Susanna Macdonald - ProfilesArchive

About Me

Hailing from Edinburgh, where she grew up surrounded by music with a father who was a hugely talented pianist and every child had to have an instrument she was sent to piano lessons at 6. After just a couple of sessions she composed her first 'piece' on the keyboard. These initial musical experiments continued unfocused until hearing, when she was 15, Holly Tomas in the basement of a bar. The depth of the lyrics and strength of Holly's beautiful voice instantly created a love of the acoustic style and inspired Susanna to hone her creativity towards a purpose. This introduction to singer-songwriters led to Friday nights on The Mound and a wealth of local talent where Susanna had the opportunity to cut her teeth on the local scene. Shortly after this she was granted a music scholarship for 6th form at a school in Cambridge. Here musical theory and practise were added to the mix as the emphasis was mainly on the classical side of music, though she became a feature of the bi-annual acoustic concerts playing her original material. This breadth of experience was added to the layers of her songwriting and began to head her towards the direction her songwriting would eventually take. After school she lived in London on and off for about 5 years, latterly playing regularly with The Giant Pygmy Orchestra. She did many things during this time including working in the only non-porno video shop in Soho, buying fridges for the homeless, selling credit cards to people in Sainsbury's, working in bars and kitchens and studying, before finally dropping out of uni and coming back to Scotland to start a family in 2006. Her music draws on all sorts of influences from hallucinations, poems, books, moods and experiences, to manic breakdowns and misunderstandings in everything. A mix of indie-folk-rock-pop-bluesy-jazz she uses anything that catches her imagination to create a varied, often very dark though frequently humorous, style where no two songs sound alike and the vocal lines can change from gentle and lyrical to enormous roaring in the space of a bar. She currently is living in Edinburgh with her fiance and son.

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My Interests

Music:

Member Since: 1/9/2007
Band Website: susannamacdonald.com
Influences: Fiona Apple, Aimee Mann, Jon Brion, Holly Tomas, The Who, The Jam, Elliott Smith, Ella Fitzgerald, Blur, Clannad, Louis Armstrong, Fanattica! Death Cab for Cutie, Iron and Wine, Amanda Palmer, Nina Simone, Nat King Cole, ColePorter, Irving Berlin, Jeff Buckley, Suzanne Vega, Kristi Stanistopolou, Nina Nastasia, The Small Faces, The Move, The Rolling Stones, David Bowie, Benjamin Britten, The Stranglers, a lot of early-mid 90's brit-pop bands, Mozart, Cafe Del Mar, Blondie, Skunk Anansie, Bossanova, Nouvelle Vague, Bach, The Lemonheads/Evan Dando, John Keats, Noel Coward, Thomas Tallis, Iggy Pop, The Velvet Underground, The Rat Pack, The Supernaturals, Ravel, Poulenc, Jules Holland, Judy Garland, Debussy, Massive Attack, Ross Galloway, Moby, Anne Rice, Almodovar, Bing Crosby, John Hunt, Peter Michael Rowan... Quite a lot more but I mostly don't know what I'm listening to and have got really bad at remembering the names of things.
Sounds Like: "The sort of thing Dido would be writing if she weren't rubbish" - London Student
Type of Label: None

My Blog

CD LAUNCH ANNOUNCED

A date for you diary:The Voodoo Rooms, West Register Street, EdinburghSaturday 21st June 20087-9pm £4 (£7 inc. CD special launch price)Will include slots from Hannah O'Reilly, Lynsey Hutchinson among ...
Posted by Susanna Macdonald on Thu, 08 May 2008 03:27:00 PST

Race For Life

Hello,I am doing the Race For Life to raise money for cancer research this year. I will be running 5k on the !st June. Underneath my bio you can find a link to sponsor me online, so please donate some...
Posted by Susanna Macdonald on Tue, 08 Apr 2008 12:43:00 PST

New EP - Best of Nothing Yet - Coming May 2008

Nearly there, just finishing the mixing now. Sneak previews of a couple of tracks will be available FREE for a limited time only prior to release via my website in a couple of weeks...www.susannamacdo...
Posted by Susanna Macdonald on Mon, 24 Mar 2008 05:13:00 PST

Fanattica are great

Not being sycophantic but it was so good to see such a good live show. Right up there on a par with Amanda Palmer for entertainment value. Not heard a band this good in Edinburgh since Swelling Meg in...
Posted by Susanna Macdonald on Sat, 16 Feb 2008 02:37:00 PST

Chez Pierre review

I wouldn't normally do this but due to a lack of online write-your-own restaurant review sites I feel I should put this somewhere. My friend and I were just out to lunch at this new restaurant on Eyre...
Posted by Susanna Macdonald on Thu, 14 Feb 2008 07:40:00 PST

Gigs and things

HowdyAm playing at Hamilton's Bar, Hamilton Place, Edinburgh on Sunday 17th Feb at 5.30pm. If you come you'll see my beautiful son doing his best to out-perform his mother. Also CD is currently being ...
Posted by Susanna Macdonald on Wed, 06 Feb 2008 02:00:00 PST

MY NEW EP

I have finally booked the recording studio fro January (a birthday present from August...) and hopefully will be releasing said EP by mid-February. I am still looking for a cellist if anyone fancies a...
Posted by Susanna Macdonald on Sun, 23 Dec 2007 04:03:00 PST

The Listening Room

Hi there,As many know there are a wonderful group of people that run a night of unadulterated acoustic musical pleasure on a Sunday night at the BlLUE BLAZER on SPITTAL STREET in Edinburgh from 8PM. T...
Posted by Susanna Macdonald on Sun, 23 Dec 2007 03:56:00 PST

un-confused

gahthe forest have double booked so the gig won't be on tuesday, so you'll have to wait til the end of january to hear me play (unless of course you come to the queen's hall tonight - sunday 2nd dec a...
Posted by Susanna Macdonald on Sun, 02 Dec 2007 03:37:00 PST

confushian @ the forest

howdy all,confushian are playing a gig at the forest cafe on tuesday 4th december. the very congenial gentlemen of the band have asked me if i'll play a few wee numbers first and i thought it a splend...
Posted by Susanna Macdonald on Wed, 21 Nov 2007 04:59:00 PST