About/Bio

Suzanne de Bussac is a multi-instrumentalist, songwriter, recording artist, producer, and piano teacher currently based in Calgary Canada. Heavily influenced by her early classical training, combined with her passion for alternative, rock, punk, world music and jazz, Suzanne has always charted her own maps and methods for creating and introducing new music her listeners. 

Whatcha Gonna Do is the third single from her forthcoming EP Water, to be released in Fall 2023. Water is the first of 4 forthcoming Eps (Vinegar, Wine & Blood) that builds into a full length album titled Liquids. The Single releases across digital platforms on Wednesday June 21, followed by a Video Release party on Saturday July 8 at The Asylum for Art in Calgary. The evening will feature a dinner hour solo set by Suzanne, followed by video screening, full band performance, and open stage for jamming to end the night. 

Whatcha Gonna Do explores the idea of multiple personalities, and an internal battle of choice between what’s right, what’s easy, and what’s tempting. Inspired by an intense attraction to a potentially dangerous situation, the tune explores conflicting feelings between physical attraction and fear of personal spiritual damage. Driven by a heady groove and de Bussac’s inspired piano work, the music is a multi-atmospheric weave of instrumental roars, vibrations, ripples, and crashes as her gritty vocal takes the listener along on a trippy search for integrity and resolve. 

Produced by Suzanne’s longtime musical comrade musician-composer Dean Drouillard, the album features the jaw-droppingly versatile combination of Toronto based musicians Kurt Swinghammer (guitar), Don Kerr (drums), and Kevin Lacroix (bass). “The guys were operating as Communism at the time of recording which was during lockdown” she states. “Dean insisted they were the only ones for this project, and I deferred to his expertise and his already solid relationship with them as a band and friends”. The recording moved forward with de Bussac and background vocalist Michelle Baker tracking piano and vocals at the Asylum For Art in Calgary, and remaining instruments laid down through each musician’s homes in Toronto. Drouillard’s vision of musical synthesis came through in the best gangbuster style. 

The Video footage was shot by de Bussac’s creative collaborator Scott Arnold on location at Asylum for Art, then sent to old friend & colleague the extraordinarily talented and innovative Ronley Teper (The Lipliners) for production, editing and animation. In addition to Teper’s highly inspired musical work, she and partner Saül Lederman now spend much time creating animations and videos. 

Launching herself over the years on a many-sided exploration of the meanings and the magnitude of music, Suzanne has made melodies and lyrics both her inner domain and her public platform. Evolving from early days of growth and learning with the Royal Conservatory of Music to a stint as a music industry executive to a producer/programmer for her own communications company Tranzister Productions, Suzanne has been found crooning and cresting on the stages of various club circuits throughout. Her debut album The Valley of Baca (2000) released to critical acclaim under the Song label, followed by her second album Shiver Stories (2018) earning a nomination for the Polaris Music Prize, a place in Alberta Music’s Merchandise tent on the festival circuit, into the finals for the Ship & Anchor Songwriting contest in Calgary. 

Suzanne’s music and live performances turn heads and sharpen ears with its wonderstruck style and unshakable intensity. “Anyone who can appreciate the fine art of songwriting accompanied by fleeting moments of Kate Bush brilliance should become intimate with Suzanne de Bussac,” exclaimed Exclaim! magazine. while Collected Sounds recognized her as “a very evocative singer...de Bussac’s talent as a songwriter (is) evident.” It’s all exemplified her longstanding credo that music is a direct connection to the “world between worlds”. 

WHATCHA GONNA DO releases across streaming platforms on June 21 2023 in celebration of Summer Solstice, Fête de La Musique, and National Indigenous Peoples Day, on whose land we live, work, play, and create.