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Hello , My Name is Susanna
Susanna Hoffs
AN EATERY , BAR , PREMIER LIVE MUSIC VENUE , AND EVENT SPACE
FRI , MAY 05 FOOLS BREW
BURY YOUR PAST QUAIL VENT TO ATMOSPHERE
SAT , MAY 06
ROSE FUNERAL
6
WED , MAY 10
MISFITS GUITARIST
DOYLE
FRI , MAY 12
FRAYSER BOY
SUN , MAY 14
THE COLD STARES
SUN , MAY 21
GIGAN
SUNLESS
FRI , MAY 26
DEVIN THE DUDE
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THU , MAY 11
ICON FOR HIRE
SAT , MAY 13
Performing NINJA GAIDEN + DOUBLE DRAGON Live !
BIT BRIGADE
PSYCHOSTICK
Final Fantasy metal
KNIGHT OF THE ROUNDS
FRI , MAY 19
GRADE 2
THU , MAY 25
THE LONELY ONES
SAT , MAY 27
ALBUM RELEASE
AIGHT BET
FREDDIE SUNSHINE ORINOCO LOS BAD HOMBRES RUPTURA FROM THOSE ASHES
I
t was the best of times , it was the worst of times ,” Charles Dickens once drily observed . And nobody could relate better to such innate situational irony than any contemporary artist — someone who traditionally creates to earn a living unimpeded — who found themselves staying not only busy but oddly inspired by the last three altogether grim years of the coronavirus pandemic . Take , for example , ex-Bangle Susanna Hoffs , who , since her band ’ s official breakup in 1989 , has steadily released four solo sets , plus three Under the Covers cover-song anthologies with Matthew Sweet , also her bandmate in Ming Tea , Mike Myers ’ faux-mod backing group that first inspired his zany Austin Powers movies ( which Hoffs ’ husband Jay Roach directed ). So she ’ s never suffered for work . “ But I dunno — for me , it ’ s gotten so crazy recently , it ’ s just been nonstop , and I think that ’ s a good thing ,” she marvels over her Herculean lockdown achievements : A new fifth album , the Peter Asher-produced The Deep End , a collection of mostly-obscure acoustic covers , plus the completion of her very first novel , This Bird Has Flown , with a backing book tour ( a Chicago Humanities-sponsored signing appearance last month at Chop Shop , featuring a sitdown chat with The Interview Show ' s Mark Bazer ( www . chicagogumanities . org )). “ So it ’ s been thrilling , with me feeling a sense of euphoria , almost , that all these passion projects have come to fruition . But the fact that they ’ re dropping at the same time has turned into a real when-it-rainsit-pours moment , you know ?”
So Hoffs is shrugging off any potential pangs of guilt and getting back on the road proudly promoting her work . Just having bumped into the legendary studio Svengali Asher was cause enough for celebration , she swears . And while they agreed on subtly-tweaked versions of more obvious classics like Yaz ( oo )’ s “ Only You ,” Squeeze ’ s “ Black Coffee in Bed ,” The Rolling Stones ’ “ Under My Thumb ,” and Leslie Gore ’ s “ You Don ’ t Own Me ,” it was the keen-eared producer who urged her to explore newer artists like Dodie (“ Would You Be So Kind ”), Holly Humberstone (“ Deep End ”), Brandy Clark (“ Pawn Shop ”), and even the collaborative work of Billie Eilish and her brother Finneas (“ When the Party ’ s Over ”). And — in prime perfect-storm fashion — both undertakings just happen to be published / released in April . Hoffs took time out from her book tour to bring us all up to speed …
IE : So , were there any other projects you completed during lockdown ? Your feature-length film debut , maybe ? SUSANNA HOFFS : Well , I guess I had my feature-length film debut in The Allnighter ( 1987 ), which has become a cult classic . But no , no — I don ’ t think that will be what I dive into next . I ’ m actually very eager to write another novel because I had such a great time doing it . I mean , it was unexpectedly blissful .
IE : When did you first dabble in prose ? Maybe short stories as a kid ? SH : Well , I was always a reader from a very early age . And my mom would take my brothers and me to the library , and I would just plant myself in whatever section I was interested in , so it would ’ ve been books kind of geared for younger readers . And my mother was a big reader , and she had a great , great collection of books . Her shelves were filled , and I ’ ve inherited a lot of her awesome paperbacks from the ‘ 60s , too . So I always had access to books , and it was a very nice household to grow up in because my father was a psychoanalyst , I had two brothers , and my mother ’ s an artist who ’ s directed movies ( including The Allnighter ) and made a lot of paintings and sculptures . My parents met at Yale when my dad was in medical school , and my mom was in graduate school , back in 1953 or something , and they didn ’ t really have women as undergrads at Yale . Obviously , all that has changed . So it was a vibrant setting for a kid like me , and my mom was addicted to listening to music , so very , very early on in my life , I had kind of an unusual
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