We are excited to share our latest interview with multi-talented artist, SUUNCAAT: the journey from a small town outside of Montreal to the throb and pulse of the city has been quite remarkable from a wayward teenager who found salvation in music to a model and filmmaker in a story filled with unexpected twists and triumphs in creativity. Let’s step into her eclectic music world, muses behind ‘Neighborhood,’ and experience the first feature film she directed. Infatuated with forming earworms and skilled at cross-genre combination, this singer-songwriter gives us a glimpse into her perception and the future. Let’s get to know her a little better!
Would you like to start by telling us a little about yourself?
Sure, I grew up in a tiny town about an hour from Montreal, then bolted to the city at eighteen. I was a nightmare teen, like, seriously problematic. Music was my only escape hatch. Writing songs was my one acceptable way to not completely lose it, lol. Discovered REASON at thirteen and started cranking out the weirdest tunes you can imagine. I got obsessed and decided my life’s mission was to make tracks. Early bloomer in music, late bloomer in literally everything else—there’s a fancy word for that, asynchrony or whatever. Spent my adult life bouncing between bands and creating music catalogs. After a breakup in 2023, I got “discovered” as a model, which meant free travel. Then I swore off dating to focus on my art—it’s just a better return on investment. I’m not a huge fan of socializing in general, but my friends are the coolest, and we’re always cracking up together. Love video games, dogs, and solo raves. I’m more of a dweeb than you’d think.
How would you describe the overall vibe of your music?
It’s like a musical grab bag. I listen to A LOT of different genres and I like to mash them together. Imagine getting obsessed with eurodance and nu-metal simultaneously and creating something insanely chaotic but it’s exactly what you wanted to hear at that time. I get bored quickly too, so I try to keep it interesting. The one constant is catchiness—I love crafting earworms. Planes and trains are my creative playgrounds. Trains especially, the landscape gets injected into my music. It’s like sonic postcards from my travels, especially my UK trips—those tracks have this raw, industrial, anti-imperialist rage that I dig.
You’ve also directed your first feature film.. what was your experience with this achievement?
Years ago, I had this weird phase where I started waking up at 4 am from dreams that felt like scenes from a trippy coming-of-age movie. I loved it, so I wrote the script. Zero filmmaking experience but I was really into Terrence Malick and Gaspard Noé at the time, and the idea of a threshold between dreams and reality excited me, but seemed to require the possibilities that cinema can offer. No clue what I was doing—still don’t. Total fake it ’til you make it scenario, but that’s my learning style. Probably pisses off the cinema gatekeepers out there, but honestly, anyone can do it. Now it’s blown up with all these talented actors and artists on board, so I gotta deliver. Once editing’s done, we’re hitting up some cool festivals and seeing what happens.
You have recently released your single, ‘Neighborhood’ what was the inspiration behind the creation of this track?
I wanted to reverse engineer that teenage rush from when My Chemical Romance was my lifeline. Remember those days? When you’d lock yourself in your room, blasting “Helena” on repeat, feeling every word like a punch in your throat? That. The lyrics are about my frustration with watching people bottle up their emotions while everyone else tiptoes around the tension. It makes me wanna break shit. Also I try to craft my tracks to be a live experience where we can all lose it together.
What does ‘Neighborhood’ mean to you?
It’s the latest track I made, my debut single and probably my least accessible track, lol. I went through my dad’s 90s VHS footage—he’s a bit of a hyper-focused weirdo too, with hours of random stuff like bugs, microchips, and thunderstorms. I sampled the hell out of it, especially the thunder. It’s the essence of ‘Neighborhood’—literally thunder from my childhood. Feels pretty special and cool.
What did the creative process look like for ‘Neighborhood’?
Just got back from a trip binge-listening to Vengaboys, feeling all nostalgic. Needed a synth hook with that vibe. Wanted odd, provocative drums but a danceable kick. The vocals came pretty instantly, and it worked. Funniest critiques ever—“we can hear the autotune” and “it’s overcompressed.” No duh, that’s the point. Go listen to it 20 more times, you’ll get it. Finished it with my buddy Jules (Super Plage), who helps with mixing and production. We trashed and rebuilt it and trashed it more, it was hilarious.
What do you feel has been one of the biggest lessons for you along your musical journey?
If it’s not its own thing, don’t do it. Artistic integrity is a big trope for me. I can smell when someone’s doing it for the clout, most people can actually, and it’s cringe. Artistic terrorism, if you will. Don’t do it. Just do what you love and stop taking yourself seriously.
What would you like to see happen for you in your music from here?
I’m literally sitting on a ton of music at the moment, so I guess it’s time to unleash it. Planning to drop singles until people care enough for an album. I’d like to create some relevant visuals too, and collaborate with artists that resonate with me. And start doing shows. Looking forward to a summer full of festivals.
What is one message you would like to share with your fans?
My next single, ‘Salad Years,’ drops on July 26th. My friend Arlo and I made a sick music video with a baseball core type aesthetic—it’s hella fun.
Where can people find your music?
For now, you can find my music on Spotify, iTunes, and all the usual suspects.
You can listen to ‘Neighborhood’ below:
Karen Harding is a Melbourne, Australia based singer/songwriter, founder of Sounds On The Couch, and founder and operator of boutique music PR service for emerging and independent artists, Rise Indie.