Walking down the backstreets of Brooklyn’s Williamsburg neighborhood on an unusually windy spring night, I knew that I was in the right place. But what I was about to see, I had no idea. I arrived at the black graffiti-wrapped building and entered. It felt as if I stepped into a concrete coloring book, the walls tattooed with band names and psychedelic murals. Inside it sounds like a thousand mini concerts playing in each room with each door containing a different sound. Metal, surf rock, classical and jazz, were the only recognizable genres that I could make out. I follow the dim lighting down a long corridor and knock on door 19.

Jammed inside of this tiny room about the size of your typical kitchen were five rockers, all with instruments in hand. I gave everyone dap and sat down quietly on the floor. Abruptly, with three snaps drumsticks, Sus Life came to life. What I heard was something that I couldn’t put into a genre or category. Every soul in the room functioned as a piece, no matter how small, to a larger beast that was the sound.I listened for what was about an hour, they’d work on one particular part of a song for 20 maybe even 30 minutes until they got it right. You could feel the thick tension in the air, but this was positive tension. The hours that they put into rehearsing is all for great reason. Sus Life, a Brooklyn-based band/collective is to perform in Afropunk Battle of the Bands on June 29 in Brooklyn.They have gained many fans in New York and the surrounding areas, but this is to be their biggest performance yet.I got the privilege of getting to know the band, and really digging into Sus Life’s roots.For this show I’ll be serving as your backstage passes, meet the band.

Renima

Co-founder, rapper, creative

East Flatbush, NY

What is your position in Sus Life?

‘’I started sus life in 2011, it stands for souls united by songs living in f****d environments, I replaced that with a failed if I’m trying to censor it. It also stands for just being yourself regardless of what people think and proving people wrong because people will look at you because you’re black and associate you with the stereotype of what their perception of black people or white people or Asian people is. Sus Life is about being suspicious because we are suspicious. A lot of people in my area where I come from they know somebody that has died because they are suspicious to the police or they were harassed because they were suspicious to the police, they are profiled because they have on a certain attire. That’s what it’s like living the sus life. Sus Life is about embodying art in your way whatever god gave you make sure you use that sh*t creatively.’’

‘’A lot of us came from BHA, Brooklyn high school of The Arts. Ever since the age of 17 or 18 we started to look at the world more serious and we started to notice things. It became more of an empowerment things more than being just being creative and thinking outside of the box and what we naturally were, but it was more about empowering our people and empowering the youth pushing them to be different. Not on purpose, but knowing who you really are and running with that. If you are a different n*gga be a different n*gga and own that sh*t, if you are a normal person then own that because it makes you different.’’

What is the goes into making Sus Life appeal as performers?

‘’Purpose,that goes into everything. Why are we so good? We have a reason to perform. A lot of great artists want to be great but they don't know why they do it. We have made people cry. Literally grown men and grown women cry in our performances, on the trains, and stages crying out of happiness crying out of sorrow and releasing that pain. That’s what we create our music for. That’s what I hope every artist creates for: to express something and put it out there for other people to get that same feeling that they can express through that same topic or concept. If you performing, what are you really performing for if you don’t have meaning or purpose behind it? It makes no sense. We know our souls we know what we are here for we know how to channel.’’

Rigga morti$

Co-founder, rapper, visual artist

Brooklyn, NY

Where are the roots as far as performances go?

‘’We have been all over new york city. Sometimes we will even busk on the train which is performing on the carts or outside. We just perform anywhere, that’s how we get our fans. The key to success is just showing up. Now we do monthly shows by ourselves called the love cyph jam session. People come out and have a good time, we do shows in the Lower East Side, Williamsburg, Bushwick or wherever. We are trying to branch out to others states after this Afropunk gig.’’

Where do you get your drive to perform?

‘’I get my energy from people who have passed away. I feel like I carry a burden if someone was a victim of police brutality, I think about that. You get into your zone, you have something to stand up for, it doesn't have to be positive just stand up for something as humans we need something to believe in. Believe in that to the fullest. A lot of people are talented but they don't have the right mindset, it's not about talent nowadays, people are working when you're not working. It's about cutting out bad habits and every day you are working toward that goal. Every day you trying to make yourself a better person or better human being in general, you have to have the mindset that if I want this, it is going to come from my mind and my will. I’m never too comfortable. When you're okay with being uncomfortable you're going to be the best artist you can be, they ask us how are you guys such good performers? It’s being comfortable with being scared in your own skin.’’

Key hutchinson

Guitarist & songwriter

Flatbush, NY

What inspired you to first pick up the guitar?

‘’I have been playing for five years and I also write songs. I listened to rock music punk music just listening to that style of music. Nirvana,Sex Pistols Led Zeppelin, Hendrix made me want to pick up the guitar and emulate those sounds.’’

If you could have a session with one guitarist who would it be?

‘’I think the answer is pretty obvious, it’s Hendrix.’’

Yeah I noticed the Stratocaster and the shirt.

(Laughs) ’’Yeah but there’s so many other guitarist that I love and admire, maybe more or equal to Hendrix but he is the foundation and cornerstone of all that I do and how I think about music.’’

How did you first link with Sus Life?

‘’I was busking on the subway on Atlantic avenue, Joey saw me and came up to me and asked me if I wanted to join Sus Life, this was late 2013.’’

How did you go from playing to yourself, to playing out publicly?

‘’I’m still working on playing live when i play by myself i'm more confident because I’m by myself and no one is looking at me, I want to be more confident on stage and more free on stage the difference is, I’m not free enough on stage.’’

Courtney AKA CDADRUM

Drummer

Bronx,NY

How did you start playing drums?

‘’I’ve been playing since I was 2 but I started taking it more serious at 11. I started playing at church but I’m trying to finesse all genres of music.’’

What’s the transition like, going from playing gospel to playing in a band?

‘’It’s a little different but it’s fun at the same time. When it comes to us gospel drummers we are all universal, I enjoy it. As long as you know how to read music everything will come to you naturally. Whoever doesn’t know how to read music, learn how to read music. Study a lot of drummers that have played different genres of music and that way you I’ll be able to not only be able to know what they’re playing but finesse your own style as well.’’

How did you become the drummer for Sus Life?

‘’We met on the 2 line on Franklin avenue, we were both on the train. Renima and Rigg were rapping and Zane Key and Zach were on the keys trumped and electric guitar. I told them that I was a drummer and we were vibing a bit before I got off of the train and since then we just connected. I have only known them for 10 months, it hasn’t been a year yet. We played at a few spots together, they pushed me to get better as far as music’s concerned. We are trying to have our voices to be heard but be able to bring back unity to music because way back yonder people like James Brown and Michael Jackson they developed such a connection with people to the point that everybody became a fan. It’s not just all music, it’s about bringing lives and families back together.’’

Zachary Durham

Singer, Trumpet, producer

Crown Heights, NY

You started as a solo artist, but what is your favorite part of being in a band?

‘’I'm pretty lucky because I have my brother in it and my friends from high school, it’s a bunch of ideas but we all have that telepathy thing like I know what she’s going to do and he know’s what I’m gonna do so it’s easier and more fun than being by yourself and making things up. You get mad input from everybody.’’

What’s it like playing having a brother in the band?

‘’What’s it like play with your brother. That sh*t is easy, people don’t know how easy we have it because taught him how to play piano. He knows what I’m going to do, I already know where Zane is going with the next chord he already knows how to help me out. I remember this one show we did, I believe it was in the lower east side and we all just leveled the f**k up. I’ve never performed like that in my life, we were all just going in, we didn’t have our drummer yet. It was just me Key, Zane, Rigga and Ren, I went first and did my song. When Rigga went up it was like super saiyan two and when Ren went up it was super saiyan four it was just crazy’’

Zane Durham

pianist, producer, engineer

Crown Heights, NY

What would I expect from a Sus Life show?

‘’Everything you can imagine. We are not just a one genre type of group, we can hit you with anything at any point in time. People always ask us what genre are you its like you can’t put us in a box. It’s a collective of so many different type of people that listens to different shit every element that every solo artist does comes into play with the group and it gets f**k**g crazy which is why we have a Brooklyn buzz,a lot of rock fans, and edm fans.’’

How did you get started playing the piano?

‘’I never played any instrument, I wanted to be a lawyer. My brother Zach he played piano, then went to trumpet and the keyboard was just sitting there so I said I’ll learn it. I came home one day just started teaching myself more and more and after awhile, I figured that I can actually play a little bit. The band pushed me. I wasn’t a performer at all I barely knew any chords or chord changes I didn’t know music theory or anything like that. It pushed me to learn as much as I can for the instrument that I use.’’

What do you want people to know about sus life?

‘’I can’t say. You’re going to have to come watch us to find out.’’