Charleston, S.C.’s Susto (pronounced soos-toh) plays a refreshingly sincere take on American music. Picture if A.A. Bondy, Delta Spirit and The Grateful Dead had a kid and you’re on the right track.
The five-piece released their second album & I’m Fine Today in January and have been on the road ever since. While Susto has an impressive résumé — they’ve opened for Band of Horses and The Lumineers, among others — it seems like they’re just now hitting their stride. & I’m Fine Today is an effortless and inventive blend of psych rock, country and alternative.
Susto is headlining their first Madison show tomorrow (June 20) at The Frequency. In advance of the show, The Bozho caught up with Susto frontman Justin Osbourne.
What’s the difference between opening for big bands and building it from the ground up?
We like both of them. It’s cool to have done the opening stuff because that’s the groundwork. When we come back to a city after opening for someone big like The Lumineers or Band of Horses, we get to see how many of those people we won over. [Laughs]
People are drawn to your songs for the lyrics. You’ve mentioned, for you, writing lyrics is a stream of consciousness thing. How much of the final lyrics come from such freestyling?
On the low end like 50-to-60% and on the high end nearly a hundred percent. I really enjoy that style of writing because there’s not as much pressure. If something doesn’t make sense, you don’t feel bad because you don’t expect most of it to make sense. It sometimes feels like I’m talking to a therapist as I’m singing — there are times when I’m choking and fighting back my own tears, since the lyrics tend to be so personal. Even a song like “Waves,” which is musically upbeat, gets me. It’s about why there’s so much pain and suffering in the world, and sometimes I lose it.
How does Susto get along on the road? What helps keep the peace?
We all live within a mile of each other in Charleston, so we’re used to seeing each other on the road and off. We’re all from different places [from Atlanta to Japan] and I think our different backgrounds are a big strength. We respect one another’s differences and have learned what each of us is best at.
What’s Susto’s experience with Wisconsin? This is your first headlining show in Madison.
We’ve played Madison once before, opening for Wild Child [last fall at the Majestic], and it was awesome. We love Wisconsin, especially in the summer. Wisconsin music fans are gracious and seem to want to help young bands do their thing. Definitely looking forward to being back.
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