Suzie Higgie

Suzie Higgie is an Australian musician. She is the founding mainstay lead singer, guitarist and songwriter of the Falling Joys, an alternative rock band formed in Canberra. She has issued two solo albums, Soon Will Be Tomorrow (collaboration with Conway Savage, June 1998) and Songs of Habit (October 2001).

Biography

Early life

Suzie Higgie is the daughter of William Alexander "Bill" Higgie (19232015), a Department of Immigration diplomat, and Jean Winifred née Stenhouse, from the same department. Her older brother, Mark Higgie, is a diplomat, political advisor and former intelligence analyst. Her younger brother, Andrew Higgie, is a London-based theatre and TV producer.

After Higgie attended a boarding school in England, the family relocated successively to Yugoslavia, Italy, France and back to Australia. Higgie later recalled, "own at Commonwealth Park there used to be a tunnel with a power point ... My first band with Nic Dalton and Stevie Plunder... we wrote most of our songs down there."

Falling Joys era

In 1985 Higgie, as lead singer and guitarist, formed Falling Joys, an indie guitar pop group, in Canberra, with Anthony Merrilees on drums; Robin Miles on keyboards and vocals; and Stuart G. Robertson on bass guitar and vocals. Late that year Higgie and Robertson were joined by Ken Doll on drums and the trio played their last Canberra gig before relocating to Sydney in April of the following year. Their debut single, "Burnt so Low", appeared in January 1987, which was co-written by Higgie and Robertson.

Falling Joys' debut extended play, Omega, appeared in November 1989. According to Australian musicologist, Ian McFarlane, the group's recent singles and the EP, "gained the band many new fans. Higgie's breathy vocals on these records were just one of the band's trademark sounds." A live version also appeared as Jennifer – The Live EP, which reached the top 60 on the ARIA Singles Chart in September. She had started work on the "low-key and low-fi album of soft-hued country'n'blues tunes" in 1996, which was released in June 1998 via Anchor & Hope/Shock Records.

Songs of Habit (October 2001) is Higgie's second album. and they have two children. By November 2017 the couple had divorced and Higgie was living in Canberra working at the National Museum – she "designs music workshops for people with mixed abilities, whether that involves preschool children or aged Alzheimer's disease sufferers."

Her niece, Anna Higgie, is a Bristol-based illustrator and street artist.

Discography

Albums

Soon Will Be Tomorrow (by Suzie Higgie and Conway Savage) (June 1998) – Anchor & Hope/Shock Records (AH004CD) Songs of Habit (16 October 2001) Anagram (CDBRED 196)