Today we’d like to introduce you to Bernard Saillant.
Hi Bernard, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
My name is Bernard Saillant, though many people know me as Magic Ben. I’ve always been drawn to creativity in many different forms. Over the years, that curiosity has grown into music, songwriting, live performance, DJing, writing, photography, video editing, content creation, and even technology.
I’ve never really seen those things as completely separate paths. Each one gives me a different way to express myself, tell a story, solve a problem, or connect with someone. Sometimes that story becomes a song. Sometimes it becomes a performance, a photograph, a video, a written chapter, or even something I build through technology.
Music has remained at the center of that journey. As a singer-songwriter, I blend influences from Afropop, Dancehall, R&B, and other global sounds. I perform in English, French, Spanish, and Creole, and being multilingual has given me the opportunity to connect with people from many different cultures and backgrounds. I love creating moments where people can feel welcome, energized, and part of something together.
DJing opened another side of that connection for me. When I’m performing my own music, I’m sharing a part of my story. When I’m behind the decks, I’m helping create the soundtrack for someone else’s moment. Both require listening, feeling the energy in the room, and understanding how music can bring people together.
Beyond the stage, I’m also passionate about visual storytelling through photography, graphic design, video editing, and digital content. I’m currently writing my first book, which brings many of these worlds together. It explores creativity, personal growth, music, and the experiences and lessons that have shaped the way I think and create.
At the same time, I’ve built a career in technology and cybersecurity. It may seem like a completely different world, but I’ve found that the creative and technical sides of me work well together. Technology has taught me how to think through problems, stay curious, and keep learning, while creativity has taught me how to see possibilities beyond what is already there.
I think that is how I got to where I am today—by continuing to follow that curiosity, allowing myself to grow in more than one direction, and realizing that I never had to choose only one side of who I am.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
It definitely hasn’t been a smooth road, but I think the difficult parts have helped give this journey its meaning.
One of the biggest challenges has been learning how to balance so many different parts of my life. As an independent artist, you quickly realize that creating the music is only one part of the work. You also become the performer, DJ, content creator, video editor, photographer, marketer, organizer, and business owner. More recently, I’ve found myself doing more accounting task than actually performing. At the same time, I’ve continued developing my career in technology and cybersecurity, so finding the time and energy to give both worlds the attention they deserve has not always been easy.
There have also been seasons when progress felt slow. When you are building independently, you don’t always have a large team, a big budget, or a clear roadmap. Sometimes you have to learn things as you go, make mistakes, adjust, and keep moving even when the results are not immediate.
I’ve also had to learn not to measure my journey against someone else’s timeline. Creativity can become frustrating when you focus too much on where you think you should be. Part of my growth has been learning/accepting to respect my own rhythm, recognize the progress that is happening, and stay connected to the reason I started creating in the first place.
Looking back, I wouldn’t change much. Those challenges made me more resourceful, disciplined, and intentional. They taught me that success is not only about reaching one destination. It is also about who you become while building, learning, and continuing to stay true to yourself.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
At my core, I see myself as a creator. A lot of people know me as Magic Ben, the singer-songwriter and DJ, but creativity has always been much bigger than music alone for me.
My work begins with music. I write and perform original songs influenced by Afropop, Dancehall, R&B, and global sounds. I also DJ for different venues and events, creating an atmosphere that responds to the people in the room. Whether I’m singing onstage or behind the decks, I love the connection that happens when music helps people feel present, free, and connected to one another.
Being able to perform in English, French, Spanish, and Creole is also a big part of who I am. It allows me to bring different cultures and parts of my identity into the same space. I don’t see language as a barrier. I see it as another instrument—another way to communicate a feeling and make someone feel included.
Outside of music, I work with photography, video editing, graphic design, and digital content. Those visual skills allow me to shape the world around the music and tell the story in more than one way. I’m also writing my first book, where I share parts of my creative journey, personal growth, and the lessons I’ve gathered through music, life, technology, and the process of becoming more comfortable with every side of myself.
What I’m most proud of is not one single accomplishment. It is the fact that I’ve continued building a life where creativity has no boundaries. I don’t feel that I have to reduce myself to one title. Whether I’m writing a song, performing, DJing, creating visuals, working with technology, or developing an idea for the book, I am still using the same part of myself—the part that wants to explore, understand, connect, and create.
I think what sets me apart is my ability to bring together everything I’ve learned from different areas of my life and turn it into one meaningful story. Music, technology, language, culture, writing, visuals, and personal experience may look separate from the outside, but in my mind, they are always connected.
Can you talk to us a bit about happiness and what makes you happy?
Being creative makes me happy.
I have fully embraced the belief that we were all created to be creatures of creativity. I don’t believe creativity belongs only to musicians, painters, writers, or people who call themselves artists. I think it lives in all of us. It appears whenever we imagine something, solve a problem, express an emotion, build an idea, or find a new way forward.
That is one of the main ideas behind the book I’m writing. Creativity has helped me understand myself, process different experiences, connect parts of my life that once seemed unrelated, and turn what I’ve learned into something I can share with others.
Creating also gives me a sense of freedom. I can begin with a feeling, a sound, a thought, or even a challenge and slowly turn it into something that did not exist before. That process still amazes me.
Of course, I also love the moments when something I create connects with another person. Seeing someone dance during a performance, hearing that a song made them feel understood, or knowing that an idea encouraged them to explore their own creativity—that makes the work even more meaningful.
Creativity makes me happy because it keeps me curious, helps me grow, and reminds me that there is always another way to see, build, or express something. For me, it is not just part of what I do. It is part of how I experience life.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.magicbenofficial.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/m.a.g.i.c_ben10
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bernard-s-170281296
- Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/6pRy2Y38eHjoVggjpDfcLz
Image Credits
Rolex Visual LLC
