Durand Bernarr’s music is full of artistic and emotional expression — expression that has made him a dominant force of creativity and passion within the R&B scene.
The L.A.-based singer/songwriter/producer has been weaving his way through the ever-changing R&B landscape for over a decade, intertwining genres to create music that truly inspires and resonates.
Bernarr spoke to The Daily Illini before his 3 p.m. set at the T-Mobile stage on Thursday, sharing about his start with music and how it feels to be playing to the biggest crowd of his career.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
DI: Can you describe your approach to art and music, and being an artist and musician?
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Bernarr: My approach to music and expressing my heart is theater. It is a comedic approach; it is “Looney Tunes” based. One of my inspirations is Bugs Bunny … I’ve always got to sprinkle in a little bit of Ace Ventura in there. I love comedians … It’s not just like “oh I love Erykah Badu and Little Richard.” No, I do theater. I love acting, you know, it’s all the things that encompass it. It’s pretty much a variety show.
DI: I know your music is a little R&B, a little electronic sounding. How do you blend these different influences in your music and make your own sound?
Bernarr: I guess do what feels good. And also having people in the camp who have a vision about what it is that you’re doing, and that can enhance that. Not necessarily changing it per se, but they’re just trying to figure out what variables we can incorporate to take this to the next level. So it’s really just the community, reaching to the sides of you for support and not trying to do everything by yourself.
DI: How do you feel your music has evolved since your earliest album, was it “Sound Check?”
Bernarr: I got to take you way back, way before “Sound Check,” seven years prior to that. We gotta go back to 2009. Oh my God, I put up my first mixtape, and this was back when I was putting music up on like Myspace … I would write poetry and try to convert them to songs … then over time I realized ‘oh, there’s something missing.’ I was getting away with my voice. It’s like seeing me live is one thing, but the music is a hit or miss. So once I was able to merge those two, like there’s a way for me to be commercial while also staying true to myself.
DI: Can you talk to me a little bit about your newest album, “BLOOM,” released in February?
Bernarr: Mhmmm, yes, it’s my “third” album, my lengthiest body of work as well, running time of 76 minutes. It is my love letter to my friends, who have become my family. And showing me these different avenues of intimacy that we can experience with people, platonically. I wanted to decenter romantic love. We’re always talking about relationships, being with someone, not being with someone, how about talking about the people we trust? How about we talk about the people that make us love who we are when they’re around us, or that inspire us, or that motivate us. You look at the people in your life as a garden. They have to be watered, they have to be spoken to, they need sunlight, they all need those things.
DI: Do you plan on taking a lot from that album for your Lolla performance?
Bernarr: As much as I want to … I want to come back and give Chicago their own show. So anytime I do festivals, it’s usually a mixture of a lot of stuff. But my slow stuff doesn’t really translate at a festival. We want to be up and out.
DI: How do you feel going into your Lolla performance?
Bernarr: This is my biggest audience yet that I have performed as myself. There’s nothing really to be nervous about. I have my band on stage, and there are people in the crowd who are waiting for me, they’re waiting to be inspired, they’re waiting to be lifted up. Some people don’t even know that they need what I’m about to present to them. I am secure and grounded in who I am and where I’m going. So there’s no need to be nervous.
