Singing Over Kids Without a Mother to Sing to Them

Christ & Creativity No. 4 - An interview with Sheryn Hack, writer and musician.

Hey friend,

This interview was delightfully serendipitous. Carmen Mears subscribed to The Snuggle after reading Sam Thomson’s interview, and emailed me to recommend her friend, Sheryn Hack. Sheryn is a talented musician, who released her second album this year, lullabies for children who do not have a mother to sing over them. I don’t know if it was pregnancy or years of working in forensic settings, but I just teared up reading her words. I hope you enjoy her honesty and beautiful music as much as I do.

How did you start writing songs?

I learnt piano from six years old but it wasn’t until I picked up my Dad’s 12 string guitar and learnt a few chords that I realised I could process all my deep, intense life experiences through songwriting. Mind you, at the tender age of 14, those life experiences included breaking up with boyfriends and pondering the meaning of life through the lens of many teenage hormones. I’m deeply grateful that those songs will never see the light of day, haha! 

How did the idea for the current album develop?

It was early 2020, I was working on a film project and honestly, I was feeling pretty rough. Everything felt off balance, I was unsettled, uncomfortable, confused and lost. I didn’t feel myself at all, but there was no legitimate reason why. 

I was chatting with my friend about it and she asked me to tell her more. I said, “It feels like there’s a new season but I’m still operating in an old one. It feels all wrong,” to which she responded, “Well, if this is the old season, what’s the new one?” 

What came out of my mouth took me off guard... “I feel like the new season is making a lullaby worship album for kids,” I said sheepishly, not knowing quite what to do with it.

She was so kind and championed me to go for it. She said, “Why don’t you just make an effort to start writing songs—even if it’s only for ten minutes a day?”

On my way out of the office an hour later, I got chatting to an acquaintance who randomly said to me during our conversation, “It sounds like you’re in a new season.”

It caught my attention and I sensed the Lord was starting to speak to me and give me direction about this “new season.” That night, I got a phone-call from my mother-in-law. She told me a story that felt like it confirmed God was inviting me into a new season.

My mother-in-law told me about her friend, a social worker, who was supporting a troubled young Indigenous boy in residential care. The social worker helped him with his bedtime routine every night as he had no family to care for him. Apparently, she could get him to settle at night better than any of the other workers. My mother-in-law told me, “She plays him your old album every night to help him fall asleep”.

I couldn’t believe it. Of all the days I could have heard this story, this was the day I needed it the most. Time stood still and I knew without a shadow of a doubt that God was inviting me to make this new album.

Over the four year journey, I sensed God showing me His heart to sing over many kids who didn’t have a mother who could sing over them. Along the way I came to realise that this project isn’t just for children, this is for all of us; we’re all His kids and He cares about our tired, hurting hearts more than we know.

What are the greatest barriers/hurdles to your creative work (i.e., imposter syndrome, comparison, perfectionism?) and what helps you get around them? 

Good question - all of them!! This particular project turned out to be one big invitation to lean into God and find healing in so many of these areas. Towards the end of production, many of my deepest fears and wounds were surfacing. God started me on a beautiful journey, showing me deep areas of my heart that needed His love and peace. He showed me how these surface struggles with imposter syndrome and perfectionism were symptoms of deeper places of pain, feeling “not enough”.

I started journalling more and learning how to let God in, to show me where pain started (usually as a child) and through pictures, dreams, words, songs, and prayer with friends, I’ve had incredible encounters of God fathering me and re-writing those old stories that had all kinds of effects on my ability to create and be myself. I had no idea that under my coping mechanisms (like perfectionism, performance, self-protection) was just my heart in need of encounters with His love and truth over me. It wasn’t long before I realised God was inviting me to embody the heart of this album - learning to become a child again and let Him father me, so I can truly rest. What a ride!

How does your faith impact your creativity?

In every way, whether I like it or not, haha! I’ve come to realise that the state of my heart is the birthplace of my creativity and as much as I’ve tried to separate those two things at times, it’s impossible. I think our connection to God was always supposed to be the life-source of our creativity, since we’re made in His image. Now I have accepted that what comes out of me will be an overflow of the journey of faith I’m on, and when I can surrender to that process, I find that beautiful, authentic creativity comes. 

Who is another Christian creative in Perth who is making work you love? 

My incredible friend Breanne Lampard at From Dust Studio creates the most glorious pottery pieces. I love everything she does and the heart with which she does it.

Sheryn is a writer and musician from Perth, Western Australia. Her environment from a young age was musical and she was immersed by her sister’s melodies and her Dad’s twelve string guitar through the years of her own musical journey. In her teens, she began writing and recording with every spare moment. One song led to the next, each becoming a stepping stone to discovering the heartbeat and purpose of her music-making.

Rise to Rest is her second full-length studio album and is the first part of a bigger Rise project; the heartbeat of which is to create space for kids and adults to slow down, connect with their own hearts and with a perfect heavenly Father. This record is the soundtrack of her “Yes” to His invitation, a journey of surrender and learning what true rest is; letting Peace into the room.

When she emerges from the studio, you may find her doing inexplicable amounts of laundry, obsessing over her peach tree, or writing hilarious nonsensical stories with her three children, way past their bedtime. You can find out more here.

THE SUNDAY MORNING SNUGGLE is for you, the tired and overwhelmed woman in Perth. I want you to feel seen and encouraged, and it is too hard to trawl endlessly online for beauty. All my favourite publications, Coffee + Crumbs, Ashlee Gadd, Katie Blackburn, Risen Motherhood, women writing about faith and motherhood, or fun women’s lifestyle websites like Cup of Jo, are American. This is for us. One fortnight you’ll get a deep-dive essay essay musing about motherhood, faith, creativity, attention, or whatever God is teaching me (probably patience, again). On the alternate fortnight, you’ll get a collection of poetry. Find out more here.

Read more interviews with local, Christian creatives here.