Sheer talent
Philadelphia’s Sheer Mag have slowly amassed a following without the help of a label. The DIY rockers discuss their roots.
Tina Halladay never saw the hype coming. Nobody in Sheer Mag did. In 2014, the Philadelphia-bred rock band started sneaking a few songs on the internet and eventually sparked a perfect storm of DIY enthusiasm, complete with crunchy guitar riffs as catchy as they were lo-fi, plus searing, soulful vocals that would’ve found harmony with a rough Jackson 5 demo playing through a walkie talkie.
Everything about the band feels like you discovered them in a dusty vinyl crate, crammed between your uncle’s Thin Lizzy liner notes and an ancient Rolling Stone. With a limited digital presence early on, their Bandcamp page didn’t reveal much more than a booking email address. That was pretty much the only avenue to hearing Sheer Mag outside of a live show. Even after three EPs, they stiff armed most interview opportunities and label offers to focus rather on what type of band they wanted to be well before blogs or anyone else could decide forthem.
“I was reading a book about Thin Lizzy, and they talked about a point they realized that the band wasn’t theirs anymore. It belonged to the fans,” Halladay told The Oklahoman. “They weren’t upset about it necessarily, but it was a big turning point when something you created isn’t yours anymore.” The band’s full-length debut “Need to Feel Your Love”
landed in July, and it’s still very much their own. Halladay can even pinpoint the moment Sheer Mag earned enough money to create the new record. It came from a single, uncomfortable performance at Coachella back in 2016.
The band handles a lot of the day-to-day tasks, even mailing out records. Halladay and Co. are ready to do the heavy lifting, on the road and in songwriting. As much fun as it is to listen to Sheer Mag, they draw a line in the sand. You’ve gotta pick a side. There’s a Woody Guthrie-like rebel spirit behind the politicized “Expect the Bayonet” (a track touching on gerrymandering) and another song nods to the tragic death of 1940s German anti-Nazi activist Sophie Scholl. Sheer Mag sounds old, but the band’s energy is the product of an unironic love of yesteryear’s guitar sounds and unpolished recordings. Similar to The White Stripes, there’s a gleeful simplicity in songs born from a set of self-imposed limitations. Whatever the rules are, the results sizzle and a sharp pop sensibility revs through Sheer Mag’s discography like a roadtested ‘70s Camaro.
I caught up with lead singer Halladay on the road for an interview. Here are the highlights.
Q: Your band has only started doing interviews recently. Did avoiding press make you feel more mysterious?
Tina Halladay: It was never really about being mysterious. I felt it was unnecessary to do interviews when we had a couple 7” (records) out. For (“Need to Feel Your Love”) we were gonna give it a proper introduction, give it the old college try and do everything that people normally do when they release a record.
Q: Have you enjoyed spending more time talking about it?
Halladay: It’s cool to get better at it. I know that some of us have been weary about it because it can be really difficult. I’ve had people put things on me concerning who I am that are untrue . ... Because I’m a woman, if I curse, a reporter will really like to bring that up. Even though if it were a man doing the same thing, they wouldn’t think twice. They’ll be like, “She curses like a sailor.” I’m just cursing as much as the next person who plays music for a living and doesn’t have to wear a pantsuit to work.
Q: With the added attention, has being in Sheer Mag changed your life at all?
Halladay: It’s hard to tell, but I feel like people maybe don’t realize I’m still a shy person. I don’t always feel like talking to people. I’m not a small talk kind of a person, in general, and that’s hard when you’re always meeting new people all the time because I literally don’t know what to say . ... But at the same time, it’s awesome. This is my main job, and it’s amazing. It’s all I’ve ever wanted to do. I don’t think I can do anything else.
Q: Were you a natural performer growing up?
Halladay: I had crazy stage fright when I was a kid. Mostly girls experience this, where your family
makes you take dance classes and you take the corny picture in la sequin outfit with a baton. I was tap dancing and my shoe flew off, hit this guy in the head and everyone started laughing. I ran off stage crying.
Q: You’re a force onstage now. When did stage fright stop being an issue?
Halladay: I wasn’t able to really get over it until I was in college. When I was in my old bands, I was shy and weird for a while but you just gotta get over it. That’s what people forget to tell musicians, you know, this sucks for a long time.
Q: Do you spend much time looking to see what people write about Sheer Mag?
Halladay: I do. I don’t know if anyone else does. I read things and pretty much the only thing that sticks with me are the negative things so that’s a huge part of me not being an a———. They’re just branded on my brain. I also read YouTube comments which is a f——— huge mistake.
Q: You have a polarizing voice. Why go looking there?
Halladay: I won’t for months, and then I’ll just get this f——— uncontrollable urge. I’ll just be like, “Oh my God, why did I do that?” It’s also super funny because my mom will sometimes try to defend me in the comments . ... I’m like, “I wonder if these people realize that you’re my mom because it’s insanely funny.”
Q: You’re not afraid to tackle dissent in your songs. I’m curious if you’re a fan of Woody Guthrie and what bands helped shaped your ability to work political topics into your music?
Halladay: I really like Woody Guthrie. We’re big Clash fans . ... I don’t think there’s room for people to act like it’s a privilege to not concern yourself with politics. It’s not something that I’m interested in ignoring. It’s really important, so I don’t think we ever really had a choice just because of the kind of people that we are.