SUZE DeMarchi wears her heart on her sleeve.
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The Baby Animals guitarist and singer is intelligent, honest and open, and a “people person”. If she doesn’t know you, she wants to. Her inquisitive mind won’t allow her to take things at face value.
She also one of Australia’s finest rock singers and a genuinely nice person to boot. Familiar with the millennial phrase “squad goals”? Well, DeMarchi is someone you’d like on your “squad”.
Baby Animals have just celebrated 25 years as a band and are headlining the Hope Rocks line-up at Hope Estate on November 26 alongside The Screaming Jets, Ian Moss, Richard Clapton, The Superjesus, Dragon and Choirboys.
Not a bad way to spend an afternoon.
“It’s a good day out for anyone who enjoys their rock and their booze – the two seem to go hand in hand,” DeMarchi tells Weekender with a laugh.
Baby Animals hit the airwaves in 1991 with single Early Warning, followed by Rush You, One Word and Painless, all from their debut self-titled album. They lived the rock’n’roll lifestyle, touring hard and partying harder.
Like the time Baby Animals opened for Bryan Adams in Europe on a three-month tour – their first “big” tour –and stole his encore.
“On the last night of the tour we dressed up as him and his band, after talking to the crew, and started playing his encore. He was furious. He came on halfway through the song and gave us the naughty finger wave – it was so funny.”
And if you were wondering, yes, DeMarchi is considering writing a book one day.
Baby Animals are a tight unit. More like family than a band.
DeMarchi has been through some tough times. Battled some inner demons. Her marriage to Nuno Bettencourt ended unexpectedly, when she had just moved from the US to Australia with their two children. Her mother has advanced dementia.
Her solution? Help others. DeMarchi is travelling to Indonesia in October through Habitat For Humanity to build houses for those left homeless by natural disasters. She has already helped to raise $300,000 for the cause.
“You get to an age where you kind of think, you know, you’ve got to have something with a little more substance in your life. It’s like, wow, my life is flying by and here I am and what am I doing? Doing work that helps others can take your mind off yourself. It puts in perspective our own issues that we can deal with a lot more than we think we can.
“That’s why my band is so important to me. When everything fell apart I had my work, my band and my family.
“I also threw myself into working for a charity called Strike A Chord For Cancer which raises money to buy musical instruments for kids. It was a lifesaver because my issues paled in comparison to kids having cancer, and parents having to deal with it.”
Baby Animals are working on a new album and “all sorts of ideas are being thrown around”, DeMarchi says.
“I’m a big believer in making things happen for yourself. I don’t think you can sit back and complain and expect someone else to do it for you.
“You have to create your own stories in life.”
