Gentle man

For an artist whose album, The Gentleman Approach, reached No. 5 on the iTunes R&B charts, and who has performed his music across the U.S. and Canada, and who is playing in a music festival in the UK this summer, an intimate bar in downtown Reno might be the last venue you’d expect to see 22-year-old R&B singer/songwriter Jeff Bernat.

Underneath his ball cap, he bears a serious face, but his genuine smile reveals his sweet nature. He moves through his speech very calmly, and though hints of hip-hop lingo slip into his words, he speaks very maturely, very gentlemanly, which may be why he titled his album The Gentleman Approach.

“I’m just trying make classy R&B,” he says.

And, in an industry that seems to be falling further and further down the cultural ladder, this fresh approach to R&B/Hip-Hop might be why he is catching on.

But Bernat’s a local, and there’s no place he’d rather be. Like most successful people, he’s done things his own way. While most musicians usually make a name for themselves locally, and then take their music on the road, Bernat has done quite the opposite.

“It’s just crazy, the power of the internet,” he says. “You just have to know how to work it, you know?”

Bernat has always loved music, but it was only after high school that he started taking it seriously. He noticed the growing popularity of YouTube, and collaborated on a video with San Diego artist Kat Badar, who already had a decent fan base.

“She let me do a video with her, and after that, that racked up my subscribers and views, and I thought ‘All right, I should put up some original music on here,’” he says.

Months after putting up his first video, and after racking up thousands of views, he was getting calls from promoters all over the country. And, now he is playing a UK music festival, part of a Filipino cultural event.

“A big advantage for me is to be able to reach out to the Asian population all over the world,” he says. “They are always supporting.”

Though he’s attracting a lot of attention from music promoters and fans online, he has no intention of signing to a record label. He records all his music from his home studio, and worked largely with local producer Joel Cowell on The Gentleman Approach. He’s part of a new generation of artists who use non-traditional means to promote their music.

“I believe in independent music,” he says. “If I could choose to be independent and be comfortable all my life I would do it. I’m not chasing to get signed with a record label. I represent the movement to put the music industry out of business.”

His approach seems to be working. He’s selling his album on iTunes, and reaching new fans online and in the different cities he tours. Yet he also seems to have kept everything in perspective.

“It’s not millions, but I can’t complain,” he says.

His one concern is that he doesn’t play enough here in Reno, and he admits that locally he is not as well known as he’d like. He has shows lined up in Chicago, Tennessee and Virginia, but none in Reno in the foreseeable future.

“There is nothing like hometown love,” he says. “I feel like I have been very slept on here. Nobody pays attention to that Asian kid.”

But he hopes he can be an ambassador for Reno.

“My music is very different from what you hear in this city,” he says. “And that’s why I like Reno. Everything is so different. I don’t think that people in other cities get to see our true culture. So, if anything, I just want to be one of those leaders who get to represent our city.”