Written by Dorian Wolfe
Responses & Photography Courtesy of Suroor H.
Originally published in Issue #4 of Action Cat Zine on November 2nd, 2025.
Suroor is a recording and performing musical artist raised in Karachi (Pakistan), now based in Memphis TN. Her music is best described as industrial hyperpop, but draws influence from various musical genres including: shoegaze, sufi eastern classical, vaporwave, bhangra, alt-R&B, riot grrrl, UK drill, digital hardcore, spoken word poetry, among others. She released her debut album “LAVENDER SHOWERS” in June 2023.
What genre(s) would you describe yourself as?
Industrial hyperpop music that makes you go weeee
How did you get started making music?
Mainly started when the pandemic happened! I was always super interested in electronic music but had never taken the deep dive into learning how to make it, but when COVID happened and I got all this free time I was like ok let me really go down the rabbit hole now and I just grew from there.
Having lived in many different places across the World, has the Southern U.S. inspired your music in any way?
Oh absolutely! It’s interesting cause I grew up in the Global South in Karachi (Pakistan) and have been living in the American South in Memphis for about 4 years now and I see so many similarities in the “South-ness” of both of these places, such as the huge emphasis on community and art or the immense joy of life that persists in both of these places despite the oppression that they face.
Sonically too, I feel like music from the American and Global South have a similar ethos in how they veer towards dynamic percussive rhythms and have an ear for sonic innovation whilst still valuing the traditions and values of their musical ancestors. So being in Memphis really makes me feel at home and spurs my creative spark.
Describe your music with three things.
Lip gloss, a rose gold butterfly knife, and lavender showers.
What’s your favorite song and why?
“Dekho Mujhe” by Jaan-e-Haseena cause it’s an ingenious fusion of worlds in a way that really feels like the future of music (or at least I hope it is).
How do you feel about the state of DIY/Independent music?
It’s an interesting and complicated question. I think the recession has really been gutting DIY music lately—venues are shutting down every other day, people barely have money to go to shows/form bands/go on tour and barely have the time/energy either cause we’re all spending most of our time working trying to make ends meet. We are all no doubt suffering greatly at the moment and it shows.
HOWEVER, I do think DIY music is still in an incredible place right now because there are so many amazing acts and incredible music coming out like never before. I think we’re all very determined and passionate, we all have a lot of love to give, and we’re all really good at music. So all in all the scene is truly thriving despite the horrors and I think it always will!
What are your favorite places or cities you’ve played in? Has any specific show stood out to you?
The South and the Midwest are my favorite regions to tour in! The scenes are always so vibrant and supportive. Cities like Minneapolis, Iowa City, Memphis, Little Rock, Carbondale, Hattiesburg, Birmingham, everyone is really passionate about music and community, turnouts are always huge, and the pit is always in full flow. That’s not to say that I haven’t had great shows on the coasts, but there’s really something extra special about the greater “no-coast” area.
What are your goals for music in the next year? Any upcoming projects or releases we should look out for?
Yes! I am currently wrapping up my sophomore album!! Gonna withhold the name for now cause I haven’t fully started the rollout yet but I am literally so excited for it, it’s some of the best music I’ve ever made and I’m working with an incredible studio and engineer for it so it’s going to sound way more polished than my first one where I was mixing and recording everything by myself in my bedroom.
There will be vinyl pressings of it too so it’s kinda going to be my first RECORD record which is definitely a little dream come true for me. It’ll probably be done in the next couple months but since I’m such a Spring/Summer girlie I might hold off on dropping the whole thing till next Spring, but I’ll definitely drop some singles from it very soon and once the whole thing is out we’ll do another huge nationwide tour to promote it, kind of like a Suroor Summer 2 moment.
What’s a piece of advice you’d give to someone just starting out in music?
A mistake I often see some up-and-coming artists make is getting too caught up in playing the game of trying to appeal to everyone to get a following to the extent that they lose what makes them special. I’ve definitely had some moments where I’ve felt like certain creative decisions I make are probably not the smartest but it can be a slippery slope when you think that way and you don’t wanna compromise your art.
For example, when I was starting this project 2 years ago and chose the name Suroor, I kinda knew that I was shooting myself in the foot a little cause even though Suroor is a recognizable name in my culture it’s almost unheard of in America where I’m primarily trying to build my following right now. It can be hard to even get people to pronounce it let alone remember it. And since it’s actually a super common name in Pakistan it’s hard to find me on search engines too…
…So I kinda knew I was gonna be fighting an uphill battle with making a name for myself and for a second I was like “Hmm I don’t know if this is a good idea”. but after thinking for a while, I realized that it’s just not worth it to compromise my creative identity to try to be more recognizable to the public. I wasn’t just trying to make a name for myself, I was trying to make a name specifically for ‘Suroor’, (if that makes any sense).
And over the past 2 years lots of people have told me how much they love the name, which is something I didn’t really expect but I think it’s cause they can sense how connected I feel to it and that passion shines through. So my advice would be to always remember that at the end of the day you’re doing this for yourself and for the culture, and as long as you stick to those values the right people will fuck with you and the wrong people won’t.
Listen to Suroor’s music on most major streaming platforms:
Keep up with Suroor on Instagram (@suroor.901) and on her website: suroor.org
Action Cat Zine 
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