We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Jernej Bervar a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Jernej, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Have you been able to earn a full-time living from your creative work? If so, can you walk us through your journey and how you made it happen? Was it like that from day one? If not, what were some of the major steps and milestones and do you think you could have sped up the process somehow knowing what you know now?
I’ve been a professional musician since a very young age (around 14). Had a very cool progressive punk rock band called Low Value at the time. Although we were very young, we already toured extensively in Europe and played tons of really cool Festivals. We released two records in Japan, and had tons of fun as you can imagine. from there, i knew i was going to to pursue music profesionaly. After high school i studied Jazz and pop guitar at The Klagenfurt Conservatory in Austria. During my studies i also applied to Berklee College of music in Boston- and got a scholarship. After Graduating i came to the states in 2012. I already toured a lot during my studies, and played nationally and also in Asia, Europe and Africa. I also couldn’t attend my graduation ceremony, because i was on a tour at the time. when i got back to Usa, i decided to move to Nyc where i still reside and work. Being involved in music scene at such a young age, it definitely gave me tons of experience and bag of tricks, that i still use to this day. But as any Job- the persistence and hard work is the road to success.
Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.
I come from a very musical family.everyone plays an instrument, and my mother is a Conductor, ear training teacher at the music conservatory in my birth town. So i was always surrounded by music. I play guitar for different artists- on live shows and in studio sessions. I also have my own band where we play my own compositions. I’ve been very lucky to have had an upbringing with all different music styles in my house hold- from classical to rock even punkrock, blues etc… It set a tone for my musical journey- I can perform in many different genres, and i think that’s one of the reasons I’ve been able to work with so many different artists and styles in the past. But over the years i also worked as a songwriter, producer, arranger and music director. In the past couple of years I’ve played with many internationally acclaimed artist, and have traveled and performed on some of the worlds biggest festivals. i’ve also had some top 10 charting songs.
In your view, what can society to do to best support artists, creatives and a thriving creative ecosystem?
I feel like in todays music industry the live support is the most important. Don’t forget that besides the big stars- there’s all sort of great musical talent locally. Everyone is grinding hard to follow their dreams. Go to your local bar/venue and support LIVE music.
How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?
2020 was definitely a year that has been a live changer! I was lucky, to be able to transition my business online. I have just buit my home studio, so I was able to record and work from home. Definitely saved me! But yeah- it’s a great reminder to not stay comfortable in what you do. There’s always room to improve/ learn and try out new ideas in your field of work.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.jernejbervar.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jernejbervar/
- Facebook: https://m.facebook.com/jernejbervarJB
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jernej-bervar-8b78b791
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/JBervar
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@jernejbguitar
- Other: https://www.tiktok.com/@shredguitar
Image Credits
Joseph Garrad, Klementina Milosic