About

Cusi Coyllur, (coo-see coy-your), an Inca princess name, is Los Angeles-based musician, mental health and invisible illness advocate, and poet Shannen Roberts (she/her). Identifying as a queer, Peruvian-American, she is a singer, pianist, songwriter, and producer who loves to experiment with genres.

 

“Bipolar Lovers in Love” EP was featured on Bust magazine’s April/May 2018 issue, HuffPost, Ms. Magazine, Madame Gandhi’s “The Future is Female” Spotify playlist and more. Written at the same time as the EP, her poem zines “Loneliness Hears But Does Not Come to Hold Me” and “Hideous Monster” are available in print and PDF form. Her second music video off of the EP, “amivulnerable?”, is a dance interpretation of domestic abuse and comes with a free zine in collaboration with her blog The Strange is Beautiful.

 

Later, “Our DNA is Resiliency” single came out with proceeds going to Immigrant Defenders Law Center and was featured on She Shreds. She also played many benefit shows to support families and children who were separated.

 

Most recently, “Welcome to Our War” music video was released during quarantine about invisible illness and COVID-19 and was featured on Dublab’s “People’s Portal,” “Curated by Girls,” “Women That Rock,” and more. Choreographed through Zoom calls by Alex Floyd and filmed on her iPhone in her bathroom, it is an angry response to privileged remarks of people complaining about working from home, cooking all their meals, being extra health cautious, and missing out on events.

 

Also during the pandemic, she launched “Sick or Something,” an IGTV series featuring women, non-binary, and trans musicians with invisible illness and the change they want.

 

For a COVID-safe Halloween, she organized “Cemetery Soundwalk,” a self-guided experience featuring five songs by five artists inspired by five spots at Hollywood Forever Cemetery.

In her free time, she plays with her two cats, Boo and Astro, skateboards and rollerskates, and reads poems by her love, Alejandra Pizarnik.