I was never a fairytale type of kid. Sure, I enjoyed Brandy and Whitney Houston’s rendition of Cinderella, but there was something so unbelievable and tragically unappealing about those ‘happily ever afters’. That was until, ironically, I grew up. With all the troubles of today, fairy-tales provide a type of relief from the world that can suffocate us with tragic endings. The bad guys die, the prince is charming, and the princess always comes out unscathed. Those are just well-written daydreams from far, far away. Nothing is that peachy, but I decided every writer should get a chance to compose his or her own fairytale.

Once upon a time, there was a boy with a beautiful voice. Between a few YouTube videos and local shows, he went from his intimate hometown of Cleveland, Ohio to performing with Erykah Badu at Coachella. Yes, Cleveland to Coachella to a European tour spreading soul and a five octave vocal-range with our generation’s premiere soul star. Then, he lived happily ever after donning yellow and a fresh mohawk across the world. What’s the magical twist to my fairytale? Mine is based off of a true story, and I got to speak with Durand Bernarr (also known as AlcoholHarmony ) about the music he’s making and how exactly life is after Europe, but I only had an hour before his microphone turned into a pumpkin.

“AlcoholHarmony stemmed from when I was about fifteen years old, it was just my little metaphor I created […] when we go through negative things, experience trials and tribulations, bad habits we can’t really conquer and we have an outlet that we can escape from that. Harmony is the music.” Durand speaks candidly about the birth of his pseudonym and the candidness doesn’t stop there. I speak to Durand Bernarr about touring with Erykah Badu, what it takes to be a soul singer, and his highly-anticipated solo project.

Mr. Bernarr first got attention for his voice by YouTube videos of his renditions of various songs and live gigs. “My dad got me a flip video camera for Christmas back in 2007 and I just got introduced to the open mic scene and the poetry scene […] I said I want to put this stuff up on the internet.” Durand started doing covers and gained notoriety for his off-beat selection of music choices. “You know, right now, I’m in a place and I think I’ve always been in a place where I let the music chose me [...] If I just have to sing it, if I can’t stop singing it, if I have different ideas or melodies that I can add, that’s when I do it.” Durand Bernarr sites everyone from Tonex to Chaka Khan to J*DaVeY as musical and vocal inspirations that make up the soul-drenched vocals that gained him popularity.

“I could not have dreamed up this moment, it was too strategically placed and how everything came together I could not have dreamed up that moment.” Of course, Durand is talking about Erykah Badu’s discovery of his vocals. Erykah Badu plays the omniscient, fairy Godmother through the whole conversation. “I’ve never been the changing type […] I’ll say, people have kind of gotten funny on me and I’ve stayed the same. I grow, I’m evolving, and I’m maturing. It’s an insult to me when people say ‘I miss the old Durand’ [...] I’m very connected with reality.”

What’s a fairytale without a bit of supernatural magic? Bell had lively household items that did chores, Pinocchio had a talking grasshopper and Durand has his vocal chords. Durand explains the bridging of his voice and his soul. “It’s that moment when you completely let go, when you’re not worried about that faces your making, the notes your hitting, you have to get out whatever is that’s festering up in your spirit, whether it’s a good feeling or something that’s hurting you, whatever that is; that what it is […] just bleeding.”

Durand Bernarr gives me a sneak peek into his newest effort, Catch 22 due by the conclusion of 2011 which is a psychedelic tour of his latest musical findings and a lyrical mirror of where he is today. One of the stand-out tracks, “Layers,” is a track as sonically avant-garde and lyrically cryptic as his mentor, but adventuring into a new space and niche that is genuinely of his own. The rest of the album takes suit venturing for stomping gospel, cosmic R&B, and gritty soul; it’s a voyage through American soul and funk that reminds one of thoughts of The Ohio Players and Chaka Khan, but sounds like it couldn’t take place in any time, but today’s. Durand’s story is just beginning and to paraphrase Shakespeare; it’s promising to look like the stuff dreams are made on.

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