My Press bio says "From Acid Jazz to Electronic to Rock, Astrid's versatile talent has given her the freedom to explore all genres of music. With only a handful of commercially available titles, she already has hit makers like Victor Calderone, John Digweed, and Neil McLellan (the Prodigy) gravitating towards her beckoning voice and musical style. She is endowed with an effortless glow on and off the stage, suppressing a villain-like quality that compliments her exotic and subtly erotic style. Having the dynamic power of a true "Jane-of-All-Trades", she writes, composes, performs, and produces, all of her own music and lyrics."

Ya...ok...now...so.... well.... here is the story through my eyes:

I was 5 when my dad came home with an organ for me, the one with big pedals and blinking lights. I was so small that my feet hovered 30cm above ground, but I was hooked. A few days later my dad and me wrote our first song, Sanur Beach (a beautiful beach in Bali). I used the simple notations I learned in Sunday school, and daddy helped me with the lyrics. I think my mom still has the parchment for that song, which would be cool to have, hmm!! So anyways, I had nothing better to do being born and raised in Sumatra, Indonesia. We had one channel on the TV, monkeys running on the roof, and my organ. It wasn't even a year before a mouse bit through the wirings of my organ, and since we could not find anyone who could fix in my small town, I had to switch to piano. My first week of piano lesson sent me home crying. I had a Nazi-esque teacher with a wand that 'magically' created bruises. From then on I learned everything on my own, and I never wanted to go back...

Come junior high school, I wanted to play hairspray metal songs with the boys, so I picked up the guitar. Then I learned about love and Kenny G (hehe), so I turned to woodwinds. Shortly after, I discovered heartache, so my aggression chose the best drum corps in Indonesia: Drum Line! Before I knew it high school was over, and I was on a 24-hour plane ride to the States. I was hungry for knowledge, and armed with my senses.

In America, I went to college for engineering & art, in NYC I played in the subways with my guitar, and then went to Texas and Jungalize with DJ Blaze (Michael Davila) at raves and clubs. Then one day I sold some stuff and bought me a keyboard and a microphone. I hooked them to my Mac, downloaded some demo software from the Internet, and started writing, recording my music.

It must've been a rainy day, because it was a blessed day when I met a Swedish producer named Jonathan Axelsson online. We became friends, we exchanged songs, and then we started to write together; we really write beautifully together! Statra Recordings signed the first song we wrote, You Give Me (Love), released in November of 2001.

Around the same time I sent Statra a demo CD of my own music and songs. One day, while the CD was playing in their office, Victor Calderone (renowned DJ & Producer who worked with Madonna, Sting, Beyonce, Garbage, Goldfrapp, etc) came in, and he fell in love with my music. Not long after, I was in Vic's studio in Brooklyn alongside producer/engineer Dave Micalizzi working on my first official single for “Rainwater” and beginning my first album project. I was still going to school in Houston at the time, but after a couple of months of flying back & forth between Houston and NYC, I decided to relocate permanently. Statra's label boss Dave Tomaselli hopped a plane to Houston, helped me pack up my beat up old car up, we took a little nap, I said my sad goodbyes, and off we were to NYC, I-10 to I-78. Dave T and me, free as bees. Highlight of the trip: Music City, Nashville, and some killer BBQ!!!

First stop in NYC was a futon in Dave Micalizzi’s studio just outside Coney Island. The Zipper Clinic welcomed my aching bones, and an extra closet that they kindly cleaned out became my own writing studio. I was home! From the futon, I dream... From this closet of mine, I wrote my mind...released singles...collaborated with great producers, talented (plus gorgeous!!!) singers/songwriters, and genius artists. In this closet, I spent every second that was left on my own collection of songs; songs that are helping me survive by allowing me to speak. Songs that I am grateful to share with you.

So hmmm.... being from the real jungle of Sumatra really makes me the real "Jane" huh... well more like Mowgli, looking for my bear (bare) necessities in the Jungle of New York City.

Love::
aStrid Suryanto