Surusinghe selects 8 drivetime tracks to shift you into second gear

Suze Gurusinghe has enjoyed a meteoric rise in the year since the release of her debut EP 'GOOD GIRLS // BAD GIRLS' on Steel City Dance Discs.

Be it in the grasses of Field Day, Glastonbury and Waterworks or the walls of The Warehouse Project, Garage Noord and Panorama Bar, Surusinghe has taken over with her singature "drums and bass, but not drum and bass" style.

We spoke to Suze on the eve of the release of her third EP 'Brake Fluid' which is, "extremely exciting[ly]", her first on wax. The project is the culmination of a "long journey of sitting on the tracks and trying to find the right home for them", that right home being Nic Tasker's AD 93 imprint.

The four-tracker, her proudest work to date, is born out of a motivation to continue to grow the producer's sound and showcase her inspirations. 'Brain', made over two years ago, was written with her Panorama Bar set in mind - the only time she has, in fact, played it out. Meanwhile, 'Boka' perfectly encapsulates Surusinghe as a DJ: matching a fun and nature, embodied in the track by Latin-inspired percussion and vocal-play, with heavyweight pressure. The two other tracks, 'Bop' and 'Bet', are Surusinghe's proudest works yet.

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A self-described "over-preparer", Surusinghe gears up for her sets, notable for "interesting melodies, strong percussive elements and a heavy bass presence" by setting hot cues, memory loops and pairing tracks that match key.

The DJ and producer's favourite place to listen to music is cruising down the freeway of her home in Naarm/Melbourne. To the artist formerly known as Suzuki Drift, driving and music go hand in hand. Fittingly, her playlist is themed around "songs to cruise windows down to", with all the tracks featuring in recent mixes and DJ sets.

Read more about the tracks and what they mean to Surusinghe below.

I'm a big fan of 'georg-i's production and this track just always hits for me every time. It feels like a journey each time you listen to it and each section brings a new element that adds to the emotion and feeling behind the track. Feel like it could also work for some sort of car chase movie scene, haha!

This EP from Karenn is definitely one of my favourites from the year, if not my very favourite. The melodies are such ear-worms and yet the style is so iconic and original. I feel any hot gal should be cruising to a beach on a warm day with this blasting out their windows, lol.

I think I'd want to be driving to a hot date night whilst listening to this song. It's sooo sexy. Everything Doctor Jeep makes cannot be listened to once — they're all tracks that must be on repeat all day long.

This is definitely a 'driving off into the sunset' moment. DJ Python is one of my favourite DJs and producers of all time. 'I Remember' by Deadmau5 and Kaskade is one of my most played tracks at an afters... So you could imagine my joy when Python uploaded this! Gentle, understated and euphorique!

This is one of my most played tracks from this year I think. The way it builds gets me every time. When I was younger, my dad would sometimes drive my family to a monastery up in the mountains that was such a beautiful drive. It'd have lots of winding roads and I'd always have my little MP3 or iPod shuffle at the time blassssting. I think if I were to do that drive again, I'd want to be listening to this.

Myself and my best friend (and Creative Director) Shezaana have listened to this edit every time we've been together since it's come out. Which is a lot. This is definitely something I'd blast on the way to the club. INVT can do no wrong!

I played this in my 'Beats in Space' mix so whenever I hear it, I think of driving the streets of NYC when I was trying to put the mix together in my head. I get a real sense of calm and clarity when I hear it. I think it'd be good to play when I'm on the way to a stressful family dinner or something, haha — get me nice and relaxed before the chaos.

Again, another track that includes all of my favourite elements. It's simple and catchy - perfect driving music. Definitely needed for a really long drive where you want something lighthearted and upbeat.

Tibor Heskett is Mixmag's Digital Intern, follow him on Twitter