Joseph Schertz teaches songwriting at The School of Music & Mayhem in Stillwater. He and his student, Delilah, were writing a song called Weird Heart when she died by suicide. She was just 12 years old. The story behind the song and the young person are a lesson for all of us.
Please tell us about yourself and your music.
My name is Joseph Schertz. I teach guitar, drum set, bass, uke, recording, singer-songwriter vocals and songwriting at The School of Music & Mayhem near Woodbury & Stillwater, Minnesota. I was probably 9 years old when I stumbled across an acoustic guitar at our house and I asked, “What’s that?” My mom said, “That’s a guitar. Let me show you a couple of chords.” And with that, my life has never been the same since. I immediately started writing, and haven’t stopped.
I created The School of Music & Mayhem as a way to pass on the tradition and teach the next generation how to rock out and start a band, how to express themselves through screaming in a microphone, and getting all those thoughts and feelings out… how to write songs!
Please tell us about Delilah and her story.
Delilah was a creative and unique tween… but she struggled. She was getting picked on and bullied in school and social media. Kids can be cruel.
When her mom first called about taking lessons here she said her daughter just needed a safe haven to express herself freely… Authentic songwriters learn to respect other’s art, and by extension, to respect other people. So we create a safe haven where you can test any songwriting idea you have, whether good, bad, terrible or brilliant. Her ability to freely express herself here was amazing… she would come in each week with a new concept to work on… when she opened her mouth to sing a unique, raw and honest voice rolled out.
What inspired you to tell her story through music?
Delilah and I started writing Weird Heart on December 18, 2023. We had a very rough draft that first day. We would go on to write many other song ideas, but always return to Weird Heart to work on it a little more. Sadly, we never finished it before her passing.
I was asked to play at her Celebration of Life event. I decided to demonstrate how Delilah and I would write songs live for everyone. The initial plan was to have people write down thoughts, feelings, and memories of Delilah on posterboard. I then took those thoughts, feelings, and memories and wrote 4 or 5 songs live in front of 400 people so they could get a sense of what Delilah and I would do everyday.
Prior to her Celebration of Life event I got another call saying that they’ve worked up a flow of the event and they need me to play another song. “What song?” I asked. “Anything,” was the answer. Well, I didn’t want to play Amazing Grace or Hallelujah… Anyone can do that, I thought. But I knew, Weird Heart was hanging out there unfinished. So for the next two weeks I dug deep, channeled Delilah, and finished Weird Heart.
How have her family and friends responded? It must be a heartbreaking honor.
Weird Heart has been a gift. For me, a way to process her death through songwriting. For Delilah’s parents, they are so thankful that their daughter’s voice is cemented in song and will live on. They are also thankful that she can now be heard in 250 countries around the world via music streaming services.
Once Weird Heart finished recording and was released Delilah’s mom said, “She finally gets to do what she always dreamed of doing!”
I have had a response or two that has said the tone of Weird Heart is too harsh for such a sad and delicate subject… I couldn’t disagree more and call BS on that. Weird Heart is exactly the way Delilah wanted it, so what better way to honor her than to put it out there with her exact intention. And I can’t think of a better way to honor her than to come clean and admit to having a weird heart! Why dance around the subject and write a song with misguided intentions or emotions?
Delilah had a weird heart… let’s celebrate that!
Has her story and song changed your relationship to music? Or maybe cemented it?
As songwriters, we often dabble in telling fictional stories in our songs, but Weird Heart is a song with a 100% true backstory and true, honest-to-the-soul, feelings. One thing I will never know is; what does Weird Heart sound like without knowing the true to life backstory.
Delilah was here in the studio on Friday night March 7th 2025, by Saturday morning she was gone, she was just 12 years old. We had a great session that night. What I didn’t know at the time, and she never let on, was that on Thursday (the day before) the teasing at school was so bad that she called her mom and begged her to come pick her up. She needed a safe haven away from the bullies. For me, deep down somewhere, I knew I NEEDED to finish Weird Heart as part of my grieving process. I don’t know that the writing and grieving could have happened any other way…. they are intertwined in one messy ball-of-twine called life.
Mostly Minnesota 