Muller Brandt wants to stand up for Afrikaans

Muller Brandt, a musician from Centurion, wants to uplift people with his music while preserving the Afrikaans language and culture.

Brandt’s love for music was sparked at the age of 15 when he performed in front of people for the first time.

“I realised then that this is what I want to do with my life,” said Brandt.

With this new passion for music and performance, Brandt soon played gigs in various places in Johannesburg and Centurion.

Brandt said that performing in front of people is his favourite aspect of being a musician.

“Performing in front of people and shining some light into their lives is a very satisfying feeling that I can’t get from anything else.

“Standing up there and spreading joy among people and making their lives a little bit better is a feeling like nothing else.”

Brandt’s main musical influences are primarily country singers from America, namely Kris Kristofferson and Kenny Rogers, but Brandt always wanted to write his music in Afrikaans.

Theuns Jordaan’s poetic songwriting has been especially influential in his approach to songwriting.

“His lyrics were always meaningful, poetic and deep, which I feel is something that’s missing in modern Afrikaans music.

“He is one of the few artists whose albums I can listen to from beginning to end,” Brandt told Rekord.

Renowned South African singer and songwriter, David Kramer, taught Brandt a very special approach to songwriting at a seminar he attended.

“He taught me to visualise a concept before I started writing,” he said.

“An example he used was close your eyes and imagine you have an apple in your hands, and then you open your eyes and describe what you saw, and that has been the best advice I have ever received.”

After graduating from high school, Brandt attended Copa – the campus of performing arts – where he received a degree in music.

“I didn’t have to think twice about what I was going to do with my life, so I knew right away it was the right choice.”

Outside of music, Brant is very passionate about Afrikaans and hopes his music can help grow and preserve it.

“It is a beautiful language.

“I want people to love their language and inspire them to speak it, write in Afrikaans and speak it every day,” he said.

Brandt’s music can be found on Apple Music and Spotify.

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