her own cycles of trauma, Suzi set her course to inner work, embarking on a path of deep processing and mental rewiring, opening new doors to accountability and self-compassion. Not only discovering new edges of her best self, Suzi also felt like her capacity to love altogether even expanded – not just for the people in her life, but also herself.

But self-love and self-worth were roads of their own with many turns and many boundaries to learn. Quoting The Perks Of Being A Wallflower, Suzi agrees with its famous line. “It’s cheesy but like, 'We accept the love we think we deserve,' right?”

The chest-bursting ballad One Way Ticket is an anthem to this, celebrating the strength of choosing to walk away from those who resent your growth and prey upon a fragile self-worth.

“I think we can only be treated as well by the people around us because of our own values that we hold for ourselves,” Suzi reflects. “And I think for me growing up, I didn't really have much respect for myself. 

"I didn't really have much self-worth or self-love, and so I did end up in a lot of situations where people see that and can find comfort in that.”

Using vulnerability as her compass has always been a central beacon shining through from Suzi’s project, which she says was aided also by the active choice of opting for her Australian accent in her music.

“I don't think I was ever as true to myself or as vulnerable until I started doing that and I think that maybe that's what comes through to the audience,” she speculates. 

While some could say the accent itself offers an immediate sense of connection, Suzi references her accent more so as a tool for her own writing process.

“The minute I started singing with my Australian accent, it just kind of felt like I was talking and speaking my voice and telling my story,” she says. “I think that helped bring a lot more honesty out of me and I think maybe that is what resonates and connects more than the accent.”

She continues with a smile and a shrug; “Maybe it is just the accent. Maybe people just like that I say Centrelink really funny,” she smirks.

“I think there's a subculture of up and coming artist who are really into this Australiana rock vibe, which is really cool to see,” Suzi says referencing the likes of fellow proud accent ambassadors Teenage Joans and Teen Jesus & The Jean Teasers, as well as Melbourne-based quintet The Vovos and emerging local indie rocker Elkie Kershaw.

Amidst Patchwork’s immense rawness, the album still possesses a buoyancy that lifts the listener up alongside Suzi’s own empowerment. Showered with sunny chorus-backed harmonies and Suzi’s trademark quippy lyrics, the record retains a lightness of never taking herself too seriously. 

Example A) taking you to a knockout, instant-grin verse opener in My Car Is Due For A Service: “If this year’s taught me anything / it’s that I’m really gay as fuck.”

“I think the first time I played it live,” Suzi recalls, “I was opening for Hobo Johnson, which was such a funny situation. And I started it being like, “Who here is gay?” And everyone was like: WOOOO! Then when that verse came on, everyone was like..,” she trails off laughing. “It was just awesome. There's a video of it somewhere.”

@suzisangthis

im really gay as fuck #fyp #ausmusic #australianmusic #lgbtqia #melbourne #hobojohnson

♬ original sound - suzi sings

While writing Patchwork, Suzi was also experiencing her first queer relationship, with the album chronicling their arc together before parting ways.

“We're fine now,” she assures. “We're great. I played her the album really recently, and she was like, “This is amazing!” which is really sweet. I know that there were a lot of things I had to work on through that time, and I think that she was a really great person to help me see that.”

However, the release of Patchwork isn’t just courageous in its construction, but courageous too in its release into the world, as nearing the end of 2024, Suzi began her own record label Very Good Records. 

And while Suzi admits the label itself isn’t actually much of a stone’s throw from her previous set up as a staunch self-releasing independent artist with the responsibilities just as vast, she emphasises: “It's cool to have something tangible to be like: this is what I’m running.”

“I run the label, I book my own shows,” she lists. “I'm distributing everything, distributing all the merch. And then I have Holly [Ditchfield], who's my best friend, who plays in my band as well, and she helps out doing PR and things like that.”

“So in the grand scheme of things, the entire team is me and Holly, which is awesome.”

Extending her values now to her record label, Suzi dreams to uplift and platform the local music circles around her. "My vision for the label is kind of more of a community focus rather than like a record label,” she explains. 

“Ideally, I want to get my project to a point where I can be helping out financially and doing promotion for other artists that I think freakin' rule, to then have the same kind of platform and opportunity that I've had.”

Music community has always meant the world to Suzi, and ever since moving up from the Peninsula to Melbourne, the immediate acceptance she received was something she wanted to continue fueling.

“I didn't really know anyone,” she shares. “I was just kind of like – hello, I'm here now. And I just kind of went to shows and I felt so welcomed and seen by these people who were so vulnerable and honest and so upfront with their feelings on stage. 

It just hit something in my soul that I was like: 'I have to be a part of this.' And no one was like: No, you can't be. Everyone is so welcoming and lovely.”

Now forging her own foundation to one day help others to flourish, Suzi’s main prerogative is to show the creatives of tomorrow grinding away independently that they are not alone. 

“I just want to be an example to anyone kind of coming up that you actually can do it yourself,” she declares. 

“You actually can form a really beautiful community and be quite successful without conforming to that capitalist idea of what the music industry should be like. I think it's so possible and I just want to be able to sell out shows across the country without any kind of industry support. 

"Just because people resonate with the music," she adds. "I think that that's a really important thing to see, especially for young people coming up in the industry now.”

With such a love for her local music scene, Suzi’s mantra always remains: community first and foremost. “It's the only thing that fucking matters,” she hammers home.

“I think if you're doing anything for fame and fortune and money right, you're just never going to be happy or fulfilled. And I think that the more you connect with the people around you and actually just have relationships with people that you think are really freaking good, that's pretty much the key to everything in life.”

Suzi's Patchwork is out now, with tickets to her forthcoming launch tour on sale now.

Suzi – Patchwork Album Tour 2025

Friday, October 3rd – Stay Gold, Melbourne, VIC

Saturday, October 4th – Black Bear Lodge, Brisbane, VIC

Friday, October 10th – Ed Castle, Adelaide, SA

Saturday, October 11th – The Trocadero Room, Sydney, NSW