Tishanna Williams
"Once you bare your heart and soul on a musical level, I can't see people not understanding it, though they may not like it"Keron "Sheriff" Thompson is the mega-producer behind multiple hits from big names in our music business. But, slowly and strategically, Thompson is releasing a side many have never seen–as a singer on his 15-track LP titled The Cynic and The Dreamer.
Two singles, The Cynic and The Dreamer and Two Souls were released last month, followed up by a full album release earlier this week. It's been a breath of fresh air to hear something so different coming out of T&T, especially during the June-August vacation months when we are all looking for that body of music that will take us through the highs and lows of the "summer."
T&T Guardian caught up with Sheriff (in studio of course) as he put the final touches on the artwork for Two Souls which was released earlier this week.
Q: You refer to this LP constantly as art more so than music or album. Why?
A: I think of myself as a creative and artist in the true sense of the word.When you create art, it is open to interpretation. Some people will hate it for hating it sake and others just won't like it and they have that right–it's not your purpose to make everyone like it. Art is to provoke and inspire thought. Art intrigues.
You've been known in the business as one of the producers behind big songs and names, including Bunji Garlin's Differentology. You seem to have a comfortable niche. Why step out with something so different and potentially risky?
There are a lot of great ideas and concepts that don't follow. People also often stick to moving their work in their circles. We often don't see our work as worthy enough to risk putting it out while other types of already established sounds give so many more assurances. I want to create a space for people who want to to do something like that. To show people that you don't have to put a ceiling on your creativity. This is essentially a step toward creating a sustainable movement with viable change. If you open a door and nothing continues to move through, it will close.
So what do you have planned after this album, to keep the "door" open?
Well, even I can't keep the door open if it's only me through it. So the main purpose is to create a sustainable platform. I actually want to have as many people being inspired to walk through as possible. I have a book and a film following this project. The book is a book of quotes. It's funny representations of very serious topics. It's about love but from the extended side (family, friends, etc) while the film documents the tail end of the album release looking at the pros and cons of doing such an album here and what this sort of work can do.
With your myriad of links in the industry, who can we expect to see featured on this?
Actually, it's just me really. I didn't need features. Freetown has a spot on one track and that's only because that point in the music needed to have something being said and they fit. Marionettes Youth Chorale also did something the tracks Talk About. Other than that I did everything–built beats, did my own backing vocals, etc. The only instrument I brought in was horns.
So, look out world, here comes Sheriff... the Singer???
I trying a ting vocally. I was always better at backing vocals and building harmonies. A lot of the music I produce, those backing vocals are done by me. I was always too shy to take lead but with the situations that started me on this album, it was easier to pour my soul into it. I'm not the most refined singer but it's not about that. If you have something to say, then say it.
Ok, ok. But what about you? You speak on what you hope it will do for the space and other creatives but what about what the album did for you?
This album was my therapy. We find ways to explore ourselves and resolve our issues. If you feel fear, anger, etc, you have to figure out why. Lot's of times these emotions, when you get to the core of it, lie in an affected ego. Once you can understand that and deal with that, you have a lot more free rein to be a dreamer without the cynic getting in the way.
As we're on the topic, why name the LP The Cynic and The Dreamer?
Because it's a conversation between two sides of yourself. The title track which we released on June 2 looks at that. They are two sides to us that can't live without each other. The dreamer can't succeed without the cynic and the cynic will succeed without the dreamer, which it is not supposed to.
MORE INFO
The Cynic and The Dreamer LP drops during the final weekend of August but Sheriff will be releasing singles via YouTube every few weeks. In case you missed the two releases so far, visit his FB page, Sheriff Music.