David Berman (musician)

David Cloud Berman (David Craig Berman; January 4, 1967 – August 7, 2019) was an American musician, singer, poet and cartoonist. In 1989, he founded the indie-rock band Silver Jews with Stephen Malkmus and Bob Nastanovich. He was the only constant member during the band's discography, which concluded in 2009, following the band's sixth and final album "Lookout Mountain, Lookout Sea" (2008). He provided the distinct lyricism and, alongside Malkmus, the sparsely simple country-rock sound—which developed from initial lo-fi recordings.
He released his only book of poetry, "Actual Air," in 1999. Around this time Berman began to take hard drugs; struggling with substance abuse, depression and anxiety—the latter directly influencing his career decisions. In 2003, these factors culminated in a botched suicide attempt. He then undertook rehab, engaged with Judaism and embarked on the band's first tour with his then-wife, Cassie Berman.
Although Berman's music and poetry was relatively successful, he experienced financial difficulties. This, along with the dissolution of his marriage, caused his return to music in 2019. Adopting a new band name, Purple Mountains, he released an eponymous debut album, that July. He then intended to tour the album and thus pay off his $100,000 credit card debt. He committed suicide in August.
Despite believing his music to be unappreciated, he had acquired a reputation of being "perhaps the finest lyricist of his generation". Berman's lyrics were his creative priority; labouring over them for extended periods of time. They were abstract in nature and had become autobiographical in his later career, sung in a deep and monotone manner.
Biography.
Early life.
David Craig Berman was born on January 4, 1967, in Williamsburg, Virginia. His father was Richard Berman, a lobbyist who represents firearm, alcohol and other industries. His parents divorced when he was seven. His mother moved to Ohio, while he and his father moved to Dallas, Texas—despite Berman wishing not to. He attended high school at Greenhill School in Addison, Texas, and then the University of Virginia. As a teenager, he was diagnosed with depression, later discovered to be treatment-resistant and began to take drugs, smoking PCP every day of his sophomore year of college. Berman was, by his own admission, too lazy to apply for college, and so his father's secretary applied for him. 
He found Dallas to be a source of musical inspiration; taking an intrest in an ultra-rare Fairlight keyboard and bands like Art of Noise, Prefab Sprout, X, the Replacements, the Cure, New Order, and Echo and the Bunnymen. He begun experiementing with poetry in high school by writing to girlfriends. He, however, considers the later line: "A cartoon lake. Wolf on skates" to be his first, true, foray.
At university, Berman met fellow students Stephen Malkmus, Bob Nastanovich and James McNew. Malkmus, Nastanovich and Berman frequently went to shows, brought vinyl and discussed obscure bands. The quartet formed Ectoslavia, a musical exploration of experimentation and dissonance. The band eventually became Berman's; Malkmus and Nastanovich were excluded by him.
Origin of Silver Jews: 1989–1994.
Upon graduation, the trio moved to Hoboken, New Jersey, where they shared an apartment. In 1989, they adopted the moniker Silver Jews, recording discordant tapes in their living room. Berman was a security guard at New York's Whitney Museum of American Art. Working in this environment influenced him artistically. On the band's early recordings, Malkmus and Nastanovich used aliases. Malkmus would occasionally act as co-writer alongside Berman.
Although Berman begrudged that Silver Jews was at times viewed as a side-project to Malkmus' band Pavement, it was that connection that led to his signing with indie label Drag City, who would release all of Berman's subsequent albums. The 'Jews' would go onto become closely linked with the label and adjacent bands. The band's first extended-plays (EP), "Dime Map of the Reef" and "The Arizona Record", were not commercially successful but did see them garner attention, in a relative cult-like manner—Kim Gordon was an admirer and Will Oldham said it inspired him to send recordings to Drag City. 
Following the EPs, Berman began a masters in poetry at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. During this time, Berman tried to get published in the American Poetry Review but was routinely rejected. As of 2005, Berman's public appearances mostly consisted of poetry readings.
By October 1994, the 'Jews had enough material for their debut, "Starlite Walker". Malkmus and Nastanovich's involvement with Pavement meant they were unavailable for the next Silver Jews album, "The Natural Bridge". Pavement's success proved difficult for Berman. He resented the people who he'd interact with, as a result, deeming them "cruel" and became suspicious of fame. Silver Jews were apart of a "moment in underground music" of songwriters looking towards the 1970s and 80s for inspiration. The line up for Silver Jews constantly changed, Berman remaining the only constant; its principal songwriter and "main creative driver". 
Berman's personal life, at this time, was affected by the death of various friends of his, which would go onto influence his songwriting.
Critical acclaim and substance abuse: 1996–2001.
Berman's work on the composition of "The Natural Bridge" in 1996 left him feeling deeply anxious. He appeared as a man "haunted by ghosts" and was hospitalized for sleep deprivation. According to Oldham, the album's producer, Mark Nevers, "had sort of held Berman’s hand". Although it received positive reviews in music publications—Berman having now "established himself as a world-class rock lyricist"—he chose not to tour due to a fear of performing. After "The Natural Bridge", Berman decided that he wanted Malkmus and Nastanovich involved with all following Silver Jews albums.
The resulting pain helped him, alongside Malkmus, to formulate the new Silver Jews album, "American Water" which saw them garner critical acclaim and further attention. It has been retrospectively called their breakthrough and considered a turning point in Berman's life. According to Marc Hogan of "Pitchfork," the opening lyrics to "Random Rules" defined the perception of his career: "Here was a man too brilliant for his own health, held captive by unseen forces". Berman's drug use continued; using during studio sessions. Despite his then-presonal turmoil, he did not want the album to be grim, instead joyous, like "other people['s] records". They intended to tour in late 1998, but a fistfight that led to Berman's eardrum's rupturing concluded any plans.
Berman's first collection of poetry, "Actual Air", was released to critical acclaim in 1999 by Open City Books, which had been founded to publish the collection. An independent release, the book's sales of over 20,000 copies were considered highly successful. Although he sporadically published poems in the following years, "Actual Air" remained his only book of poetry. In his later years his poetry ceased, citing a lack of motivation and a partial feeling of inadequacy in comparison to younger poets. 2008, he explained why he had not published another collection: "I wait until I have something to offer...I’m waiting for myself to start writing a different kind of poetry...I’ve not found my reason for a second book yet".
Around this time he estimated that he made $23,000 a year; In 2001, he had made $45,000 from his music. In 2001, "Bright Flight" was released, which featured Berman's then-wife Cassie Berman—their relationship having started two years before. The two lived in Nashville for 20 years. Speaking on the local music scene, Berman found the "verbal battle between Music Row and alt-country" humorous:
After being introduced to hard drugs in 1999, Berman struggled through an intense period of depression and substance abuse, using crack, heroin and methamphetamine. That same year, his friend Robert Bingham, who died of a heroin overdose. His usage of crack was to the point of him considering it an addiction. He unintentionally overdosed twice, once, following the release party for "Bright Flight". His struggles resulted in the darker sound of "Bright Flight."
Attempted suicide, rehab and career progession: 2003–2008.
On November 19, 2003, Berman attempted suicide in Nashville by consuming crack cocaine, alcohol and tranquillisers. He wrote a short note to Cassie—the brevity of which Berman would later regret—put on his wedding suit, and went to a "crack house" he frequented. When discovered by Cassie he verbally lashed out and refused treatment. He was eventually taken to Vanderbilt University Medical Center, awaking three days later.
Around a year later, he checked in for drug rehab—paid for by his father. He admitted to having relapsed but said that by August 2005 he wasn't using. His rehabilitation saw him embracing Judaism, choosing to study the Torah, and seek to be a "better person"—"easier" to Cassie and those at Drag City. Five years after his botched suicide, Berman reflected and said that "Although I didn't feel lucky...I had a lot of things people would want when I tried to kill myself. ["Actual Air"] was only three years old, I could easily have done a follow up... I had places to go, things to do I guess".
A year after Berman's rehabilitation, Silver Jews—with a lineup including Cassie, Malkmus, Nastanovich, Bobby Bare Jr., Paz Lenchantin, and William Tyler—released "Tanglewood Numbers". Soon the band embark on their first tour. Berman had been "100% sober" during "Tanglewood Numbers"' composition and release but this changed with touring, which made him "a daily pot smoker." to cope with the hectic nature. Berman estimated that the band went on "100" tours from 2006 to 2009, the same time frame he smoked "pot". Their first tour was documented in the 2007 film "Silver Jew".
By this time, the Silver Jews had become an acclaimed indie rock band and had sold 250,000 records. Berman and Cassie still experienced financial difficulties; Cassie worked an office job and Berman struggled to get medical insurance for the removal of an keratoconus, eventually acquiring it from the Country Music Association. In 2005, Berman worked alongside, his friend, Jeremy Blake on the art piece "Sodium Fox". Inspired by Berman's poetry, he provides music and voice-overs for the narrative about him, a cowboy and a dancer. Lines from Berman's poems that influenced the work include: "My mother was a party animal", "Frail cocktail-party hugs" and "A sweater covering the spectrum of hospital Jell-O". Blake's suicide impacted Berman and his next album. "Candy Jail" and "My Pillow is the Threshold" concern Blake's death. His optical operation also affected his life and music.
Following a period of downtime, the band's final album, "Lookout Mountain, Lookout Sea," was released, in 2008. They toured the UK and Ireland before and after its release. This period of his life saw him forego his past reservations and the band becoming more prosperous. 
His choice to tour was based upon his older age, which to him meant he was then "uncorruptable", his expanded discography and the fact that seperation from his audience was infurating. He did, however, acknowledge that the intimate nature of meeting fans is "not necessarily nutritional for your creativity". Interacting with fans was, nonetheless, the highlight to him; touring was otherwise "a spiritual and intellectual deadzone". Touring with Cassie, he found, eased the experience. Their dynamic while on the road was compared by Bermant to that of a boss and employee.
Hiatus from music: 2009–2017.
Despite the band's then-present success, Berman announced, on January 22, 2009, that the Silver Jews would, the final show to be played at Cumberland Caverns in McMinnville, Tennessee the next week. He also wrote that his intentions were to move to "screenwriting or muckraking." He closed the entry by saying, "I always said we would stop before we got bad. If I continue to record I might accidentally write the answer song to 'Shiny Happy People'".
He also revealed that he was the son of lobbyist Richard Berman—in a manner that, Ari Rabin Havt, in an preface on Richard, said is "Perhaps the most scathing critique of [his] behavior". Berman considered this his "gravest secret"; viewing his father as a "despicable man... a human molestor. An exploiter. A scoundrel. A world-historical motherfucking son of a bitch". In 2005, he said he owed him $10,000. Richard, reportedly, used this against Berman, whenever they'd argue. Estranged for years, his guilt regarding his father was the reason he retired the Silver Jews, saying:
Following the band's end, Berman became a recluse, going ten years without giving an interview; his few public appearences included a poetry reading and a screening of "Trash Humpers". He spent time working on his blog, Menthol Mountains, and reading about politics, history, and religion. He began to use the internet forum Reddit and published a book of surreal-minimal cartoons, "The Portable February," in 2009. Although the "hermit, solitary aspect to the way [he] live[d]" predated this time, as noted by a 2008 interview.
In 2010, Berman spoke about his difficulties with a book he had been attempting to write about his father. He also revealed that HBO had expressed interest in adapting the book. A screenwriter was hired and a pilot scripted. HBO wanted to begin production but Berman cancelled it, saying he did not want to glamorize his father.
A compilation of early Silver Jews entitled "Early Times" was released in 2012. Berman worked with, German artist, Friedrich Kunath on the book "You Owe Me a Feeling" which featured paintings and poetry by Kunath and Berman, respectively. After the death of his friend Dave Cloud in 2015, Berman changed his middle name from Craig to Cloud in his honor. His mother died the following year, leading him to write "I Loved Being My Mother's Son", which appeared on his next album.
He recalled, in 2019, that, although it was "kind of my childhood dream", "There were probably 100 nights over the last 10 years where I was sure I wouldn't make it to the morning".
Purple Mountains and death: 2018–2019.
In 2018, Berman and Cassie separated; he lived in a room above Drag City's Chicago offices from June onwards due to lacking money to live elsewhere. According to Berman, they "never had the kind of conflict that results in divorce" but had the "kind of need to live [their] lives without the other one". They still had the same bank account and owned a house together; Berman considered her his family, and "all [he] had".
He briefly lived in Miller Beach and spent winter of 2017 in Gary, Indiana. At one point he had requested that a friend give him heroin. He was refused—and was, ultimately, grateful. He had grown disillusioned with Judaism in relation to his isolation, recalling that his belief in god lasted from 2004 to 2010.
In 2018, he co-produced Yonatan Gat's album Universalists. In May 2019 Berman released the song "All My Happiness Is Gone", using the moniker Purple Mountains. An eponymous debut album was released in July 2019, and an accompanying tour was scheduled at the time of Berman's death. Berman received heightened attention and rave reviews. "Purple Mountains" was worked on with "Woods" and, personal friend, Dan Auerbach. Berman and Auerbach had previously worked together in 2015.
Financial difficulties, the dissolution of his marriage and Dan Koretzky, president of Drag City, were the impetuses for Berman's new music. Berman was then living off royalties from Drag City. Likely to be his most successful release, the profits from the album and tour were indicated to resolve the $100,000 of loan and credit card debt he had amassed. In a 2005 interview, he said "I've got a credit card rotisserie system that would dazzle the ancients". He stated that this was the only reason he intended to embark on it. He had expressed worries regarding the tour but was excited for his "solitude to end".
Berman died on August 7, 2019, by hanging himself in an apartment in the Park Slope neighborhood of Brooklyn, New York. He was 52 years old.
Tributes.
Many musicians paid tribute to Berman following his suicide: Malkmus and Nastanovich both commented on his death and later performed a show in honor of him. "Approaching Perfection: A Tribute To DC Berman" is a cover album that was released two months after his death and features artists such as Dean Wareham and Adam Green. Drag City released a musical tribute to Berman in the form of a cover of "The Wild Kindness", sung by Bill Callahan, Will Oldham, and Cassie Berman.
The Avalanches—who Berman collaborated with in 2012 and 2016—Fleet Foxes, Mogwai and The Psychedelic Furs paid tribute on their, respective, albums, "We Will Always Love You", "Shore", "As the Love Continues" and "Made of Rain". Kunath hosted an art show he and Berman worked on, in his honor. Filmmaker, Lance Bangs announced a memorial at New York's Met Breuer Museum, the former location of the Whitney. The Tennessee Titans—Berman's favourite football team—displayed a message on the Jumbotron that read: "Nashville (and the world) will always love David Berman". Fans shared lyrics on social media. The 62nd Annual Grammy Awards' memorial reel's exclusion of Berman was criticized. 
Speaking of his son's death, Richard said: "Despite his difficulties, he always remained my special son. I will miss him more than he was able to realize".
Artistry.
Lyrics.
Berman spent the most time of his creative process on the lyrics, feeling unable to compare to his peers, like Jack White, in musical prowess. Berman's process involved him considering the audience's understanding; he juxtaposed his abstract lyricism with simple melodies and rhyme schemes. He was self-critical and obsessed over his lyrics, to the point that Koretzky said he witnessed him work on a single line for a month. Throughout his career, he abandoned albums as he was unable to complete the lyrics. 
Mark Richardson, in a 2001 "Pitchfork" article, and Randall Roberts of the "Los Angeles Times" noted his proficiency for minimalist-style compression—Richardson compared it to a haiku, Roberts noted that it was used in "Lookout Mountain, Lookout Sea" for "universal themes of life, death and finding meaning in-between". Influenced by his Jewish identity, Berman had a more,hopeful plainspoken and "pedagogical" approach"." He found that he could "enunciate his shtick more clearly" and began to work on his lyrics for a longer period of time, to "Not stop writing when the song just gets good enough". 
His songs often utilized country music tropes and tended to focus on music, nature, beauty, drugs, god, disconnection and America. Berman thought highly of America, although did hope for a "redemption". The opening verse to "People" was seen by Sam Hockley-Smith of "Entertainment Weekly" as an embrace and "entire panorma" of American history. The South, a place he often mentioned, influenced "The Natural Bridge" and "American Water"; sports had a similar presence in his lyrics. Politics in his songs only manifested in the form of tracks like "We Are Real" 
"Tanglewood Numbers" saw Berman's lyrics became darker and more autobiographical. Roberts called "Purple Mountains" "nearly as autobiographical as a memoir". He discussed his isolation, divorce and death, which had a particular pressence. Berman felt that his autobiographical lyrics begun in 2001; his first three albums and book of poetry: "make-believe". His fictional narratives often started relatively straightforward and then sharply became more bizzare.
Oldham said that Berman "[had] access to a kind of syntax I could never touch". Kurt Vile found that Berman's lyrics impacted him in a way unlike others of his generation. Associated Press's Mark Kennedy, and Kornhaber and noted the influence of Berman's lyrical style and manner of delivery—Hockley-Smith said it helped "define what we understand indie rock to be".
Sound.
Silver Jews' early work was defined by an ultra lo-fi aesthetic. Their work before "Starlite Walker—"which saw thist aesthetic be dropped in favor of an experimental-oriented country-rock sound—is "regarded as the lowest fidelity recordings of the first lo-fi movement". The lo-fi remnants were increasingly abandoned with the release of each Silver Jews album, which saw Berman's musical approach simplified and the band move further towards a country sound. "Purple Mountains" is his most direct and conventional album, in comparison to his work with Silver Jews, although all of his discography is relatively conventional. With "Lookout Mountain, Lookout Sea", Berman wanted to widen his range and so included Cassie as a promient vocalist to "bring in a feminine point of view or a feminine voice".
Their songs were often sparse and, deceptively, simple—usually three or four chords, the kind that Berman said "you might learn in beginner’s guitar lessons". He usually composed songs using the basics at the end of the neck; Berman understood his musical abilities were limited. For a while, he would say to himself: "if I have a purpose in life and [music] is it, why was I not given all the tools I need? Why was I not given the musical technique, the vocal chords, the all the things that a born entertainer has?". 
As each member wrote their own parts, Berman was solely responsible for his songwriting. He would typically write the music first and then the lyrics. His and Malkmus' approach to music differed. Berman explained that he viewed it as a game, whereas Malkmus saw it as a sport. In 2001, Berman said that he had gone "months, sometimes years without [using his guitar]" and said his process of creating albums started in his mind and then he'd "go at it every day for a few hours until the album's done". 
Berman's vocal delivery was notably uninflected, deadpan and brusque—his register, baritone. During concerts, he and Cassie's performances were often symbiotic; Cassie's calm disposition providing stability to Berman's electric presence. "Dazed"'s Nick Chen noted that, in a performance documented on "Silver Jew", Berman was "a natural showman, [making] gestures with his arms that accentuate the punchiness and the hard consonants of the sing-a-long verses".
Poetry.
His poems and music share similar characteristics: direct delivery, observations—which are occasionally mundane and reference aspects of pop culture, such as Judas Priest, Woolite, and James Michener—and themes of Americana, absurdism, and everyday melancholy. Unlike his music, his poetry did not feature rhyming. He composed his poems by using the notes he had written. James Tate, who Berman studied under, said that the poems were "narratives that freeze life in impossible contortions," whereas Berman called them "psychedelic soap operas".
Image and self-perception.
Berman constantly considered his public image; he feared after "Purple Mountains"' release that he'd be seen as a "sad sack". Berman kept a note of musicians who had mentioned him in interviews, believing that his music was unappreciated. Silver Jews were to him not "the band that other bands would namedrop". In music and poetry, Berman felt that his peers saw him as "moonlighting". 
It surprised Berman that his songwriting garnered more attention than his poetry, thinking of himself as more a poet than a songwriter—although he preferred to write music, as he found poetry offered too much freedom. It was, ultimately, his music for which he was more known for; fans and critics similarly complimentary.
Berman was seen as a "cult hero" due in part to his aversion to promotion and because of his work as a lyricist; considered to be "perhaps the finest of his generation". He was, by Nastanovich's admission, "not a good self-promoter. He [was] a poet and songwriter, not a business man". His initial refusal to tour generated a sense of mystique—an aversion Berman found accidental. 
Timothy Michalik of "Under The Radar" said that Berman embodied a simultaneous low/high-brow perception and fans, in turn, found Berman a relatable figure. According to Berman, many fans were "encouraged that I came back from that [2003 suicide] attempt and made more records". To Adam Rothband of "Tiny Mix Tapes," he "felt synonymous with what he created, as if his songs and his poetry were him". Arielle Angel and Nathan Goldman of "Jewish Currents" felt like he represented Jews "spiritually", "positionally" and, who they dubbed, "Silver Jews". In his withdrawal, they said that Berman "[fixed] himself in Jewish tradition".
Influences.
Berman said that his influences consisted of Tate, Russell Edson, Kenneth Koch, Ben Katchor, Bruce Nauman, Jean-Michel Basquiat, Sherri Levine, Louise Lawler, Wallace Stevens,Charles Wright and Emily Dickinson.
Discography.
Silver Jews 
Purple Mountains