Daniel Sherman Shows Vulnerability On "Chronicles of A Calloused Heart, Part II"
We featured him on the blog. We had on him the podcast, and I’m thrilled to be speaking with him again. Daniel Sherman releases his folk-inspired EP, Chronicles of Calloused Heart II. This will be his first project released as a partner with Hendrickson Studios. I am excited to speak to Daniel about the EP and about the marvelous story he’s telling.
A strange place to start an interview, but I want to know what keeps you up at night – both as a creative and as a human.
As a human, I just have to pee all the time. Like, if I drink anything before bed, I’m gonna have to pee at least twice before falling asleep. It’s just really inconvenient. But if you mean, like, aspirations and stuff like that, slightly different answer.
Both creatively and personally, I just want to help others process life. I want to publicly and openly go through whatever journeys God decides to take me on and figure my way through those journeys in a way that helps others with their own. Sometimes, like with this record, that’s sharing both the difficult situations I’ve found myself in and how I’m trying to work past them, but also showing my failures. It’s also showing where I’ve been in the wrong. I’m in the business of dealing hope through vulnerability, relatability, and shared experience.
This is your first release in your partnership with Hendrickson Studios! Congratulations! How did this partnership happen?
Thanks so much! I’ve been lucky enough to work with Jonathan on several of my previous projects. He’s been quietly putting together a team, and when I got wind of it, I kinda just asked if he thought I might be a good fit, and we agreed that I am! It’s been incredibly affirming to have direct support, and I think everyone will hear the massive quality jump in this EP as a direct result of that support!
This EP is titled, Chronicles of a Calloused Heart, Part II. What inspired you to release part II before part I? Tell us a little bit of backstory behind the record.
The short answer I give to this question is that I’m just obsessed with using time as a tool when telling stories. Avoiding linear, chronological storytelling is a sure way to set your story apart, and I do it all the time. Shoutout to Christopher Nolan for making me a time snob!
The medium answer is that I wrote part 2 first! I hadn’t written a song in months, which for me is extremely abnormal. I’d avoided it because I knew that if I wrote, it was gonna be about this situation that I didn’t want to feel yet. One night, I finally decided it was time, and this EP just sort of happened. It was a beautiful time of confession and attempting to move forward.
The longer answer is that I didn’t want to share the trauma of part 1 until I’d shared the little bit of hope I’d obtained by part 2. To dive into a story of how my life kind of hit a reset button, I really need to share a part of that story that seems hopeless. That being said, I felt uncomfortable releasing an EP that provided no hope or potential resolution, so I decided to release the more hopeful part first. I wouldn’t say part 2 is covered in hope either, and I think people will feel the obvious tension of my own uncertainty, but it’s at least reflective of the grit and drive to try to find hope again. I think prefacing that hope before diving into the traumatic hopelessness will be crucial in telling this story in a way that is beneficial to the listeners.
I’ve listened to EP from start to finish, and folk is such a beautiful backdrop you’ve chosen to tell such a heartrending story. Unlike Uncaged where the body of work was experimental and played around with many genres, what was the intention behind going down this road?
I’ve always viewed folk as a genre of weariness. There’s a sort of “lone wanderer” vibe that folk can really just perfectly find that I wanted to tap into. This record is far from a straight-up “folk” project, but it has that same weariness and poetic authenticity with a bend towards storytelling that truly makes the folk genre what it is. It’s folk-inspired, and hopefully will dip the listener’s toes into the genre just enough that they may find themselves willing to swim a bit deeper!
Projects like these also serve to remind my diehard fans that I will never be tied down to anything. I love hip-hop. I love my more experimental stuff. I love horror. I love electronic stuff. I love rock. But I also love folk! I love singer-songwriter stuff, and I even love pop! I’m never gonna stop doing these projects where I take detour into a genre that’s maybe unexpected to my fans!
One of my favorite tracks off the EP is “I Was Wrong.” First of all, it’s not often someone uses their creative work to admit they’ve been wrong. What gave you the courage to do so? [P.S. I love the space/room to breathe you left in the song so the listener can not only process the lyrics but hear the emotion through the instrumentation/production.]
That night when I finally mustered up the courage to dive into this situation, I had to first wrestle with the fact that I’d caused more damage to myself and others by refusing to deal with everything as long as I did. I couldn’t lament and weep and process and move on until I first acknowledged I’d made what was about to happen so much harder for myself. It wasn’t necessarily a courageous choice, but an inevitable reality.
And I’m so glad you noticed the use of space on this track! It’s a theme you can see across the whole EP. As a rapper, I have this habit in me to fill every space with a syllable. In reality, space is an instrument, and a powerful one at that! This record is heavy on the lyricism, so I wanted to give time for the listener to process what they just heard occasionally!
In a world where the music industry has become obsessed with virality and haste when it comes to releasing content, what made you feel like this was a complete project ready to be published into the world?
I have to confess that I really couldn’t care less when and what the music industry wants me to do. Sorry, Jonathan! (label partner) I’m in the business of staying out of the business. This record was ready to release because I knew I needed it to, and that if I needed it to, then someone else does too. Popularity, fame, fortune, etc. isn’t my motivation.
All that being said, this story is one without resolution. I could’ve made this a 20 song album, and it wouldn’t feel any more or less cohesive to anyone. There’s a reason that last lyric is “I don’t know.” That’s the thesis! Instead of trying to fully flesh out a theme or fully answer a question, I’ve just said “here are 4 different aspects of my life that were turned upside-down because of this experience.”Chronicles aren’t chronological or even super organized. They are just different stories related loosely by a few elements that cross over. That’s what this EP is too. Just different angles of the same event.
This record shows a lot of pain, but it also shows a journey of healing and moving forward. What advice would you give people who are currently on this journey?
It’s not about making every day and every moment a success. It’s about trying. I’m so much further along in this journey now than I was when I wrote the EP. I also have so much further to go. Some days I’m dragged back to day one. Some days, I take big leaps ahead. I’ve had to learn to celebrate both.
Healing is an active fight, not a passive state of being. I don’t blame anyone for sitting in a passive purgatory between trauma and healing. I get it. I did the same. But when you’re ready, there’s a time to pick up your sword, gather your troops, and go to war. You’ll lose some battles, but you’ll win others. You’re in it for the long haul.
A calloused heart doesn’t melt overnight. It’s like waves crashing along the side of a cliff. The sediment slowly wears down over years and years. I hope my listeners will feel less alone when they feel it’s time to pick up their swords. I hope they have a soundtrack for each battle, and I hope they keep guiding the waves to crash along the hardened layers forming along the outside of their hearts.
Where there is darkness, there is light. Chase it.
Move forward forever.
Thank to you Daniel for such a beautiful interview. Thank you to Kim for coordinating and setting it up! Check out “Chronicles of a Calloused Heart, Pt. II” wherever you stream music.