You’ve been really working and laying the groundwork. You’re really riding a wave, flourishing and growing in your career, and we’re super excited to have you at ASCAP.  You’re one of our members who are “On the Come Up.”  Your life and your upbringing sound really dope! You were born into a family of music, with your mother being a professional vocal coach and music teacher, and your father an audio engineer for some incredible talent like Jay Z, Beyoncé, and the late, great Whitney Houston. 

Did you forget about Earth, Wind & Fire?

Earth, Wind & Fire… the OGs!  I mean, what was your childhood like growing up in a musical family?

I was homeschooled, as well. And because music was such a prominent presence in the house, my learning environment was custom made for who I was at each level.  At first I felt like I had a little bit of FOMO. I felt like my mom was trippin’ by homeschooling me, but then as I got older and realized that I had less distractions – having to have this anxiety about dealing with other people’s liabilities…Having to go a building and dealing with that, versus, I can go and access that if I want to deal with all of that. So, just the awareness of my environment was very early on. And being exposed to all different genres of music – we have jazz, gospel, new age, we had some Whitney in there, Mariah, Sade, of course, because those were actually played on jazz stations. I’m glad that I was brought up in an environment that was cultivating what it was that I was going to be doing later on in my life.

Do you feel like being homeschooled allowed you to spend more time molding and refining your gift?

Yes, however, home was not the only place that I was able to sharpen my craft. We had Cleveland Institute of Music, we had the Cleveland Playhouse Square, we had Karamu Theater House. There was also skating on the weekends and martial arts. My mom just did not want me to be a person who didn’t have any skills. 

So she made sure you were well rounded. That’s awesome. With your father, did you get to experience behind the scenes life or do any touring? 

Yes, my first tour was in 2005 for Earth Wind & Fire’s summer tour. I was sixteen at the time, and I got a chance to be a part of what I call a “hive.” It is everything that is going on behind the scenes. Especially for those that are not physically on the stage performing, but are making sure everything is working smoothly.  hat gave me a foundation for being on the road, as well as being able to appreciate all aspects of it. Because everybody’s role is different. Like lights are the first ones in and the last ones out.  So I knew then, lights ain’t gonna be my thing. (Laughs)

That’s not it for you! So what was your role in the hive?

I was a production assistant and I worked in merch. I replenished the tour buses before we went to the next city with ice and other things they needed. I took everybody’s orders for food at the end. It was multiple hats that I was wearing, but I’m glad that I had that training. 

Yeah, because it really prepared you for where you were going. Did you know that this was the direction you were going in at that time? 

By the end of it, yeah. Because up until that point, I’d always been singing, so it’s kind of like if you’re good at something and you’re doing it all the time. And you’re around people who are doing it all the time, it doesn’t click that I can do this professionally. It’s just, this is something that we always do. I was thinking about being a firefighter, or something else that wasn’t necessarily music-involved, because I always knew the music. It wasn’t until I was in that environment that I said, “this is actually something that I would consider doing.” That’s when I started taking it seriously. Like music could actually be a thing. That was eighteen years ago. 

That’s an incredible start. That’s an opportunity that not many sixteen year olds have, and the beauty of you being homeschooled was that you were able to take that opportunity when it presented itself. You have a beautiful start to your story. So then you started recording some covers on YouTube, and they went viral. What inspired you to make that move?

It was very simple. First and foremost, just to give a little backstory, when I got into therapy back in 2020, one of the sessions included my therapist asking me to begin writing about my life from the very first memory and to work my way up until now. And I said well, there lies a little issue, because the first four years of my life were documented. So my first Christmas, my first New Year, my first three birthdays, my first word, walking, all of that–it’s all been documented.  And I had access to it my whole life. So I didn’t know what I genuinely remembered as my memory, or what I was shown. So, fast forward to nineteen. My dad gets me a flip video camera.  And he never said,”‘you need to x, y and z,” or forcing me to post content. He just said, “here you go,” and it was my initiative to make the content. And because I’d been in front of the camera my whole life, it wasn’t anything strange or awkward to do. My thing was, I just wanted to get an unbiased opinion on what it is that I do. So I just wanted some opinions on that, and it just kept going. “Flashing Lights” by Kanye West was the first cover that I posted that cracked 1,000 views, and at one point I sang the song so much that I was really like,“this is my song at this point.”

I remember that moment. Do you feel like YouTube helped you to build your fanbase? 

Absolutely. It started with Tagged, then MySpace, and then there was some Black Planet in there…

Okay! All of the throwbacks!

When I made my first EP that I recorded when I was seventeen, I would burn copies of it and pass it around to people. “Check out what I did. Let me know what you like!” But YouTube broadened that. Like a year and a half afterwards, I put up music that people could have, because I wanted them to be able to have something to listen to, spread the word, and from there it just continued. So I have not stopped posting content. The longevity of everything has kept me in the mix of things. The consistency has kept me in the mix. 

I read a story about how you began working with musical giant Erykah Badu after releasing your EP 8ight: The Stepson of Erykah Badu, which was a compilation of her records, some covers and some medleys. She messaged you on Twitter. 

Mhmm

How did that exchange go? How did you capture her attention on Twitter?

Well, I was in class one day, and I tweeted, “I’m writing a song about how miscommunication can do this to relationships.” And I’m listening to to “Window Seat” by @fatbellybella. And at the time she had 75,000 followers on Twitter. I just knew she wasn’t going to even see any of my mentions. And she used to cut up on Twitter… still does. And so she responds to my tweet with just the word, “push.”  And I’m getting text messages like, “Erykah just responded to you on Twitter!” I was like “what are you talking about?” So I saw it, then I got to reply ”hey, thank you. And also, I’m piecing together an EP dedicated to you, and I’m dropping it on your birthday”, and she goes, “Oh that’s so sweet.  ou wouldn’t happen to be the man that sang, ‘That Hump,’ would you?” And like I grabbed onto the nearest object and levitated. I was, “oh my God. Yes it’s me.” She was like, “I really like you. You are funny.” This is 2009 or 2010. Then I put the EP out, and she blasted it on her social media… all that stuff.

Then a year later, she randomly sent out a tweet saying, “Looking for Durand Bernarr.”  She didn’t @ me, but my handle wasn’t Durand Bernarr at the time. So I DM her, and I said “so hey, are you looking for me?” She said, “yeah. Shoot me a text.” I hit her up and she said, “I love what you do, I love your harmonies, and I want you to come be in my band.” That spring, my first gig with her was Coachella. It was actually total serendipity. I didn’t know she was going to be in town at the time that we were, so it just kind of worked itself out. I never got to see her in concert until I got sick with COVID, and when she was doing those virtual shows, and it was the second show that she did.  I balled my eyes out, not because I couldn’t do it, but it was because I was finally able to enjoy the show as a patron. To see it was amazing. I wept on my couch.

That is an incredible story. At this point, we can just end the interview. That is crazy!  Then you worked with Anderson.Paak and Kaytranada. You are just blessed.  And then on your project, Dur&, your song, “Stuck” featured Ari Lennox. I added it to my playlist… It was a whole vibe. What was your creative process like working with Ari Lennox?

So Me and Ari have known each other going on thirteen years actually. We met back in 2010 when we were first getting our buzz on YouTube.  She was covering “Little Dragon,” I was singing “Little Dragon…” all these underground artists that we connected on. Working with her is like working with your favorite cousin. It’s just like very silly. Our humor is different, but still complements one another. People compare me and Ari to Erykah and D’Angelo or Rick James and Tina Marie… Tammi and Marvin. We do have that synergy that really fits really well. I would love to do a joint album and see what that would sound like sometime in the future. It’s effortless when you’re working with people that you get along with, that you have a chemistry with and have similar interests. 

You two are like the perfect pairing, honestly. I think a joint project would be just incredible.  The end of the song… I need to know. Take care of them chops? (Laughs)

As I finished the album, and I was playing it for some homies, and they were like, “Durand this is great, but we feel like something’s missing. Something is missing.”  I was like, “well, I have a bunch of voice notes that I just had these random jingles. I can just add one of those.”  Just thinking about the dentist and having to take care of your teeth, or somebody having you completely mistaken for somebody else. I wanted to just incorporate a little more of my personality in there, so that’s why I put the jingles at the end. 

It definitely made me giggle! 

Anytime I do chops the crowd goes wild. 

I can imagine! So you found yourself both providing background vocals for some dynamic talent, but also releasing music as a solo artist. How have you balanced the two?

Both singing background, vocal producing, all that stuff, and doing my own thing… it hasn’t been overwhelming to the point where I had to choose which one I had to do. Now that I’m doing more of my stuff, I am in more demand than being able to do background stuff. So a couple of gigs I had to turn down, because I did have my own going on. But for the most part, at least doing backgrounds for Badu – she doesn’t tour as much to where it would take me away from doing what I have to do. And I will juggle both as long as I can. She’s also been trying to kick me out the band for the past ten years, because she’s like, “my platform isn’t big enough for you. The whole world needs to experience you.” Even that is a compliment and testament to my work and what I’ve been doing. To have my inspiration be inspired.

That’s mature of her to do that.  I’d expect nothing less. Who are you most excited to work with?

Well, everyone else for the most part is kind of in my reach. I would just need the proper channels. I would love to work with Solange, I would like to work with Kendrick, Janelle Monae is another one. Moses Sumney. But if we’re talking about people that are out of my grans…by the way, Tierra Wack and Tyler the Creator, both of those. But THE collaboration would be Sade. I can’t even say Earth Wind & Fire now, because I’ve had an opportunity to work with them.

You’ve also had had some notable co-signs. Billboard named you an, “Artist You Should Know.” Lena Waithe called you one of her favorite artists and you seem to always find yourself in the right rooms. How much of this would you say intention, and how much of this do you think has been chance? 

Well, I believe in time. If there’s nothing else I believe in, I believe in timing. Going through certain things when I got older and having emotional awareness about myself allows me to make better decisions than I would before that emotional intelligence. So while I may be late getting here, what’s going on is still jammin’.      

The timing is really perfect.

Also, constantly putting out content, because you just don’t know what’s going to grow legs and start doing its own thing. If anything, I’d say it’s the consistency that has gotten me into these rooms. 

And you’ve got your latest work, Wanderlust. Can you tell me about this body of art? 

Yes, Wanderlust is my “sophomore debut.” I say it with air quotes, because it’s actually my tenth body of work that I’ve put out. However, Dur& was the first one that really made noise, so that’s why they call that the debut. It is a homage to Kelis’ sophomore project called Wanderland. Wanderlust means to have a strong desire to travel. I’m always traveling inward.  I’m always traveling in a way that I can discover more things about myself, so that I can have better language to express myself, so I can know what I need for myself and be transparent with myself. Once I go through those lessons and experiences, then I can have a story to tell. 

What else can we look forward to from you in the future?

You can look forward to just going on an adventure with me. There are things that I am wanting to do as far as art, and hopefully everyone will be along for the ride. Not just in music, but in acting, movement and exercise, because I like to skate, therapy.

It’s necessary!

A bunch of music is on the horizon. Just stay tuned. 

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Follow Durand Bernarr (@durandbernarr) on IG & Twitter