Bernard Caesar McDonnell, best known by his Stage Name Bernard-M is an Irish musician, producer and occasional actor.
A native of Crumlin, Dublin, he comes from a whole family of musicians and performers. He started acting from a young age, and even booked his first ever audition at the age of fifteen. It was a two episode arc for the Irish procedural Red Rock, portraying a troubled child who kills his neighbour's dog.
He took a hiatus from acting, but eventually music came calling instead. Initially just uploading videos of himself singing and playing guitar to YouTube, he transitioned into electronic and wrote a dance song called "Esta Noche" while on the flight home from a holiday to Lanzarote. The song swept the Irish dance charts...and then the COVID-19 pandemic struck.
Not being deterred by worldwide lockdown, Bernard produced an entire album using only his smart phone. Titled Forever Groovin and featuring mostly instrumentals, it was an underground success. Not content to remain silent or solo, he hooked up with old school friend Corey Dunne (aka C.O.T.) to produce two singles "Adolescence" and "Hold It". The two then released an album called COMIX, full of collaborations with several other Irish artists.
Has a YouTube channel here
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Discography:
- Forever Groovin' (2020)
- COMIX Vol 1 (2021) - collaboration album
Tropes:
- Blonde, Brunette, Redhead: The video for "Take It Out on Yourself" - he's the blond, Paulie is the brunet and Bill Connors is the redhead.
- The Cameo: Craig Cooney cameos in the "MPH" video, dancing in the background for the scenes where the car is parked.
- Car Song: "MPH", which is literally Bernard and COT freestyling about riding around in the car.
- Child Prodigy: He was already playing bass drum in an orchestra at seven, and performing in the Dublin Concert Orchestra at thirteen.
- Christmas Songs: He released one aptly titled "Christmas Night".
- Cluster F-Bomb: Let's just say that COMIX earns its "explicit lyrics" warning label several times over.
- Color Wash: The "Smoke & Mirrors" video has numerous instances of green filters, including the sky being green in a few shots.
- Continuity Nod: "DayDream" has a reference to "Esta Noche".
- Cool Shades: COT wears a pair of shades in the video for "MPH" to emphasise the coolness of rapping from a moving car.
- Creative Closing Credits: "Take It Out on Yourself"'s video has a credits sequence featuring outtakes or additional BTS footage.
- Cuddle Bug: Happily describes himself as a hugger.
- Darker and Edgier: The COMIX album has several tracks dealing with darker issues such as mental health, addiction, crime etc.
- Deal with the Devil: Alludes to making one in "Love Can Turn to Hate"."I sold my soul with a pencil."
- Early-Bird Cameo: The other contributors to COMIX Vol 1 feature in the "Take It Out on Yourself" video. Dubalc however is absent.
- Early-Installment Weirdness: Started out just doing acoustic covers on YouTube.
- Future Funk: "Care Free" is instrumental, but has an idealistic and..well...carefree vibe.
- Gaussian Girl: Is quite fond of promotional photos with a gaussian blur effect.
- Genki Guy: A very energetic and spirited guy, a look at his Instagram stories will show him being very enthusiastic.
- Genre Roulette: While primarily a hip hop and EDM artist, his music has influences from several different genres.
- Growing Up Sucks: "DayDream" has a nostalgia for childhood and more peaceful times."Missing the days when I'd sit and wait for Noddy."
- Hair of Gold, Heart of Gold: Is blond-haired and known for being very kind and caring.
- Heterosexual Life-Partners:
- With Corey or COT. They were good friends in school, and became fast collaborators.
- Actor/writer Bobby Calloway has described Bernard as...
"He's just a really beautiful person. I'd known him in passing since 2017, but somehow in the middle of 2020 it was like the "did we just become best friends" scene in Step Brothers. We became brothers and it was really great." - Iconic Outfit: Often seen in a black baseball cap and black shorts. T-shirt colour optional.
- Insomnia Episode: "DayDream" is about intrusive thoughts and memories brought on by insomnia.
- Lighter and Softer: "Hold It" compared to "Adolescence" (which was about the darker side of teen angst) is an upbeat love song and the most pop of his releases.
- Mr. Fanservice: He's posted a few shirtless photos to his Instagram showing off his abs. The cover art for "Don't Wait To See The Rain" is Bernard shirtless and flexing. And in the video for "Spinnin'", he gets many swimsuit scenes.
- Older Than They Look: Bernard himself looks a couple of years younger than 21. C.O.T. meanwhile takes the cake; he's actually older than Bernard but looks about sixteen.
- Retraux: The "Take It Out on Yourself" video is filmed like a 90s home movie.
- Sensitive Guy and Manly Man: When it's just him and C.O.T. Bernard is the sensitive guy, Corey is the manly man.
- The Smurfette Principle: COMIX is an album full of mostly male collaborations, except for Aideen Farrelly.
- Suddenly Voiced: Every track on Forever Groovin' is instrumental, save for "Adolescence". He started singing and rapping more subsequently.
- Vacation Episode: "Spinnin'" was filmed in Spain and features Bernard and friends lounging around a villa.
- Valentine's Day Episode: The love song "Hold It" was released on Valentine's Day.
- Vocal Dissonance: He has a much deeper, huskier voice than his Pretty Boy appearance would indicate.
