Shermanology, the brainchild of siblings Dorothy and Andy Sherman, is a vibrant blend of Caribbean-Dutch heritage and old-school house music. With a large following and high industry recognition, the duo has made a lasting impact on the global electronic music scene with energetic performances at clubs and festivals worldwide.
Shermanology’s journey to success includes hit singles like Boyz N Da Club, receiving high critical acclaim, and collaborations with FISHER, Boyz II Men, and more. Drawing from their diverse upbringing in Curaçao and the Netherlands, Shermanology’s sound is a rich tapestry of influences, from R&B and hip hop to Caribbean salsa and merengue.
As a family duo, their dynamic plays a key role in their creative process, with Dorothy focusing on vocals and Andy on production. Their label D’EAUPE allows them creative freedom in releasing those productions that resonate with their hearts rather than conforming to industry standards. This energy the two artists also push through their curated label parties where they aim to blend cultures and genres, fostering a sense of community.
In this interview, we delve into Shermanology’s recent release, U GOT ME, explore their unique sound identity and diverse influences, uncover some of their most cherished career moments, and much more.

Even though it’s been out for a month, I want to congratulate you on your new single U GOT ME. Can you tell me about the inspiration behind this energetic track?

Andy:
We’ve always been a big fan of the original one from Funky Green Dogs and we recorded the vocals six or seven years ago, if not longer. At a certain point, I heard the original again, and I was like, I think we recorded this vocal once. So I checked my old computer, found it, and started to make a new production from it. A track can take quite long but this one was very quick, because the vocals were already done. And I already had an idea of where I wanted to take the production. It’s a tribute to a track that really inspired us to do what we do today.

Sounds like a long term project. I feel like these projects always turn out to be the greatest.

Andy:
Yes, it’s all about finding the right timing. So a lot of times, when I produce something and it doesn’t work, I’m like, Okay, I’m gonna shift it, put it aside. And then, two or three years later, it just pops up again. And then I’m like, Oh, yeah, I had that. And there comes the advantage of vocals: A production can be outdated, and then you have to update it again, while the vocals are usually quite timeless.

Speaking of vocals, your tracks feature Dorothy’s fiery vocals on Andy’s electronic sounds. How do you approach the vocal production and create this synergy between vocals and electronic music together in your tracks?

Dorothy:
There is not one way of doing it, it’s always a different way. I’d sometimes just give Andy something plain and then he just takes it from there. And sometimes he has a specific instrumental that he wants something for. So it’s always a different format. 

Andy:
Yeah, we never want to use the same formula because you can hear that in someone’s music. We approach every track from scratch and never have a template for the sounds, the production or the vocals. Every project is a totally clean canvas.

Dorothy:
The only template we have is that Andy always says it has to be in between 105 and 125 BPM.

Andy:
I give her space, you know [laughs]. That’s the only guideline we have.

Let’s dive a little bit more into your sound identity. Your music is described as a fusion of your Caribbean-Dutch heritage and old school house. How do you balance these influences? And how would you describe your sound yourselves?

Andy:
We have a palette of sounds that we switch between – it ranges from gospel to hip hop to R&B, but also Caribbean salsa and merengue, and dancehall because we’ve moved around a lot. And when we lived in the Caribbean, in Curacao which is next to Venezuela, we got a lot of South American music influences. The whole island speaks Spanish and you have a lot of Colombians and Venezuelans there. However, it’s a Dutch island, so you have a lot of people from the Netherlands coming too. You’re also really close to the USA and you get all the American TV channels. So you get the Dutch, Caribbean and American influences – that’s how we grew up. One night, we’d go to a salsa party, another night we’d go to a dance hall party, then we’d go to a hip hop party. That’s how we developed a taste for all these genres. But they all have a similar energy that just triggers us. We just tried to get that energy into our music. So, for example, we can have a hip hop track, but we’re like, Yo, we want something Latin– we put a Latin vibe in there. We try to mix and blend these worlds without thinking, Okay, this is salsa and this is R&B. We just blend everything together sound wise.

Dorothy:
I also used to sing gospel songs in our dad’s gospel shows. I used to sing in salsa, merengue, bachata and ranchera bands from the age of 15 to 20. So that’s why we incorporate that as well, it feels very familiar and like home to us. So that’s why that part is so clear in the Shermanology sound.

Andy:
Yeah, and I lived in the UK for quite a while. I was a singer for Artful Dodger, which really was UK garage. So you can hear that the basslines of our tracks often have a garagey vibe, they are heavier than the ones of average house productions. Our sound is a combination of everything that has influenced us over the years. 

Who or what else are some of your musical and creative influences and inspirations?

Dorothy:
I get my inspiration more from urban music, R&B and neo soul. So for me it’s more from that corner. And who? That’s a tough question because I don’t have one or two or even ten favourites. But some of them are old school artists like Soul II Soul, but also more new school ones like Jazmine Sullivan, H.E.R., or even Travis Scott and Bad Bunny, for example. I’m all over the place when it comes to my inspiration, these are just a few examples to mention. 

Andy:
And for me, on the singer side, I listened a lot to neo soul artists like Robert Glasper, PJ Morton and Musiq Soulchild, stuff like that. And on the production side, I love my house guys like Kerry Chandler and Dennis Ferrer. These guys are big inspirations for me but I’d combine it with the hip hop sound of J Dilla, for example. These are the things we go in between.

As the family duo you are, how does the dynamic between you both influence the music you create together and your creative process? Are there any specific roles or responsibilities that each of you take on?

Dorothy:
I am the one that keeps our calm. I usually write the songs and produce the vocals, those that I write. And I like the creative fashion part as well, so I’m more active in that area. Andy is definitely the workaholic, so most of the time Andy is the one that gets me to work. And I am the one who says, Okay, that’s enough now, you need to take a break here.

Andy:
On the music side, Dorothy is mainly in charge of the vocals. A lot of times we write together but sometimes she writes alone, or she just sends me something that she made at home and then I get the parts. Sometimes I also send her something instrumental and she records something. Then I get the parts and basically do the production around it. Here we have one rule: we both need to love the song. Because sometimes I make something and Dorothy is like, Nope.

“There’s no discussion because we will never ever play something where we both are not like, ‘Yes, we’re proud of it.'”

Dorothy:
Sometimes I’d send Andy something and he’d be like, No, I don’t think so. I don’t think it’s gonna work. But then, four years later, he goes back to that same vocal that didn’t work.

Yeah, you really have to feel the music yourselves, because that’s what the people on the dance floor will feel. And you have already had quite an impressive journey. You were playing at EDC Mexico, ADE and at many other iconic venues and events worldwide. What have been some of the most memorable moments for you two?

Andy:
One of the most special moments for me recently was at a show in New York. My dad flew over from Curacao to join us and he was at the side, just dancing. Then in the middle of the set, he just waved his hands and said, I wanna sing! So he joined us on stage and just the feeling of having your dad singing with you was a really memorable moment for me.
But you have different kinds of memorable moments – you have those at which the crowd just goes insane and then you have the more personal memories. One of the crazy gigs, when we had just started, was one in Lebanon, where we didn’t know what to expect and thought it was going to be at a club or something. But then it was a stadium of 50,000 people singing the song. These are the moments which are worth all the time and work that we put in.

Dorothy:
And also, there’s something about the New York crowd. We just feel at home, you get such a warm welcome there… Everywhere, but especially from the New York crowd. Up until now, every time we played there has been something special. 

Andy:
It’s like you’re coming home, but you’re not from there. It’s actually very weird, but I get that feeling everytime I play there.

You said that you sometimes don’t really know what to expect. Then, how would you prepare for a gig?

Dorothy:
The thing with us is that we don’t like to prepare, we actually don’t prepare at all. Only if we are somewhere where there are a lot of Latin people, we’d play more of the Latin vocals. But other than that we like to just go and feel the crowd and do our thing.

Andy:
Every week, we create new music. And it’s not even creating new music to release, because there’s only a certain amount of tracks that you can release a year. But we just keep creating, so we can keep our sets fresh, because during our sets 99% of what we play is our own music. So a lot of the music that we create in a year never gets released, but we always try to keep on making stuff so we don’t get bored of our sets ourselves. And the crowd will read it when you go on autopilot, so we just keep creating in the studio so we can go left and right and adjust to the crowd. For example, when we play Spanish songs in the UK, they don’t work that well, so for the UK, we do something totally different than when we play in the US or in South America, for example.

Dorothy:
But even that you can’t plan. Last week we were in Switzerland and the crowd was literally asking for our Spanish songs. It is always a surprise for the both of us!

Let’s dive a little bit deeper into your productions. You recently collaborated with Boyz II Men on a reimagined house version of Motown Philly. How did that collaboration come about? What was the inspiration and motivation behind it?

Andy:
As kids we were dancing to that song – we had dance competitions and stuff. If I had to pick the song of my youth, this would be the one. We got a remix opportunity for that track and when I got the parts, we just went full into it; I wanted to make something with it but keep the original vibe of the track. It was so much fun! And when we sent it back to Boyz II Men the team got back to us and said, Guys, the boys like it so much, we could even talk about doing it as a collab. We were so happy that they really liked the track, and that’s how the collaboration was born.

Sounds like this whole project was really close to your heart. Which releases would you say have had the most significant impact on your career and creative development, and why?

Dorothy:
I think things really took off after Bon Bini. That changed everything for us. It was a very emotional one for us. We just wanted to make something to remind us and everyone who understands our language, Papiamentu. Even if you understand Spanish you will recognize the most important words and, more or less, know what it is about. It took three weeks to get every little sound part the way I wanted it to sound – I studied every sillabe! I had to sing everything exactly how they sang it. I have never worked more than a few hours on a song, but this was well worth it. 

“I always loved to draw inspiration from the sound of other singers or just sounds of everything really. That is how you learn to use your voice in different ways.”

Andy:
When we did Bon Bini, Dorothy and I went through a very rough period, because three people close to us passed away within a couple of months. We heard the sample for Bon Bini on a D Smoke album on a feature with Snoop Dogg, but it was in Ukrainian. We liked the sample so much that we were like, Guys, how can we recreate this Ukrainian choir and do it in our own native language? So Dorothy stepped in and studied all the ways they used to pronounce their words. Then we were like, Okay, how can we make it in Papiamento, but still keep that similar feel of the people singing in Ukrainian? So it was quite a long process for us to get the feel right. And now, everytime we play the track it goes crazy, it’s one of our most requested songs in a set. Nobody knows what we’re singing about, it is dedicated to those people that we lost, so it is a really special feeling for us during a set.

Another one of your tracks, Boyz N Da Club, was dubbed the Hottest Record in the World on BBC Radio One. How did you feel when you first heard that recognition?

Dorothy:
It was an honour, I couldn’t believe it myself. It was a very beautiful and personal moment for us.

Andy:
We really liked the track Boyz N Da Club and had been playing it in our sets but nobody wanted to sign it. It was so weird, every label we sent it to was like, No, not really our sound. And Dorothy and I didn’t have our own label yet. But just because other people say No it doesn’t mean that you can’t do the track. So at that moment we decided, You know what, let’s launch a label. And let’s do this one as the first track. Let’s just see where it goes. So then, this recognition was a big surprise. From that moment on, we just said, Yo, let’s just keep on focusing on the label.

“I think it’s so important for artists to be able to release what they believe in, instead of what a label believes in.”

Dorothy:
You kind of want to do both. 

Andy:
Yeah, you want to do both but if you have tracks that are close to your heart, just release them yourself. And since we’ve been doing that, there’s been a lot of change in our creative mindset. Back in the days, when we used to create, we were like, Oh, what label is going to sign this? And then you keep making adjustments to make it fit labels. But right now we just do whatever sounds like fun, and it will always find a home.

So you’re mostly concentrating on your own label D’EAUPE at the moment?

Andy:
Yeah, we are, but at the same time we’re also releasing on other labels. I’d say 60% of our releases go through our own label and 40% through other labels. Since we have this vision with our label where we want to mix cultures, we’re also doing a party series under the same name. In Amsterdam, in New York, and at the end of the month on our island in the Caribbean. We’re really trying to get people to join the movement like, Okay, you want to sing in this language, you want to do something in that language. Come on, show me how you would represent your culture through electronic music. For us it’s like, How multicultural can we make it?

You’re really creating a community with these label parties – that must be very fulfilling. What do you look for in an artist you’d sign? 

Andy:
I want them to be different. With all due respect, people often go for the easy way while I’m like, Come with different chords or drums. For me, if it sounds like something that would do well on Beatport, I’m like, No, I don’t want that because it’s already been done. Other labels see that as a success formula, where they think like, Oh, this has worked before, so let’s just sign ten tracks that sound like that, and maybe one sticks. So it’s a totally different way of running a label – we’re just trying to get different artists. We have some songwriters from Zimbabwe who are doing African kind of vocals and we mix it with house. We have a guy from Amsterdam called JayColin who’s doing hip hop, and then we bring him together with electronic and African producers to see how we can merge these two worlds. So it’s all about mixing genres and seeing what comes out.

So you’re always looking into something else, something different, new and unique. You guys have been very successful with more than 250 million Spotify streams and gaining a massive following. So what do you guys think that sets your own music apart and connects with audiences worldwide?

Dorothy:
I think not following what everyone else is doing. We try to make whatever we want to make.

“We send messages with our songs. Always positive and hopeful. I believe this speaks to people on a different level.”

Also, we just try to be original in what we do. I feel like we are in a place where the focus is on the individual. If people can’t find what they love in house music, maybe those people like urban music so they can find it in our sound. So I think our music is kind of a gateway.

Andy:
Yeah, for example, when you have an affinity for R&B and black culture and switch to house, that change from urban sound to house is often a really big sonic and dynamic jump. And we create kind of a bridge in between where people are like, Okay, it’s electronic, but it still has soulful elements, or hip hop elements. I think it’s a gateway for people to move from other sounds to electronic sound – they can go through us and then maybe move on to techno, that’s a possibility too. We are a gateway to electronic sound.

Dorothy:
A lot of times I hear people say, I didn’t know House could sound like this. That was when we were like, Okay, we have something here. That’s the unique and beautiful thing.

Andy:
When I produce something, and Dorothy is like, No, it’s not working for me, I already know what kind of elements she’s missing to make it her sound so she’s my best reference.

Dorothy:
Just a few days ago, he sent me an instrumental and I said, I’m gonna be honest, right? This is very boring for you. It does not have your stamp on it, it’s not ready. I just tell him the truth. 

What can we expect from you to come in the future? Are there new releases, projects, or gigs that you’re really excited about?

Andy:
We have a single that just came out on Defected with Rudimental and Todd Edwards. It’s a really interesting blend of sounds so we’re very excited about that. 
We’re also working on an EP with Idris Elba – his African roots meeting our Caribbean roots, meeting house. We got a four track EP and I’m really excited about that one.
And then in the summer, we’re dropping a tune called My World on our own label. These are the three releases that we’re excited about and working towards. 

I’m assuming summer is the time when you have the most gigs? You’ll probably be travelling around the world again and playing in so many different places.

Andy:
Yeah, this summer is looking really good. We’re gonna do eight or nine days in Ibiza, Croatia, and we’re gonna play a lot in the US and the UK as well. So it’s gonna be a fun summer. 

Dorothy:
To be honest, there is not much of a difference between summer and winter anymore. We kinda travel the whole year round. But Ibiza is really the place that we don’t see during the rest of the year. This is going to be an exciting summer for us. Andy already said where you can find us this year. 
Lastly I wanted to say that D’EAUPE, the name of our label, is also the name of our party on the 3rd of May.
We hope to see you guys there! Also, I want to emphasise: wear whatever makes you feel free and be your unique self – we’d love to see it!

Shermanology’s latest single Rain is out now via Defected.

IMAGERY
photographer ALEJANDRO SALINAS
creative direction GABRIELLA BAVARO / AURELIA
styling CHRISTIANO MPASI BILA
mua ENRIQUE SANTANA
bts JUAN CASTILLO