David Berman (singer)

Press photo of David Berman

David Berman is an American poet, cartoonist, and singer-songwriter best known for his work with indie-rock band the Silver Jews.

Biography

Beginnings

Berman (born 1967 in Williamsburg, Virginia) attended high school at Greenhill School in Addison, Texas, before matriculating to the University of Virginia. While in Charlottesville, Virginia, Berman began writing and performing songs (often left on friends' voice message machines) with his loose band, Ectoslavia, primarily composed of UVA classmates Stephen Malkmus and Bob Nastanovich.

Upon graduation from the University of Virginia, the trio moved to New York City, where they shared an apartment and adopted the moniker 'Silver Jews,' in part after the '60s group Silver Apples and slang for blonde-haired Jewish people.

Before moving to New York, Malkmus had also founded another band, Pavement, with his childhood friend Scott Kannberg. As Pavement's acclaim and visibility grew, the notion arose that the Silver Jews were a "Pavement side-project," despite the fact that Berman's writing, singing, and guitar playing led the band's music. On the band's early recordings, Berman even tried to protect the Jews' individuality by listing Malkmus and Nastanovich under aliases, but it backfired when people learned who "Hazel Figurine" and "Bobby N." really were.

Not long after the success of Pavement's debut album, Slanted and Enchanted (which was named after a cartoon Berman had created), Dan Koretsky, founder of the Chicago-based indie label Drag City, met Berman at a Pavement show. When he heard of the Jews' tapes, Koretsky offered to release them. On their first single and EP for the label, 1990's "Dime Map of the Reef" and 1993's The Arizona Record, respectively, the band held to their ultra lo-fi aesthetic and recorded the majority of both on a Walkman.

After the release of the EPs, Berman entered a graduate-level writing program at the University of Massachusetts and met like-minded members of local bands--the indie-rock/alt-country hybrid Scud Mountain Boys and New Radiant Storm King. Writing and teaching at the university left Berman time for songwriting; soon, he had enough material for an album, which became 1994's Starlite Walker. The album reunited Berman with Malkmus and Nastanovich (this time listed by their real names in the credits) in the 24-track Easley Recording studios for a more focused, polished take on the Silver Jews' literate, lyrical, country and noise-inspired rock.

Recent Career and Personal Life

Along with writing and working with other performers like the War Comet, Berman recorded the Jews' second album, The Natural Bridge, in the summer of 1996 with members of New Radiant Storm King and Drag City artist/producer Rian Murphy. Originally, Berman planned to record this album with Malkmus, Nastanovich, and the Scud Mountain Boys, but both sessions were scrapped after a few days. The Natural Bridge continued to streamline the Silver Jews' sound and let Berman's rich, abstract lyrics and reflective vocals take center stage. Malkmus returned for 1998's American Water, and his guitar and vocal interplay with Berman places it among the Silver Jews' strongest efforts.

In 1999, Berman's first collection of poetry, the critically-acclaimed Actual Air, was published by [Open City Press]. The Silver Jews returned in 2001 with Bright Flight and the EP Tennessee, which also feature Berman's wife Cassie on a few tracks.

Following the release of Tennessee, Berman struggled through an intense period of depression and substance abuse. In a famous interview with Fader Magazine, he described his extensive drug use and 2003 suicide attempt involving crack-cocaine, alcohol, and the prescription drug Xanax. After the failed suicide attempt, Berman committed himself to sobriety and decided to once again resurrect the Jewsin early 2005 for a new album. Recorded in Nashville, Tanglewood Numbers narrowly avoided being destroyed in the electrical fire that engulfed Memphis' historic Easley-McCain studio, where it was supposed to be mastered. Drag City released the album that fall.

Though he is a reluctant live performer as a musician, Berman occasionally does readings of his short stories and poems in both the U.S. and the UK His accomplished and trademark sardonic lyrics have been compared by some to Bob Dylan, and his poetry is known to examine overlooked aspects of everyday life as well as chance and often hilarious juxtapositions.

Berman currently resides in Nashville, Tennessee with his wife Cassie.

Discography

Cover art for the Silver Jews' 1998 full-length release, American Water.

With the Silver Jews

Full-Lengths:
* Starlite Walker (1994) LP/CD
* The Natural Bridge (1996) LP/CD
* American Water (1998) LP/CD
* Bright Flight (2001) LP/CD
* Tanglewood Numbers (2005) LP/CD

Singles:
* "Dime Map of the Reef" (1990) 7"
* "Silver Jews and Nico" (1993) 7"
* "Send in the Clouds" (1998) CD/7"
* "Hot as Hell" (1999) CD/7"

EPs:
* The Arizona Record (1993) CD/12"
* Tennessee (2001) CD/12"

Bibliography

*Actual Air:Poems (1999)

External links

*The Corduroy Suit -- Unofficial Silver Jews webpage featuring interviews, images, a selection of Berman's writing and audio recordings of his poetry readings.
*Pitchfork Media interview with David Berman