Sherm’s new single “Second Round” arrives right on time. With tour stops at Larimer Lounge and the Coors Light Snake Pit Pre-Party (supporting Ship Wrek), plus the 250th episode of Sherm in the Booth on the horizon, the Chicago-based producer is locking in one of his most high-energy release runs to date.
The track features Isaac Palmer, Amero, and Devarra—three collaborators with a shared mission to make club records that hit hard, fast, and deep.
US TOUR DATES:
May 8: Coors Light Snake Pit Pre-Party, Indianapolis, IN | Tickets
May 17: Larimer Lounge, Denver, CO | Tickets
June 6: Turntable, Indianapolis, IN | Tickets
But behind the scenes, Sherm’s creative process is far from formulaic. In this conversation, he shares what it means to listen when a track starts pulling in a new direction, how expectations can mess with momentum, and why overproduction can be just as dangerous as underthinking. From remixing Sinatra to building his own vocal identity through wild creative constraints, he’s a reminder that the best tracks come from trust—not control.
And if you’ve ever tried to over-engineer your own output, this one’s worth bookmarking. Because sometimes, the fix isn’t finesse—it’s letting go of the reins altogether.
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Have you ever had a track completely redirect itself mid-process?
Absolutely.
As a producer, you work on a track for sometimes months at a time… eventually it starts to sound different. Sometimes this can be from overproducing/overthinking and the original idea is almost completely gone and you have to trash the track.
But sometimes… it ends up in a direction that you never expected. I like to jump around from idea to idea and know that different track ideas can be used in another track you’re making—almost like collabing with yourself!
How do you listen to what a song “wants” instead of forcing a result?
Try as hard as you can to go with the flow once you find it.
Forcing a production is so easy to do because once you hit a certain stage of your career there are expectations on the quality and quantity of music that you release. It can be difficult to stay true because of these expectations but it’s a mentality that you have to align with constantly.
Ask yourself, “Is this something I would actually play?”
What helps you stay out of the way creatively?
I struggle getting in my own way because of the expectations I mentioned earlier. I’ve found that collaborating is the best way to avoid getting out of your own way.
Start a track and send it to someone—ask them for a half-produced track and try to finish that. Give yourself some perspective on how others are creating in order to better your process!
Do you treat your early ideas as fixed or fluid?
A little of both. Set yourself up for success with a template that works for you and build off of that. I think ideas have to start as fluid and then you try to fix them into a structure that can make the track special.
Also, start as many ideas as you can—keep them in the same project if you want to and throw those ideas into the “fixed” structure! See what sounds best.
Or as Chris Lorenzo says… “Throw them all on top of each other and toggle what sounds different.”
When have you gotten in your own way during a session?
I create unique remixes that sound easier to make in my head than they actually are in the studio. My Frank Sinatra remix of “Chicago” was very challenging because I made it that way. I kept thinking the original parts were too long or too short and I just slowed down the process entirely.
Now I know that even when I create remixes of tracks like “Chicken Fried” or “FE!N”, it’s best to pick the parts that connected with me originally and hyper focus on remixing those parts—not the entire song as a whole.
What’s the difference between shaping and over-controlling an idea?
This goes right into what I said before—I struggle with over-controlling or overproducing ideas. You should always start at the epicenter of a track and build from there.
Think of it like clay.
You might start modeling something that you thought would look good only to make a mistake that actually looks better, more unique (or even abstract) than this “perfect” idea you had in your head.
What have you learned from tracks that didn’t go where you expected?
Those tracks seem to be the most well-received by fans and peers. The fine line you have to follow is between sticking to what you know and going outside your comfort zone.
Why not just go crazy with an idea? Never settle for mediocrity because that is what people will hear when you release it. I feel like what people are looking for these days is something that is going to truly make them feel something. There is so much talent out there that is inspiring each other and we’re in a renaissance of collaborations and new genres in dance music.
Run free baby!
The post Why Sherm Treats His Drafts Like Collaborations With Himself appeared first on Magnetic Magazine.