The week of April 20th marked two significant historical events.
Susan Justice: From Cult Escapee and Subway Busker to Major-Label Artist
- Posted on Mar 20th 2012 4:00PM by Dave Steinfeld
Russell James
Her childhood was spent moving from place to place, not only in the States but also Europe and South America. During their travels, Susan and her siblings often performed music on the streets of whatever city they were in. The good news is that she was encouraged to be musical at a young age. The bad news is that she was only allowed to listen to music that was sanctioned by The Family. As she entered adolescence, Susan felt increasingly stifled by the limitations that were imposed on her. "Any time you have this sort of group-think mentality, where it's like 'us vs. them,' it's very dangerous," she explains. "[The Family] is Christian but they think that they're fighting against the established Christianity of the day."
In 2001, Susan worked up the courage to run away from both her family and The Family. She traveled from Europe to New York, where she began performing music in subway stations with only a guitar. Despite being "kind of homeless," as she put it in her bio, she made both a decent living and some impressive contacts. In 2007, under her given name of Susan Cagle, she released 'The Subway Recordings,' which was compiled from two sets she performed in the stations at Times Square and Grand Central. A year later, she caught the attention of Spin Doctors drummer Aaron Comess. He introduced Susan to manager David Sonenberg who in turn introduced her to veteran producer Toby Gad (Alicia Keys, Fergie, etc.). Together, Susan and Toby crafted her studio debut, 'Eat Dirt,' which arrives March 26 on Capitol Records.
Despite having such a unique and potentially scary background, Susan comes across as quite personable and grounded, and her music is radio-friendly. "I was such an emo teenager," she says. "I was listening to Nirvana and Smashing Pumpkins. Those were my favorites [but] I also liked Tracy Chapman. And Whitney, obviously. Her voice and her attitude, I felt, translated beyond race. She wasn't a hip-hop R&B black girl. She just did good music, and that's what I wanted to do."
Then there's Bob Dylan, the prototypical singer-songwriter, who inspired one of 'Eat Dirt''s best tracks, 'Born Bob Dylan.' "I had a huge Bob Dylan phase," Justice admits. "I just love people who go against the grain. Dylan has such an intricate and amazing vocabulary, the way he expresses himself."
As for the title track, which is also the album's first single and video, Susan explains, "I wanted to write something about [how] what doesn't kill you makes you stronger but I didn't wanna use those words. So instead, I said, 'What doesn't kill you makes you sick'/And if you're sick you learn a lesson/And with every lesson, you get wiser/So I figured that it pays to cross the line/And eat a little dirt sometimes.' It's about how, in my case, curiosity is a good thing and curiosity saved the cat. You have to be curious, be the one who goes out and experiences life for yourself if you want to be happy. So many of us have jobs that we hate or [are] trapped in, situations with our families that we hate. And we feel like we have to just take it but we don't. We can do whatever we want. It's not like we're in a physical pen, you know? Although in my case, I was kind of like in a physical pen!" she adds with a laugh.
And how does Justice feel about religion these days? "I love religion," she says. "I consider myself to be gnostic -- not agnostic but gnostic, gnosis, the teaching of knowledge. I'm fascinated by that. I wish I could study theology just because I've been so close to it. I can see the effects of it. So it's more of an intellectual fulfillment rather than practicing any type of religion. I just want to find the truth in all things."
- Justin Bieber
- Tom Morello
- Tom Jones
- Matt Cardle
- Billy Bragg
- Twiggy Ramirez
- Musicians and Their Wild Rides
- Courtney Love
- Adele
- Judas Priest
- Andre 3000
- The Beatles
- Jimi Hendrix
- Bob Dylan and John Sebastian
- Def Leppard's Phil Collen
- Wayne Coyne
- Elvis
- Michael Jackson
- Sonny and Cher
- Nelly
- Ellie Goulding
- Queen Latifah
- Black Eyed Peas
- Keith Moon
- Steven Tyler
- Vince Neil
- Lemmy
- Bo Diddley
- Bono
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- Polica
- The Black Belles
- Pujol
- Lissy Trullie
- Sharon Van Etten
- Bleached
- Firehorse
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- Doomtree
- Howler
- Michael Kiwanuka
- Mick Rock's 'Rocked' Exhibit
- Blondie's Deborah Harry
- Ellie Goulding
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Around The Web:
Susan Justice - Eat Dirt - YouTube
Susan Justice - "Eat Dirt" on Vimeo
Susan Justice - Eat Dirt (Lyric Video) - Video Dailymotion
Susan Justice "Eat Dirt" - Aggressive
Susan Justice - Eat Dirt (Official Music Video)
Video Static: Music Video News: WATCH IT: Susan Justice "Eat Dirt ...
Eat Dirt by Susan Justice music video premiere | lyrics | Slack-Time
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March 22 2012 at 9:06 AM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down ReplyGod bless you Susan Justice you are so beauiful have a wonderful life. GOD made you with a free will, which makes you, therefore, responsible for your choices in life. You are "wonderfully made" so that you might recognize and choose to worship the Creator and Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. Choose the Savior, ask Him for mercy, as a sinner, and claim this verse as your only means of salvation. The Bible says, "That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him (Jesus Christ) from the dead, thou shalt be saved." (Romans 10:9) Your choice to be saved guarantees you eternal life in Heaven; willfully refusing this free gift of God brings you damnation in hell
March 21 2012 at 6:17 AM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down ReplyIf this god is so great, why does he allow these cults? Why does he allow Catholic priests to sexually abuse and castrate boys? War? Rape? All the hatred uttered in the bible?
March 22 2012 at 1:03 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down ReplyWhy I Hate Religion, But Love Jesus || Spoken Word
www.youtube.com
A poem I wrote to highlight the difference between Jesus and false religion. In the scriptures Jesus received the most opposition from the most religious peo...
How do you know your religion isn't the false one? Seems to me this supposed god of love has a lot of hate.
March 22 2012 at 1:04 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down ReplyGod Bless you Susan and your new life. All the best.
March 21 2012 at 5:59 AM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down ReplyYep, god blessed her by making her endure that life. How is it an all powerful god couldn't stop this from happening in the first place?
March 22 2012 at 1:06 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down ReplyThanks to our father and the real God that she was able to escape them and their cultic regime. My biggest pet peeve is oppression by any means.
March 21 2012 at 5:54 AM Report abuse Permalink +1 rate up rate down ReplyWhat about all the opression from your god?
March 22 2012 at 1:07 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down ReplySusan Justice If you want real Christianity and the Truth read John chapter 3 and Verse 16. For God so love the world that God gave His own begotten Son and whom so ever believes in Him shall not perish but have everlasting life. Susan Jesus Christ gave His life upon the cross at Cavalry for Susan Justice and paid your sin debt with His shed blood and offered you a free gift of eternal life and all you have to do is believe that He is who He says he is and accept that free gift and Susan Justice will never be the same again for you will receive a peace that passes all understanding with it and will have the knowledge that He will endewell you and will never leave nor forsake you and you will have a direct line to God and Jesus Christ in times whether good or bad and He will go through the storms of life with you and Sunsan Justice will be one of the richest person for you will be a child in the family of God as you will be adopted by God and remember what God said. " I own it all for nothing was made that I did not make. the cattle on a thousand hill are mine. The silver and Gold or mine. God knew your name before you were born, God wove you in your mothers womb and you were wonderfully and specially maded. God has a purpose for your life and He knows the number of hairs on your head. He knows the number of days you have on this earth. He sets your boundaries and Habitats. Whether you live or die you are His. All person ever born will knell one day at his feet and their tounges will confess that He is Lord. It is a matter of that each and ever person ever born will choose to accept him and spend eternity with Him or spend eternity separated from him in Hell in the Lake of fire. The chose is yours and yours along and you will chose Him or Hell. You cannot deny Him for God says," The vary nature teaches you that there is a God and the heavens declare HIs handy work.
March 21 2012 at 5:37 AM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down ReplyThat is **** words from your gutter cult
March 21 2012 at 5:46 AM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down ReplyHere's some real Christianity.
I hate homosexuals!
I will come until you like a great beast and rip out your entrails.
Kill your son for me, Abraham, to prove how much you adore me!
Kill anyone who doesn't believe in my laws!
Yep, a real loving god there.
Gtfrhtgh
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March 21 2012 at 5:30 AM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply
jc_jc2
1 reply to jc_jc2's comment
THE TRUTH IS IN GODS WORD. CHRISTIANITY IS NOT A RELIGION BUT A RELATIONSHIP WITH CHRIST. TO FEAR GOD IS THE BEGINING OF WISDOM AND KNOWLEDGE. DOESNT SOUND LIKE CHRISTIANITY WHAT HER FAMILY WAS TEACHING AND LIVING. GOD IS LOVE AND IF HIS WORD IS IN US THAN GOD IS IN US AND INTURN WE CONVEY LOVE TO OTHERS.
March 21 2012 at 5:24 AM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down ReplyThat's a real nice god you've got there, that wants you to fear him. That's love to you? If you were in a relationship with a human being, would you think it was a great thing to fear them?
March 22 2012 at 1:11 PM Report abuse Permalink +1 rate up rate down Reply
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