Duncan Sheik is a self-described solitary man, yet one who has collaborated with a variety of artists while exploring multiple music genres, from pop/rock to musical theater.
Born in New Jersey and raised in South Carolina, Sheik, a Brown University graduate and practicing Buddhist, performs later this month in Milwaukee, a city that evokes two thoughts for the 30-something: Jeffrey Dahmer and nice people. (OK, one out of two isn't bad.)
In 1996, Sheik's single "Barely Breathing" was outrageously popular, and became the fourth longest-running single in Billboard history. During this time he toured with Jewel and Shawn Colvin, as well as by himself.
Since then, Sheik has explored other paths. He created and co-produced 1998's less-poppy "Humming," and later, collaborated with New York playwright Stephen Sater on "Phantom Moon," a primarily acoustic record inspired by Nick Drake's "Pink Moon." At the same time, Sheik composed the music for "Spring Awakening," another collaboration with Sater that's based on German playwright Frank Wedekind's 1891 classic.
Most recently, Sheik released his new album, "Daylight," a mix of Sheik's prior endeavors, from the pop-oriented "Half-Life" to the reflective "Such Reveries." Some of the songs sound a little Matthew Sweet-ish, with a trace of the contemplative Drake, but mostly they showcase Sheik's signature soft voice and strong guitar playing.
OMC: Can you give us a few highlights from the timeline of your music career?
DS: Let's see... I started playing guitar at age five -- my grandparents gave me a guitar for Christmas. I've always been into messing around with instruments. Making music is a solitary pursuit. It's always been just me in my room, making instrumental pieces of music.
At 12, I went away to boarding school in South Carolina, and I joined a school rock band, and in college, around 1990, I played guitar in a band with Lisa Loeb (Liz and Lisa), but this was more of a tangent. It really wasn't my focus.
OMC: How did you evolve from being a guitar player in a band and a guy making music in his room to a successful solo artist?
DS: I put together a demo tape in college, and the night after graduation (in 1992), I drove across the country to L.A., and that's basically how I got signed (to Atlantic Records).
OMC: What did you study at Brown?
DS: Semiotics, which is the study of modern culture and the media.
OMC: Do you still have a musical relationship with Lisa Loeb today?
DS: Yes. We've played a few songs together at various functions. (In March of last year the two performed at the Musical Bridges Foundation, aimed at promoting cultural awareness and creating human bonds between nations.)
OMC: You are a big fan of The Smiths, as well as other "doom and gloom" techno bands from the '80s. How did these bands affect your music and/or your ability to see the beauty in darker issues and feelings?
DS: The Smiths occupied an eccentric place in terms my history of listening to music. There are certain things about that band that appealed to me musically. My interest had more to do with Johnny Marr as a guitar player than with Morrissey. His thing is just too campy. I have always liked somber music that's more sincere and has less irony, like Talk Talk, Tears For Fears and Depeche Mode.
Darkness is a very important aspect of music and needs to be represented. You can't deny the yearning, the tragedy, the sadness that are so naturally a part of life. And there's also within those things, I think, a beauty.
OMC: You are currently working on a musical, "Spring Awakening." How's that going?
DS: It's been a long process, but we're finally seeing the light of day. The play will open in 2003 in New Haven, Connecticut, and come to New York in 2004. This is after five years of workshopping, so it's hard to believe people are finally going to get to see it.
OMC: Where does your interest in musical theater come from? Do you have a favorite musical?
DS: I was smuggled into the world of musical theater. Steven Sater (whom he met at a Buddhist organization) proposed the idea when we were working together on "Phantom Moon." So I wrote the songs for the musical concurrently. As for musicals, I don't really like them, so I saw a lot of room for improvement.
OMC: You've been a Buddhist since you were 19. How does Buddhism affect your music?
DS: As a Buddhist, you chant every morning and every evening. It's like plugging into a huge, incredible creative energy. The spirit you have and the moods you have through this experience manifest into your work...The mind flows better and becomes engaged and galvanized by your work.
OMC: You're in LA right now, in the middle of a tour, right?
DS: Yes. I'm going to Omaha, Nebraska, tomorrow.
OMC: Do you enjoy touring?
DS: I first started touring in 1996, so let's just say it took four or five years to get to a point where I can enjoy it. Before, it was a process of trying to lose self-consciousness.
OMC: Were you self-conscious about performing, or other stuff?
DS: Mostly about performing.
OMC: Your new record, "Daylight," is your most accessible album to date. Did you intentionally set out to make a pop record?
DS: Yes. After I made "Phantom Moon," I toyed with the idea of writing a bunch of songs that could exist in a normal framework of pop music. I challenged myself to write essential pop songs that were still different and fresh so I didn't feel like I was doing something conventional and commercial just for the sake of being commercial. I just wouldn't be good at that.
OMC: At being commercial?
DS: Yeah. I look at Billboard's Top 100 and I don't understand a lot of that music. (This is interesting, considering he was once ranked #1 on Billboard's "Heatseekers" chart of new and emerging artists as well as the chart-success of "Barely Breathing.") I don't understand what makes it engaging. I see my work as being outside of the "pop music with a capital P" category. I wanted to do something that was pop-oriented, but with my eccentric tastes of what pop and rock music can be.
OMC: What CDs are you listening to these days?
DS: The Doves, Beck, Beth Orton and I'm interested in this electronica band, Frui-Frui.
{INSERT_RELATED}OMC: Your "Phantom Moon" is a nod to Nick Drake's "Pink Moon." While recording "Daylight," did you purposely try not to sound like Drake?
DS: Actually, a couple of songs are a nod to that approach, like "Such Reveries" and "Memento." I don't think I was consciously trying to do a Nick Drake thing, but our approaches are similar. I'm not trying to sound or not sound like anyone. I'm just doing my thing.
OMC: Is Duncan Sheik your real name?
DS: Yes. It's on my birth certificate. I promise.
OMC: So, are you an heir to the Sheik condom dynasty?
DS: I don't know...If things get really bad I might claim an ancestral connection, but that would be a stretch. No pun intended, of course.
Duncan Sheik will perform with Ben Folds on Sat., Nov. 23 at The Rave. Call (414) 276-4545 for tickets.
Molly Snyder started writing and publishing her work at the age 10, when her community newspaper printed her poem, "The Unicorn.” Since then, she's expanded beyond the subject of mythical creatures and written in many different mediums but, nearest and dearest to her heart, thousands of articles for OnMilwaukee.
Molly is a regular contributor to FOX6 News and numerous radio stations as well as the co-host of "Dandelions: A Podcast For Women.” She's received five Milwaukee Press Club Awards, served as the Pfister Narrator and is the Wisconsin State Fair’s Celebrity Cream Puff Eating Champion of 2019.
