Sheffer is a young singer and songwriter who loves music. He grew up with it. Thanks to his family, he has cultivated this passion over the years, and now his new single “Pendant” is out everywhere. The funky and rap sonorities gave birth to a very catchy song…in the style of Sheffer!
Hello Sheffer, tell us something about you, how did your passion for music start? Do you remember a precise moment in which you said “Music is my path”?
Hi! I’ve loved music since I was a child, I grew up with it. When I was a little boy I would sing the Pooh’s songs and dance to Michael Jackson. Over the years, my passion for music has been growing up with me, and my parents suggested me to take guitar and drum lessons. During those years, I started to listen to Ozzy Osbourne and heavy metal – this is the reason why when I attended high school I started to play as a drummer in different bands. I have always listened to rap music, too, because of my big brother, and when in 2016 this genre reached the peak of its success I decided to try my hand into it. So, here I am.
Why did you choose Sheffer as your stage name?
The literal English translation of my surname is “Shepherd” but playing with the letters it became “Sheffer”. Then, I also discovered that this is the name of a sequence of polynomials, I loved maths at school so I decided that my name should be “Sheffer”.
“I’ve loved music since I was a child, I grew up with it”
How was the idea of producing the “Fast Feed Music”? Musical episodes that you publish on your Instagram profile
I wanted to describe how I was spending my lockdown (precisely the first one), through short musical episodes that lasted one minute. I saw that this kind of videos worked so I went on with them. I think this is a great way to test my productions with people.
When you write a new song, do you usually take your personal experiences as a starting point or you write down what is on your mind in that moment? I mean, if you think that an idea is strong, you write it down and then you work on it?
Yes, of course. When I write, I think of my personal experiences or my feelings, something that I would like to convey to the listener. “Writing right away” is something simple to me but sometimes it doesn’t work because I repeat myself. Whereas, when I choose a particular topic I can develop it and create something strong, even if this “technique” is a little bit difficult.
Let’s talk about your latest song “PEDANT” which was published on April 9th, how did you conceive it?
“PENDANT” was conceived last summer in one of my “Fast Feed Music” but it was very poor, bet you couldn’t recognize it as it was at the time! It just had very simple drum with some chorus and was only one minute long. Then, I saw the great potential in it and we decided to turn it into a single. I remember that when I took this decision, my guitarist sent me “Pendant” with the addition of guitar, bass and organ. It became the funkiest thing we could do! Then, we met at the Mirò Music School and improvised a voice and guitar solo that finally became the protagonist of the second verse.
“I don’t like repeating myself and I love experimenting”
Reading the lyrics, in a verse you refer to the Mona Lisa’s smile - which can be considered as something fake - and then to two characters from the TV show “The Simpson”: Lisa and Milhouse. So the female protagonist in your song is not the “traditional” Juliet, right?
Exactly! Comparing “Pendant” to one of my songs called “Romeo & Juliet (Quarantena)” we see that the former is about a night full of passion from last summer, and we can say alcohol quite helped the situation. Whereas, the latter describes a true relationship, maybe the most exciting and the one I most deeply felt.
Your songs are a mix of different sonorities: beats from the ‘80s, funky guitars and also some rap and trap. Usually, when an artist tries to mix different genres it means he has a good music culture. Who are your models or idols?
Yes, exactly. I don’t like repeating myself and I love experimenting. Surely I draw inspiration from Salmo and The Weeknd, but I listen to different genres of music everyday so it comes naturally to me to create like musical hybrids. It works, so why not take the risk?
If you had to define your music in a nutshell, what would you say?
I’ll tell you three adjectives that can sum up my music: alternative, immediate and catchy.
Are you working on something new at the moment? A new album, perhaps?
I am always working on something new…My hard disk is full of new stuff. I think it’s too early. For the moment, prepare yourself to dance to some funky this summer as well!
Follow Sheffer and join him on this musical journey and to stay updated on his latest releases on instagram or listen on spotify.
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Francesco Mazza