David Berman (musician)

David Cloud Berman (born David Craig Berman; January 4, 1967 – August 7, 2019) was an American musician, singer and poet. In 1989, he founded the indie rock band Silver Jews with Pavement's Stephen Malkmus and Bob Nastanovich, and he was its only constant member until its dissolution in 2009. Berman wrote Silver Jews' lyrics; further, with Malkmus, he developed the simple country-rock sound that characterized their early lo-fi recordings. His abstract and autobiographical lyrics, which he extensively labored over, were his creative priority.

His only published volume of poetry, '' Actual Air'', appeared in 1999, by which time heroin and crack cocaine addictions loomed large. His struggle with substance abuse, depression and anxiety overcame his career, and he attempted suicide in 2003. Afterward, he underwent rehabilitation, and engaged with Judaism. Alongside his wife Cassie Berman, he toured for the first time, though soon dissolved the band. Returning to music following a hiatus, he later adopted the band name Purple Mountains and released an eponymous debut album in July 2019. Although he had planned a tour to pay off a $100,000 credit card debt, he died by suicide in August 2019.

Although Berman believed his work was unappreciated, he cultivated a passionate following and is regarded as a significant and influential indie rock cult figure.

Biography

Early life

David Craig Berman was born on January 4, 1967, in Williamsburg, Virginia. At that time, his father Richard Berman worked as an attorney practicing labor law for the United States Chamber of Commerce, while his mother was a housewife. He came from a secular Jewish family, who he said had no literary or artistic inclinations. Raised mostly in Texas, he did not personally know or interact with many other Jews. He later said he had identified with Jews because he "felt like an outsider" in his youth. For most of his life Berman identified as " ethnically Jewish" but not religious. His mother had undergone conversion to Judaism without the supervision of an Orthodox rabbi, and for that reason neither she nor he would be considered Jews under certain criteria.

Berman's parents divorced when he was seven. Thereafter, he split time between each parent's household until he entered college. His father relocated to Dallas for a position as a lobbyist on behalf of foodservice businesses, while his mother moved back in with her parents in Wooster, Ohio, and became a teacher there. He later described his childhood as "grindingly painful" and said he kept "mostly independent of family things" into his adulthood. While he was an adolescent, his father rose to prominence as a corporate lobbyist representing firearms, alcohol, and other industries. Berman came to dislike his father at an early age. He was compelled to live with his father after 1979, despite his wishes to the contrary, because of concern he was "growing up to be a wimp".

He attended high school at Greenhill School in Addison, Texas. During his teenage years, his father sent him to see a psychiatrist. Berman suffered from depression throughout his life and later said the condition had become resistant to treatment. By the age of 15, he said he began taking "every drug in every way", and claimed to have smoked PCP on a daily basis during his second year of college.

For Berman, the burgeoning new wave scene in Dallas served as an early source of musical inspiration. He took an interest in a friend's rare Fairlight keyboard, and in the music of bands like Art of Noise, Prefab Sprout, X, the Replacements, the Cure, New Order, and Echo and the Bunnymen. In high school, he began experimenting with poetry by writing to girlfriends, considering the line "A cartoon lake. Wolf on skates" to be his first true foray into poetry. Berman hoped that his poetry would resemble the lyrics of punk singers Jello Biafra and Exene Cervenka. He read Henry Miller's '' The Rosy Crucifixion'' when he was 14: "It gave me permission to enjoy life". Reading significantly in his life, Berman said, reinforced his empathy, especially for those also troubled; he cited William Faulkner as an influence of his.

Berman went to the University of Virginia in 1985. He had been—by his own admission—"too lazy" to apply for college, so his father's secretary completed and submitted applications on his behalf. At university, Berman met fellow students Stephen Malkmus, Bob Nastanovich, and James McNew. He frequently attended concerts, shared records, and discussed obscure bands with Malkmus and Nastanovich, having first encountered the former in a carpool to a show. The quartet formed the band Ectoslavia. He graduated in 1989 with a bachelor's degree in English literature.

Origin of Silver Jews: 1989–1994

Upon graduation, Berman, Malkmus, and Nastanovich moved to Hoboken, New Jersey, where they shared an apartment. In 1989, they adopted the band name Silver Jews and recorded discordant tapes in their living room – that same year, Malkmus's band Pavement released their debut extended play (EP), '' Slay Tracks: 1933–1969''. The Whitney Museum of American Art – where Malkmus and Berman worked as security guards – and its contents (such as the art of Bruce Nauman, Jean-Michel Basquiat, Sherri Levine and Louise Lawler) was an influence to Berman. He wrote lyrics and poems while working shifts at the museum, occasionally in collaboration with Malkmus, who along with Berman would " get high" at Central Park on their lunch breaks. According to Berman's longtime friend Kevin Guthrie, Malkmus and Berman had a harmonious friendship, and Nastanovich revered both artists' creativity. "It was mostly drinking beer and seeing grunge bands" Malkmus said regarding this time period and recalled that Berman appeared as a somewhat "scary goth" but was kind and enthusiastic, strongly desiring to be involved with Jewish culture.

Though Berman sometimes felt irritated by a common view that Silver Jews were merely a side project to Pavement, the connection led to his signing with indie label Drag City, which would later release all of his albums. The band's relation to Pavement was responsible for them amassing a "national audience", a notice great enough that the resulting sales meant Berman did not have to tour. The band's first extended-plays (EPs) ''Dime Map of the Reef'' and ''The Arizona Record'' were not commercially successful but gained them attention. Kim Gordon was an admirer and Will Oldham said ''Dime Map of the Reef'' inspired him to send recordings to Drag City.

Following the EPs, Berman began studying for a master's degree in poetry at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. Dubbing this time an "academic exile", Matthew Shaer, in a 2006 ''Boston Globe'' article, speculated that Berman's extended time studying may have been an attempt to distance himself from Pavement. Three years earlier, Berman reflected upon his time there: after "meet nggrown dignified men who play with fucking words all day," he felt he had "permission to believe that I could try for that life". He tried to get poems published in the '' American Poetry Review'' but was rejected, which increased his interest in music, "despite scarcely knowing how to sing or play guitar". As of 2005, Berman's public appearances mostly consisted of poetry readings.

By October 1994, Silver Jews had enough material for their debut album '' Starlite Walker.'' The release established respect in the indie rock scene, although with some detractors. Malkmus and Nastanovich's involvement with Pavement meant they were unavailable for the next Silver Jews album '' The Natural Bridge'', and only Berman and Peyton Pinkerton continued writing for it. Pavement's success proved difficult for Berman, who became suspicious of fame and resented the people with whom he interacted, deeming them "cruel". He felt somewhat abandoned by Malkmus and Nastanovich, although he understood the circumstances permitted little else. Berman's personal life was affected by the deaths of friends, which would influence his songwriting. A close friendship between Oldham and Berman arose at this time and the two conceptualized a collaborative project, entitled ''Silver Palace''.

Silver Jews was part of a "moment in underground music" of songwriters who looked to the 1970s and 1980s for inspiration, and were one of Drag City's seminal groups alongside Smog, Pavement, Royal Trux, and Palace, bands that "made American music frightening again by tapping into its most tangled roots". Berman wished to "distinguish his brand of songwriting from the depressive-narcissistic strain of 1990s rock" and later sought to break away from Drag City's "cryptic and prankish" style. The line-up of Silver Jews constantly changed around Berman, who remained its principal songwriter and "main creative driver" and led the band's creative direction since the start. "Malkmus and Nastanovich erethere to serve his ideas more than offer their own," said Ian Gormely of ''Exclaim!''.

Critical acclaim and substance abuse: 1996–2001

The composition of '' The Natural Bridge'' (1996) left Berman distraught; he appeared to be "haunted by ghosts" and was hospitalized with sleep deprivation. "When the songs were being recorded, things got darker in my life", he recollected, also noting that "recording was a process of calming myself down"—although doing so was so "searing that I couldn't listen to music". 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. During this time, Berman thought of touring as too significant a commitment and considered the stress to be intolerable. Playing live appeared to him as "like some unnecessary post-invention marketing effort" and had not elicited much "satisfaction" when he had done so. After ''The Natural Bridge'', Berman decided he wanted Malkmus and Nastanovich, both of whom felt betrayed by Berman's hostility toward them, to be involved with all subsequent Silver Jews albums.

The pain that Berman felt around ''The Natural Bridge'' helped him to formulate a new Silver Jews album with Malkmus, '' American Water''. It was significant to Berman and the band's progression. They had now "stepped out of Pavement's shadow ... This was clearly his project and represented his vision", his songwriting has been at the foreground of the former album. By this point he felt confident in his musical career. Berman's drug use continued, and he was using them during studio sessions. Despite his personal turmoil, Berman wanted the album to be joyous like "other people srecords" rather than grim. The band intended to tour in late 1998 but plans were ended after a fistfight led to his eardrum rupturing.

'' Actual Air'', Berman's first collection of poetry was released in 1999 by Open City Books, which had been founded to publish the collection. ''Actual Air'' amassed critical acclaim—Carl Wilson called it "even better than erman'salbums". The book's unusually high sales of over 20,000 copies bolstered Berman's musical career. Its marketing was akin to that of an album, which contributed to its success; Drag City and record stores were the avenues from which a "significant portion of those sales" arose. In 2001, he was offered a job as poet-in-residence on a postgraduate course. The prospect thrilled Berman; however, he chose not to apply out of apprehension. Four years later, when asked in an interview if he would accept a lecturing role at university, he expressed uncertainty on genuinely taking an offer: "I should stay away from the rock clubs and the English departments if I can."

Although he did publish some poems afterward—his poetry is featured in journals such as ''The Baffler'', ''Open City'' and ''The Believer''—and had reported working on a follow-up, ''Actual Air'' remained his only book of poetry. In his later years, Berman stopped writing poetry because of diminished motivation and a feeling of partial inadequacy in comparison to younger poets; another collection failed to materialize due to a lack of purpose and innovation. By 2003, his perception of songwriting and poetry as unified was no more, and felt that older age rendered him less capable of working in both mediums. "Poetry can never counter-propaganda. A song might be able to."

Around this time, Berman, who no longer to work", estimated he made $23,000 a year; by 2001, he earned $45,000 from his music. That year saw the release of the Silver Jews album '' Bright Flight'', which featured his wife Cassie Berman. Their relationship started two years earlier at a party; Berman awoke in Cassie's house and learned she owned every Silver Jews album. "I was really depressed and had nothing to lose at that time. I was so ugly". Cassie was a source of relief for Berman and she helped him feel young, Berman later considering their relationship the "best thing that ever happened to me". They lived together in Nashville for 19 years, where they moved to aid Berman's music career; later buying a house there alleviated quandaries for Berman; it was a relief to Berman to live in a city where he felt pursuing a career in music was well accepted.

Berman began to take hard drugs in 1998, during a period of depression. He began to take heroin, methamphetamine and crack cocaine, with his use of the latter reaching the point of addiction; he sought existential insight from drugs but eventually his dependency led to reculsion and dejection. Several of Berman's friends died in the years that followed, including Robert Bingham, the founder and editor of Open City, who died in 1999 after a heroin overdose. Berman twice unintentionally overdosed; one incident followed the release party for ''Bright Flight.'' That album's darker sound reflected his struggles with substance abuse.

Attempted suicide, rehabilitation and career progression: 2003–2008

On November 19, 2003, Berman attempted suicide in Nashville by consuming crack cocaine, alcohol and tranquilizers. 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, awakening three days later.

Around a year later, Berman checked in for drug rehabilitation, which was paid for by his father, and encouraged by his mother and Cassie. Berman said he had relapsed but that by August 2005 he was not using drugs. During his rehabilitation, Berman embraced Judaism, choosing to study the Torah and sought to be a "better person" who was "easier" to Cassie and staff at Drag City; he would soon consider Judaism as an integral aspect of his life, which he intended to continuously labor over. Reading the Torah helped him learn more about poetry; David, described in the Hebrew Bible

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