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Photos by Igor Pjorrt and Isak Berglund Mattson-Marn

DJ Suzy is not your average popstar. Her music sits at the intersection of mainstream and underground, a world that has been quietly thriving for years and is breaking through to the average music listener. Her debut album is titled Kira Krash, named after an alter-ego concept that’s been marinating for over 7 years. There are many interpretations of who Kira Krash is and what she represents, but DJ Suzy is not interested in answering those questions for you. Her melodies are sugary sweet pop influenced, mixed with a dark ambience evoking liminal spaces and fantasy lands. We chatted about the long process of her debut album, what’s changed and what’s stayed true throughout years of growing alongside the friend, foe, and confidant that is Kira Krash:

OnesToWatch: I’ve been excited to chat with you ever since my friend Jacob put me on to your music with Haunted Disk back in 2024. So to start, I would love to hear what the mixtape to debut album journey was like for you.

DJ Suzy: I wouldn't call [the mixtape] random because I don't want to downgrade it, but I was more fresh at that time. I had created so much, two EPs called I'm Still Changing and Digital Girl which we smashed together into one piece to create Haunted Disk. That was a learning experience that I'm really proud of. 

I’ve had the concept of Kira Krash in my head since 2019. My friend Elvira and I came up with this alter ego and I wrote a song called “Kira Krash,” before realizing that should be the name of my debut album. 

When you sat down to make the record, were you thinking about the entire timeline from 2019 to now?

Yeah. In the beginning it was more cute, random jazzy songs. I'm really drawn to that; jazz, improvising and niche music. But since 2019, so much has happened to my taste and my way of creating, what I like and what I'm drawn to. The first idea of Kira Krash was more alternative, a mix of jazz and pop. But as time went on, I wanted to bring a darker side to it as well. Before writing songs like “Caught by a wind” and “feel your love,” the Kira Krash idea was quite happy. But I really wanted to bring in that darker, more mellow perspective. 

It must have been interesting to not only notice how you've changed, but what parts of your taste have stayed the same as well.

Kira Krash has been inside of my mind for so long, so I’m ready to release this music and then figure out what I want to do now. There are so many influences from before that are brought into this album. It’s kind of a mixtape 2.0 actually, but with the throughline of my alter ego. 

Something I've always noticed about your music is that it’s reminiscent of video games, sonically and lyrically. Is that something that comes from your childhood?

It definitely comes from my childhood. I played so much Wii when I was little. I was obsessed. I played it every day when I got home. I hadn’t thought about it that much until I got these questions in interviews, which made me think about the purpose of it. Why am I so drawn to this fantasy world? It was a world that I could escape to when my parents were divorcing. That was a chaotic time of my life, and that’s probably why I'm so drawn to it, actually, because I feel so safe within that [world]. I really love Super Mario Galaxy, I’ve literally made songs called “Super mario”, and on this album, “bowser loves peach.” I tend to write about these symbols from my life, but as a reference to real life. I love video game music. I love the Frutiger Aero, 2000s vibe that was so big when I was a child. All of these things are mashed up into a feeling that I look for when I make music.

It's such a liminal space and your music definitely plays with that. It's so relatable too. It reminds me of those memes that are like “Me playing Wii in the other room while my parents were crashing out about the recession.”

No, literally! We didn't have many walls in my childhood home because we lived in a loft, so there were a lot of open spaces. So in between mom and dad fighting, I would be standing in the middle of the room playing my fucking Wii [Laughs]. It was so chaotic.

What was the process of shooting the amazing album cover?

Thank you. We were actually shooting a music video with the life-sized Blythe doll representing Kira Krash. Looking at the video, I was just like, you know what? I want to use a print screen from this video as the cover. It's not a high resolution picture, but it really represents our relationship. Us holding hands represents the tension between us and our relationship towards each other. I see Kira Krash as a shadow of myself. She represents all of the dark thoughts and emotions within me, it’s definitely a yin and yang relationship. I really use my music as therapy, so the album stands for all of the emotions you have to go through, the good and bad ones, to get to the other side. To open that door and close it behind you in order to move on and grow up. It’s about identity and going from a child to an adult.

Photo by Nemo Hinders

It must be nice to hold hands with your alter ego and become friends with her, instead of fighting her. 

Right, exactly. I leave this question open because I've been asking it myself: am I gonna kill Kira Krash in the end or are we gonna be friends? That question is not gonna be answered in the album. This album is about the relationship between your current and old self, accepting and acknowledging that it’s fine that she’s there. I understand now that she [my past self] did this because we needed to survive. But maybe I don't want to be that person anymore. It's really about that tension, I would say.

I want to talk about Nourished by Time on “so sw33t”. I was so excited to see that collab, because it came out of left field but made so much sense. How did it come about? 

I'm a fan of his so I reached out to him. I was like, “Do you want to be on this song?” and he was like, “Yeah, I love it. Let's go.” It was just that easy. Americans tend to be very excited at first and then it’s radio silence, but he was the total opposite. He sent me verses the week after. He was just so sweet – pun not intended – during the whole process and I really admire him. He's a great artist. 

“nothing I can do” took me by surprise. It feels like your version of the classic piano ballad. What was the process of that one? 

The process was, as it is sometimes, working with musicians who play instruments I don't really play myself. When I started to make music, I felt like I had to control every part of the process. I put pressure on myself to be the producer, writer, and singer. Then I had an epiphany that you’re not a “bad” artist if you’re not doing everything yourself. It’s more interesting to collab with people and connect with other musicians and creators. Making “nothing I can do”, was one of those sessions where we my collaborators and I improvise at the piano. I tend to use my ears a lot, that’s one of my instruments. We just jammed and I wrote all the lyrics. 

Maybe I’m projecting, but I notice that female artists feel the need to do everything on their own because if we don’t, people may credit someone else for our work. We are constantly proving ourselves. It’s so freeing to realize that there's an art to collaboration and knowing the right person to bring into the mix. It’s not all on your back and it surely doesn’t make the music any less valuable. 

Exactly. People get into their heads about having to do all of it. But you really are supposed to do what you're the best at. And what you think is the most fun, you know? Other artists can fill in the gaps of what you need to be more tapped into and you learn from each other. Oscar Sheller, for example, is an amazing producer. I always tell him “It's so fun to work with you because you're crazy.” First of all, he’s just so fast. He can also really read the room. He's a good listener and can see my mission. Which is rare, because sometimes male producers want to take over the whole process. And you're like…wow. They don't see me at all. That was one of the main reasons why I wanted to learn to produce, because I was so tired of that. 

They know that if you can't do it, it's easier for them to get on a power trip.

Correct. It has to do with taking back control of the process as a woman. I have a lot of female besties that are on top of the game right now that I'm so proud of. Elvira, my best friend, with Addison [Rae] and Tove [Lo]. She's also working with an artist called Murex. 

I've been listening to Murex! So good. 

She's incredible. 

I discovered her because Addison left a comment on one of her posts. That’s one of the ways I find new artists, from artists I already love recommending them. 

She's so fun and cool. We have a really good culture between the 3 of us [Elvira and Murex]. I love to show my music to them and ask for feedback. Sometimes I bring them in to write together. On one of the album tracks, “scarecrow,” we wrote it together and she's also singing. You can actually hear her voice.

It's so important to have a friend group of talented women who uplift each other. 

It’s such a blessing. I feel very empowered by that, because I know that I've got their back and they got mine inside of the industry.

The alarm at the end of “dream” was one of the record’s stand out moments. I didn't notice I was in a trance until the alarm woke me up. 

That song is about escapism and wanting to create something in your fantasy world. But we also have to face the truth, you know? 

If the song “end scene” could play during the credits of a movie, what would you choose?

There’s two vibes for that song. I Know What You Did Last Summer is a huge reference, because it’s a movie that me and my best friends always watch together. I really love that movie. It has a special vibe. I’m such a junkie of nostalgic, comforting movies. It’s one of my comfort movies, like Harry Potter or Scooby Doo. My friends and I put them on in the background and just talk for hours. Then I would say some kind of old school movie as well. I can't really make my mind up, because I see both of them. 

What kind of old school movie?

Maybe a Hitchcock movie.

So you're a horror fan. 

I love horror and I love thrillers. Me and my mom are thriller junkies.

On the last track on the album, “speedboat”, there's the lyric: It's so clear to me what I need. How does that feel as the final statement of Kira Krash?

I put that song last because it represents themes of life and death, of going into the light. That is what I see in my head anyways. I'm driving away on this “speedboat” into the next project or next adventure of my life, the next planet or whatever universe. It’s the perfect ending because I don't want it to end super sad. When I went through all of the emotions of the album, that song was the perfect release of everything.

How did you decide which songs made the cut for Kira Krash? 

Oscar and I went through each song, asking which ones are the vibe of this album or the next project. We always call the next project “the emo project.” I do have such a big catalog, so we had to figure out which ones fit where. 

Who are your OnesToWatch?

Quiet Light and Murex, of course.

Listen to Kira Krash below: