Music News is proud to host the exclusive world premiere of “Paper Promises” by Susan Aquila.
The biggest surprise on Susan Aquila’s new rock single isn’t the electric violin. It’s her voice. The guitars are massive, the drums hit hard, and her six-string violin cuts through it all. But on “Paper Promises,” Aquila’s singing commands just as much attention. For an indie artist whose career has taken her from classical performance to stages alongside rock legends, that balance marks a hard-won moment: her solo sound, finally realized on her own terms. The new single has the scale and drive to feel right at home on rock radio. Yet its impact goes beyond volume. Aquila sings with the conviction of someone who has pushed herself to make the recording she always wanted. Nothing here asks her to choose between being a singer and being a violinist; the force of the performance comes from embracing both. Susan is her own boss now, and she's fully embracing it.
Reaching that point required a change in the studio. Earlier producers had nudged Aquila toward lighter material that didn’t reflect her rock instincts. This time she worked independently, without a producer, taking full creative control with the help and guidance of Jason Zarnowski, who helped her realize her dream the rest of the way. Rather than make concessions about how her music should sound, she trusted her own decisions as a songwriter, singer and instrumentalist. The finished track is a particular source of pride because it represents her without those compromises.
The song’s title speaks to another side of that experience. Aquila knows how promises in the music industry can fall short of reality, and how women making their place in rock can face additional obstacles. She describes the central idea as “the difference between what people say and what they actually do.” Rather than reduce that thought to one grievance, she leaves listeners to find their own meaning in it.
That independence draws on a musical life spent crossing boundaries between styles. Aquila began as a classical violinist, performing recitals, playing with orchestras and touring internationally with chamber music. Playing with Billy Joel and the Trans-Siberian Orchestra introduced her to rock; she has also performed with Paul McCartney and Led Zeppelin. She went on to embrace improvisation, songwriting, and singing without leaving her classical foundation behind. Aquila plays a six-string fretted electric violin made by Mark Wood and Wood Violins. Her recordings span instrumental jazz, rock and vocals, including the album “Electric Violin: Jazz In Overdrive.” She is currently touring with another Rock-and-Roll legend, THE ORCHESTRA Starring ELO and ELO Part II Former Members.
The accompanying video, directed by Jason Zarnowski through T.V.R. Recording Studios, brings viewers into the studio as Aquila records her vocals. The footage offers a close look at an accomplished musician taking command of her own recording, with the vocal performance at the center of it all. It's a clip that makes an immediate, no-frills, visceral connection with viewers, announcing to the world that clown time is over, and she's done with the "All Talk, No Walk" types.
Aquila continues touring with The Orchestra while writing and recording new material. With “Paper Promises,” she has established what she wants to carry into those next recordings: a voice as unmistakable as her violin.
