Suzi Moon & Billy Hopeless “Love Is A Stranger”

Remember duets? Of course you do: I Got You, Islands In The Stream, Stop Draggin’ My Heart Around, Don’t Go Breakin’ My Heart, Wendy O Williams and Lemmy blasting through Stand By Your Man. Duets ruled the airwaves and remain karaoke classics to this day.

Yeah Right! is proud to offer up for your approval Nothing Left To Lose, a two-song 7” of duets by Suzi Moon and Billy Hopeless. Suzi Moon, hailed by Vive Le Rock Magazine as “the new Queen of punk” first met Billy Hopeless back when her band Civet were touring and crossed paths with The Black Halos. They immediately hit it off.

Suzi explains, “I’ve been a fan of Billy Hopeless / The Black Halos since I was sixteen. Working with him has been on my bucket list for a long, long time. We suffer the same kinda rock ‘n’ roll affliction that makes us different than other folks. There’s a mutual respect between us that comes from being frontmen. I greatly admire his work.” Billy reached out over social media about a duet project and Suzi got to work writing a song that would feature both of their strengths as lead singers. That song is “Love Is A Stranger”, described by Suzi as a gut-wrenching “pirate ghost waltz” (Moon is on the Pirate’s Press label, after all) about unrequited love.

Featuring a spooky organ played by Suzi Moon guitarist Drew Champion, it’s one of her favorite recordings thus far. “Communicado”, the B side is a little more upbeat and playful and was written by Billy Hopeless. Backed here by The Let Me Downs from Tacoma, it’s a short but sweet catchy blast of pop aware punk. Billy describes how it all transpired.

“I first met Suzi back when she was in the band Civet. I dug her style and vice versa, so now years later we’re back together doing it like pros. She’s got her gang with her, and I pulled in one time Black Halos getaway driver and gunman Pat Hall. His new crew, The Let me Downs, backed me up. By now I’m sure you nice folks know the drill. Hands up, you’re about to be rocked!”

Upon reflecting on the process, Suzi has this to say, “Duets are such an interesting task. When it came to recording vocals for Billy’s song Communicado, I worked really hard to harmonize with him & give the song a bit of playfulness versus the somber tone of my track. It was a joy to sing on, and it gets stuck in my head all the time! Both songs work so well together, I can’t wait for fans to get a hold of the 7”. I’m so thankful to Yeah Right! for getting behind this project and giving us a home for Nothing Left To Lose”.

Suzi Moon has been winning over fans, journalists, and bands around the world. Her latest album was even hailed as “one of the best albums this year” by Goldmine Magazine and John Gentile at Punk News called it his favorite album of the year. Suzy Moon’s music has appeared frequently on Sirius XM, on Iggy Pop’s BBC Radio show.

The Black Halos were formed in the underbelly of the Vancouver punk music scene in 1994. Their raucous live shows, particularly an electrifying performance at Seattle’s Rock Candy, garnered the attention of Sub Pop’s Jonathan Poneman, and they promptly signed to Sub Pop imprint** Die Young Stay Pretty**. They began touring relentlessly with label mates The** Murder City Devils**, and soon were sharing stages with big names like** The Damned**,** DOA**,** L7**,** The Offspring**,** Social Distortion**, and many more.

Within a year of recording their self-titled debut album with** Jack Endino** (Nirvana, Soundgarden**), the band was back in the studio with the legendary producer to record their seminal second album, The Violent Years. Released on Sub Pop in 2001, the album saw them reach new heights in sales and radio play, including a Top 20 single** in Canada with “Some Things Never Fall”; the accompanying video saw regular rotation on both** MTV** in the United States and** Much Music** in Canada.

-Official bio