Sheena Dham’s recent album, Familiarity Heuristic, investigates the intricate patterns of behavior that define our emotional and political lives. “The songs are about slowing down and paying attention to what’s happening, internally, in every moment,” she said. “It examines the mental shortcuts we take when dealing with ourselves and others, in order to break away from patterns that don’t serve us.
“I have a vison of playing these songs frequently this year,” Dham continued. “Performing live is nourishing but, as a solo artist, I have to cater to a balance of the things that nourish me. Sometimes I need more time to myself to imagine the next step, the next song. Sometimes I need to work with other artists to explore all the possibilities the worlds of sound and music offer me.”
Dham currently works with Jody Stillwater, an Emmy-nominated filmmaker based in San Francisco. She operates the boom mic on the set with Stillwater and the cast of the film. Dham said, “As a musician, having my hand in multiple mediums of music and sound helps me to grow my perception of this art form.”
The songs on Familiarity Heuristic took shape over the last decade. “It took a long time to develop my voice as a songwriter,” Dham said. “I didn’t feel what I had to say was important or needed. After some reflection, in 2020, during the pandemic, I decided to take a chance creatively. I started moving toward a career as an artist. Before that, I taught music at an elementary school.
“I’m an able musician and technician,” Dham continued. “I can get the job done if I get an assignment, but it’s more spiritual to do your own art. Songs start out shapeless and formless. It takes a lot of confidence and vulnerability to bring them into the world. I have a home studio in Oakland, with synthesizers, bass, guitar and woodwinds. I record my instrumental compositions and work on my songwriting.”
After making demos of the songs, Dham contacted the Women’s Audio Mission, a nonprofit in Oakland that trains women to operate soundboards and recording equipment.
“I sent them my music and applied for a Local Sirens Grant,” Dham said. “It helps BIPOC [Black, Indigenous, People of Color] women who want to record an album. I was starting my life as a working musician, and didn’t have the resources to make an album on my own. They gave me 10 days in a studio and let me bring my demos to life.”
Dham performed everything except drums and lead guitar. Sammie Lee Wallinga, the woman who runs WAM, played those and took on the role of audio and mixing engineer.
“From start to finish, it was executed exclusively by women,” Dham said. “This was a cathartic and healing experience. Being a female musician, I’m often the only woman on stage. I have the knowledge to execute projects that come my way, or play and sing in the bands I’ve been part of, but I sometimes face elements of prejudgment. I wanted to flip the script by making music in a studio with women. To engage in a musical coven, so to speak, and see what we could brew up in the cauldron.”
The music on the album covers a lot of musical and emotional ground, with folk, rock, ambient soundtracks and heavy metal in the mix. Dham’s vocals and overdubbed harmonies bring these stories of love and loss to life.
Sustained notes from Dham’s bass and Wallinga’s heavy-metal guitar chords open “Pure as Sleet,” a representation of a relationship that’s going nowhere. Dham’s vocals combine resignation and resentment. “Pearls Before Swine” opens with tense synth clusters. Dham sings softly about personal limitations and the joy of overcoming them. There’s a gospel feel to the synth/organ break and her wordless harmonies that give the tune a positive lift.
“I Can’t” has Dham chanting the title to a syncopated backbeat. A dark wall of synth tones swirls around her distressed vocal about a man talking loud and saying nothing.
“I’m always working on new projects,” Dham said. “I’m writing the music for a talk show the writer and activist Tunde Wey will be producing at Harvard University this spring, writing scores for several films and doing groundwork for an album of ambient music. It will be focused on the immigrant experience, using the sound of my people’s voices as the backdrop for my improvisations.”
Listen to ‘Familiarity Heuristic’ at psychiceye.bandcamp.com/album/familiarity-heuristic and Dham’s instrumental tracks at soundcloud.com/sheena-dhamsania. More info: sheenawave.com and Instagram @sheena.wav.
