Meet David Bernot | Saxophonist & Composer

We had the good fortune of connecting with David Bernot and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi David, we’d love to hear about how you approach risk and risk-taking
It’s important to take certain risks as a small business. Even when you have a clear vision for your product or your mission, sometimes stepping a little out of your comfort zone can be very valuable. It’s also important to consider which risks will give you benefits right away, and which ones may take time to pay off.

As a freelance musician there are times when you may be presented an opportunity to play music that is a little off from your brand or what you’ve prepared most. It’s not always crucial to take these gigs, but it doesn’t hurt you to take on a project that is a little unusual if they could potentially be a consistent client, or help you get the resources you need to push for your goals. These situations are also learning experiences that could help give your business a push into a niche that needs to be filled, or even give insight into the business practices of a different genre which you can try to bring back to your own business. For example, I would say I’m branded as a jazz musician but I spend plenty of time playing with pop cover bands, latin dance bands and even EDM groups. I have found that infiltrating these worlds can be illuminating for how I promote my business. Coming from a genre that sometimes struggles to promote itself, peering into the practices of these projects has shown me ways to confidently promote myself and my brand.

Another example of taking risks can be with large projects. I took on a large project for my business recently and produced and released a full length album titled “Never-Ending Cycle” in March 2022. I took some financial risks with this project as it can cost quite a bit of money to put together a great product with a large project. Once you have the product you have a short amount of time to try to get it to hit, however it can remain a part of your portfolio for a long time. I feel like I put everything that I had to invest at the time into the project and while I probably only made most of the money back, the benefits are continuing to grow from the visibility I’ve gotten on the album providing me more opportunities to grow and gather resources for other investments. I would never suggest anyone to sink all of their resources into one play especially if the chance of it not working would devastate their business, but it is important to consider the advantages to taking risks as a small business owner.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
I’m a professional saxophonist in the Denver, Colorado area. I create music and I also play the saxophone for projects in a variety of styles. I can go from one night playing pop covers at a wedding, to playing my original jazz music at a jazz club, to playing in the pit orchestra for a musical production. It can be very fun to get to play and learn new music constantly.

The road to getting consistent work as a musician has been challenging at times and I’m still constantly looking to find more and better opportunities to make a living doing what I love. Sometimes it seems that people get the sense that just because you’re in music, everything should be fun and easy because you like doing it, but there’s a reason not everyone does this sort of thing. It’s a hustle, and the parts that you don’t like are often even more necessary than the parts you do like. That’s not to say I’m not grateful for every opportunity I’ve gotten, however, the common misconception that every performance is amazing and easy is just simply not true for any professional musician I’ve met. And that’s just talking about performing, then we get into the hurdles of self-promotion and managing a calendar. Sometimes you look back and realize you haven’t played your instrument or learned a new song just for fun in a while, but when you finally do make the time to be inspired again, it can be so incredibly worth it.

The most important lesson I’ve learned as a musician is to look ahead and prepare for everything you can. There’s nothing worse than getting to a gig and realizing the music is written too poorly to get by reading, it’s so important to at least check off every box before a performance and stay organized. This is something that does not come naturally at all to me, so creating good habits like looking at my calendar to see when I’ll have the time to prepare has been crucial. In a particularly crunched period, I might even make an event in my phone, so that I know not to try to go to an impromptu lunch or drinks with friends. It may sound like too much, but the better you get at this type of time management the better you get at making time to enjoy yourself. The benefits of showing up prepared are so great for your reputation and the better your reputation is, the more likely a client will either call you back, or even recommend you to other potential clients.

I want the world to know that I have an album of my own compositions out now for sale and on streaming services titled, “Never-Ending Cycle.” I am always happy to be playing saxophone on other peoples music, but my original music endeavors are very important to me and I’d love to be able to create and release new music on a regular basis.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
Of course a must for me showing a friend around Denver would have to be showing them the great live music. There are a awesome jam sessions nearly every day of the week where I would take someone to see the local music scene interact, such as Meadowlark jazz Mondays, the Herb’s B3 jam on Tuesdays, the Roxy jazz jam session on Wednesdays, the Mercury Care jazz jam session on Fridays, and Girard’s Pool Hall sessions on Thursdays and Sundays. Some of these are long standing sessions, while some move around, but the Denver musicians are always making sure there’s a place to play.

We’d need to check out some concerts as well. Nocturne or Dazzle are great spots to find local and touring jazz artists, and there are so many other venues to see a great show around Denver like Cervantes, the Ogden, the Bluebird, Mission Ballroom it’d be nearly impossible to name them all. Of course the main attraction for live music is the amazing Red Rocks music venue. The outdoor natural amphitheater is really a wonder to experience.

During the days there are plenty of awesome things to check out. There are Denver’s 16th street and Boulder’s Pearl street malls that are fun to walk around, shop, and eat. There are lots of incredible breweries to hop including world recognized breweries like Coors, Left Hand, and Oskar Blues. Also pretty much any local brewery is going to have something tasty on tap. Some of my favorites are Spangalang, Woods Boss, and Wonderland close to my current house as of writing in Broomfield. I’d have to take them to one of my favorite Colorado staples Illegal Pete’s for a burrito and a margarita. For art, the Meow Wolf installment is incredible, and I always enjoy an excuse to check out the new exhibits at the Denver Art Museum. Finally no Colorado trip is complete without a trip to the wonderful Rocky Mountains. Whether it be a for hike, or just driving to a brewery for lunch and a beer (or five..)

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
There are so many people and groups that I can thank for my success so far as a musician. All of my past saxophone teachers, Lewis Nelson, Eric Rasmussen, Art Bouton, Tim Wilson, and John Gunther are responsible for parts of my journeys as a musician. Also I’d like to recognize the fantastic faculties who taught me in my Undergrad and Masters programs at the University of Denver and University of Colorado Boulder respectively. I’d also like to give a shoutout to my amazing fellow musicians and bandmates in the Colorado jazz community. There’s plenty of great music to catch in this wonderful state I’m proud to be a part of this scene.

Website: https://Davidbernotmusic.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/davidbernot_music/

Facebook: https://facebook.com/davidbernotmusic/

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCXgZgbI707H-_vRJq9pYJfw

Other: Bandcamp: https://davidbernot.bandcamp.com/album/never-ending-cycle Steam Never-Ending Cycle: https://ffm.to/never-endingcycle

Image Credits
Brittany Teuber