Canadian singer-songwriter and producer Sean Bertram is no stranger to emotional depth wrapped in pop polish. His latest single, What’s On Your Mind, marks a defining moment in a musical journey shaped by soul-searching lyrics, shimmering keys, and unexpected bursts of playfulness — think Michael McDonald grooves fused with a candy-coated UK studio snack habit. In this exclusive interview with Urbanista Magazine, Bertram opens up about the songwriting process behind the track, his creative rituals, and the delicate balance between melancholy and danceability that defines his sound.
From experimental mic techniques and pots-and-pans percussion to live vocal layering dreams and Calvin Harris remix fantasies, Bertram offers an honest look into the inner workings of an artist making music that’s deeply personal — but always meant to be shared.
If “What’s On Your Mind” had to be described as a colour or mood board, what would it look like?
I’ve always imagined the song as a swathe of cool blue tones to mainly represent the underlying melancholy of the lyrics. But on the completely other side of that, I think those same colours work well for the music, having a carefree, danceability to it, where those blues remind me of the ocean at the beach, and it gives off some really fun summer vibes.
What’s your go-to snack or drink when you’re deep in production mode?
Often when I’m working on music, especially in post-production, I’ll get so hyper-focused on a project that I forget to eat at all. Time will fly by, and only when I notice it’s dark outside will I realise how long I’ve been at it. However, since moving to the UK, I’ve discovered a very specific sweet that’s my go-to snack if I need a little motivator, and that’s this strange candy called Squashies. They’ve got a texture and a flavour I still don’t fully understand, but I absolutely can’t get enough of those things.
Which instrument part on the track are you secretly most proud of?
I’m really proud of the Rhodes part that comes in the second half of the bridge, a very Michael McDonald-inspired part that I had a lot of fun playing. I’m proud of it for a couple of reasons, first is just that I’ve managed to fit a lot more piano and keyboard parts onto this whole album, which has been really fun as I’ve been getting a lot better at keys in general. The second reason is that, along with a couple oof ther bridge parts, I managed to adapt that Rhodes part to the harmony in the final chorus to completely blend the two sections and make that final chorus sound massive. Once I figured out how to blend those two sections and modify the parts to work, it was the missing piece of the puzzle to finish off the song.
How do you know when a song is “done”, especially with so many layers involved?
It varies song by song, but with most of my music, I’ll know more or less exactly what I want the final production to sound like once I’ve written it on just an acoustic guitar. That’s one of the reasons I like to do the entire arrangement, production, and mix myself because I have all the sounds I want to hear in my head and communicating all of the minutia to someone else can be very challenging. So, there’s usually a point where I’ll listen to the song after editing and fine-tuning it for ages, and it’ll finally click into place with what I’ve heard in my head for weeks, months, or even years. It’s something that’s taken me a long time to get good at, but this song and the whole album are where I’ve finally felt like, more than any other project, I’ve really hit the mark, and there’s an incredible satisfaction to that.
Is there a live performance moment for this track that you’re most excited about?
One of my favourite aspects of this song is how I layered all of the different vocal parts and arranged all of the harmonies, so I’m really excited to adapt those parts to a live setting. I’ve got a fantastic band where all five of us sing, so to play the last chorus especially and hear everyone layering all of these really fun harmonies live is going to be magic.
Who would be your dream artist to remix “What’s On Your Mind”?
I’ve never been big on remixes; there are generally very few I’ve heard that I think I want to listen to more than the original song. However, there’s one that’s always stood out to me, and that’s the Calvin Harris remix of “The Weekend” by SZA. The first time I heard that, I think I had it on repeat for a week. The way he completely flipped that song on its head while maintaining the integrity of the original track is really impressive, so I think he’s someone I’d love to hear do a remix of my song.
What’s the weirdest or most experimental thing you tried in the studio that actually made it into the track?
There’s nothing too crazy that made it onto “What’s On Your Mind”, aside from Jared (my co-producer) playing a really great part on pots and pans (best heard on the first chorus and bridge) and a vocal I recorded with my hands cupped over my mouth to basically make an analogue filter (in the second verse you can hear that when the background vocals sing “Oh baby yeah”). On my last album (Sean Bertram), though, the funniest thing I remember doing is, for my song “Fourth Place”, I had Jared record an entire track of him beatboxing as badly as he could. On its own, the track sounded hilarious, but I ended up layering it into almost the entire song as an extra layer of percussion that’s very subtle, but genuinely adds some cool energy.
How do you mentally prepare to write something as honest as this song?
I think writing this song was actually the product of being in a particularly difficult place, both mentally and emotionally. Writing it wasn’t something particularly hard or something I necessarily planned to do; it was more something I had to do in the moment to let those honest feelings escape. Working on the song after I’d written it was more of a challenge because I had to constantly face those feelings over and over every time I listened to the song. Overcoming that, however, was more like exposure therapy – the more I faced those emotions, the sooner I accepted the reality of that situation and came to terms with how it ended.
If listeners could only walk away with one feeling after hearing the song, what do you hope it is?
Joy is something I always hope people feel when listening to my music, even in some small part. As much as it’s an emotional song, it’s also about acceptance and moving on, which is another reason I wanted it to sound upbeat and danceable. It’s about getting those worries and fears off your chest, almost more than it is about getting answers to the questions the song is asking. So, I hope people can find joy in that. And if not, then maybe they can have some comfort in shared experience, knowing they’re not alone.
What’s a lyric from this track that fans have already told you hits hardest?
Most people so far seem to really relate to the first verse (“If only I could read your mind/This wouldn’t feel like such a test/If only you would tell me why/Then I wouldn’t have to guess”). The whole song is about communication, and that’s such a universal issue. So often, people are in that same situation where they just want honest communication and to stop playing games, having to try and guess what the other person is feeling. This verse really cuts to the core of that and lays it out plainly. I’ve also been told by some fans that the bridge (“Won’t you trust me like I’m trusting you? Don’t you love me like I’m loving you?”) hits them pretty hard, because they can so easily relate to that feeling of putting so much into a relationship and not feeling any kind of reciprocation.
