From Fandom To Founderdom: The Matt “Sherm” Sherman Story

Matt “Sherm” Sherman spoke to EDM Identity about Chicago Music Nexus and how his humble beginnings continue to influence his career.

There’s less than three months to go before this year’s edition of Chicago Music Nexus. It’s the first year that the annual conference will take place across two days — and two venues — doubling the workload of co-founder Matt “Sherm” Sherman.

“You go to [Chicago Music Nexus], and everything’s all there, ready to go,” Sherman told EDM Identity over video chat. “You just overlook all the things that go into it. I don’t expect people to understand that, but doing something this size for this many people and keeping it intimate while still expanding requires a lot of logistics.”

But when the speakers take the stage, Sherman won’t let anything else distract him. He’s an artist, too, after all, and he learns just as much from the panel talks as the ticket holders who pay to be there do.

“You might expect me to be on my phone or outside or not really paying attention,” Sherman said. “But I wanna sit down and listen to these panels. I want to learn.”

He continued: “We literally picked these questions and topics and the panelists themselves. We don’t care about how big or famous the panelists are. That might help, but we’re more focused on people who are actually gonna be able to give tangible advice. That’s our biggest differentiator.”

Matt Sherman knows better than most that the right piece of advice can make all the difference. Maintaining a personal brand as approachable as his requires a degree of beginner’s mind that’s uncommon among touring DJs.

Sherman first fell in love with dance music around 2010-2011, the early years of the North American EDM explosion. While attending Indiana University, he went to his first show, a stop on Avicii’s Le7els Tour that took the late superstar to a nearby cornfield venue called Pic-a-Chic Farms.

“It changed my life. Not just for me seeing that I wanted to be a DJ, but the energy that was created and the feeling of being in that moment with people,” said Sherman. “I was really becoming a diehard fan. It’s always important to make sure that you’re a fan first, that you still have a pulse on what it’s like to be a fan of new music and the experience itself.”

In fact, Sherman wouldn’t pursue DJing in earnest until 2014, after experimenting with Virtual DJ in his dorm room. He then had the opportunity to study abroad in Barcelona, a city whose refined nightlife exposed him to the depersonalized mystique of underground dance culture.

Sherman first tried his hand at music production in 2015, and he immediately fell in love with the tactile feedback involved in the process. Once, while playing with a MIDI controller loaded with Massive presets, he pressed a few keys and found himself mesmerized by the sounds that played back from his speakers. “I was like, ‘Oh my god, I am fucking Hardwell,’” he joked.

The first thing Sherman self-released on his SoundCloud account was a remix of “Won’t Look Back” by Duke Dumont. He confessed, “It is so bad listening back, but I remember being really excited about it.”

But Sherman refuses to distance himself from any of his early music. He wants his fans to be able to see the journey, even though he feels he only came into his own as a producer in the past few years.

A turning point came in 2017, when Sherman launched his podcast series, Sherm in the Booth. It started as a means of marketing himself as a DJ. In time, though, it would revolve exclusively around conversations with other artists.

Sherman recounted, “I started interviewing my friends to have them do guest mixes, and then it started being purely an interview show. I think there was a lot of good advice to be learned from that, in that when you start something, you don’t always finish in the way that you started — and that’s okay. You should be able to evolve with what you’re most comfortable with, or what makes the most sense.”

The podcast has opened countless doors for Sherman. It helped him meet DJ Susan, who hired him as label manager and head A&R for his Hood Politics imprint, a role Sherman still serves five years later. But few of his connections have proven as fruitful as his bond with Olivia Mancuso, who would end up being his Chicago Music Nexus co-founder.

Mancuso was a guest on Sherm in the Booth while making podcast appearances to promote a fundraiser for kids in need in partnership with Rooftop Drops in 2023. Around the same time, she had launched her own podcast, Elevated Frequencies, which meant that she and Sherman had a lot in common.

The conversation turned to industry gatherings like Amsterdam Dance Event and Winter Music Conference. Sherman recalled, “I was like, ‘I can’t believe there’s nothing in the Midwest, let alone outside of just Miami for one week for people truly looking to collaborate. We should start our own conference.’ She was like, ‘Yeah, we should.’”

They segued into another topic, but Sherman said that Mancuso eventually reached back out to him to revisit their idea. “Later that night, she was like, ‘You’re serious, right?’” He recounted. “I was like, ‘I’m dead serious. I’ve been looking to do this with someone, and I can’t do it on my own.”

Chicago Music Nexus debuted in 2024 and sold out in its first year. When the 2025 edition sold out as well, Mancuso and Sherman knew it was time to expand.

The 2025 installment of Nexus is set to take place at Concord Music Hall on November 20, with its November 21 programming running at The Joinery, which hosted the entire 2025 event. This year, the first day is dedicated to a concept called Field Day, where attendees visit booths where industry experts offer one-on-one advice on everything from storytelling to finances to branding.

Sherman has been paying close attention to the latter subject lately. His manager, Jason Eueler, has identified his brand as belonging to the everyman archetype and is working to orient all of his social media images, set visuals, and other elements around this unified theme.

This includes a new tagline: “We are the energy.” It was inspired by the excitement created by spending time with friends, feeling a visceral bass drop, or any other awe-inspiring collective experience. His recent tracks, like “Party” with ABSNTH, show that this ethos even reflects through in the sonics of his musical output.

But no matter how far Matt Sherman’s pursuits take him, he plans to keep the humble attitude that’s gotten him to where he is. At Chicago Music Nexus, he can be seen talking shop with producers and DJs at all levels, visibly enthralled by the valuable tips shared by the industry experts in attendance.

Two-day passes to the conference currently run $288.76 before taxes. Purchase yours via the Chicago Music Nexus website, and connect with Matt Sherman, Olivia Mancuso, and the rest of the conference speakers yourself.