Silly Games
Sometimes working as a duo isn’t easy, especially over an extended period of time; and especially when the other person in the group is also a family member. That hasn’t been the case for Shermanology, a duo from Amsterdam that has been kicking out original house beats for several years, including before the EDM craze began.
2016 has been a good year for the duo. It’s another step in their illustrious career that continues to get brighter each passing day. One of these recently passed days, Shermanology dropped their latest single, “Silly Games,” that you can listen to above, if you haven’t clicked play already. Aside from streaming their single, you can catch up with the duo, who we met up with for a little chat on what they thought of this year, how their career has stayed strong, as well as what is coming. If you don’t already know Andy & Dorothy Sherman from their previous work, you’re in for a real treat. They’ve got plenty of more goodies coming in 2017.
TMN: How has 2016 treated camp Shermanology?
Andy: 2016 was a pretty liberating year for us. We put the focus back on our music and finding what WE wanted to represent, we found a new manager and really focused on creating a long term vision for Shermanology as a musical brand. It sounds short and simple in writing but in practice that is a hell of a lot of work, not to mention hours and hours in the studio. That said, it’s been one of the most rewarding for us on a creative level. We are currently in Stockholm making music and life feels good!
TMN: Tell us about how your new single ‘Silly Games’ came into existence?
Dorothy: We went over to London earlier in the year to lap up some new influences. Back in the day Andy was a vocalist for Artful Dodger, so he got to experience the UK in a golden time for garage and R&B. That whole era of music was such a huge inspiration to us both, so the London trip was about hitting up those influences and finding a new energy for them. We hit the studio with MNEK and the creative sparks were off the hook. We wrote three songs in a day, one of which was the basis for ‘Silly Game.’
Andy: We got it back to Amsterdam and started playing with it. What we liked was the idea of fusing piano house and garage influences with Dorothy’s soulful voice and alongside the very talented Dennis Quinn (Simma Black) we really found that balance. I think the final version came out perfectly in respect of what we set out to make.
TMN: As an act Shermanology has survived so many different peaks and troughs in electronic music. Has that been a relatively tiring experience for you guys?
Dorothy: Not really, I think it’s made us who we are today. So much of this year was spent working out what mattered to us and we pretty quickly learned that genres were not high on the agenda. We want to stand for something with a shelf life – records that mean something and bring out genuine feelings and emotions in people. When you put the focus on that the genre is really irrelevant, for us Shermanology is about electronic pop music with soul, heart and stamina. If 2017 plays out as we are planning it to then I think fans new and old are going to really see what we are all about.
Andy: The fact is that right now acts new and old are facing the same challenges. The way we listen to music is changing so fast and people like to find the next big buzz and replicate it. Replication can get you some short term gains and those big numbers, but the big question is will that stuff matter in 10-15 years’ time. We aren’t here to tell anyone how to structure their career, everyone is on their own journey, but I think we are more confident in what we want to stand for now than ever before.
TMN: You’re ending 2016 with a bang, but what’s the plan for the New Year?
Andy: If 2016 was about focussing on music, 2017 is about getting that music in front of people and continuing the exciting journey we started back in 2015. We have some sick collaborations on the way alongside Rene Amesz, Ferreck Dawn and a few others. On top of this we have a handful of records that we are super proud of. They are new and fresh for us, but they still represent Shermanology in a way that I think people who have been into us since day one are going to dig. There is one more record on the way that we co-wrote alongside MNEK that takes things into a more garage-inspired focus and we cannot wait to spill more info on that one. On top of this, we hope that 2017 will be the year we show the world our new live act. We are working tirelessly behind the scenes to make this an amazing musical experience and I think it is going to be a huge career highlight for us.
