Daniel Brandt is a German composer, drummer, and filmmaker from

Wiesbaden Wiesbaden (; ) is the capital of the German state of Hesse, and the second-largest Hessian city after Frankfurt am Main. With around 283,000 inhabitants, it is List of cities in Germany by population, Germany's 24th-largest city. Wiesbaden form ...

based in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

and

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

. He is a member of the ensemble

Brandt Brauer Frick Brandt Brauer Frick is a German electronic music ensemble from Berlin. The group's members are Daniel Brandt, Jan Brauer, and Paul Friedrich Frick, Paul Frick. The group's members are classically trained and began performing together in 2009. ''T ...

and also records as a solo artist for the British record label Erased Tapes.

Biography

Brandt was raised in Wiesbaden; his father was a rock drummer and his grandparents on his mother's side were a pianist and an opera singer. He graduated from the

Academy of Media Arts Cologne The Academy of Media Arts Cologne (KHM) is the art and film school of the state of North Rhine Westphalia. It was founded 1989 in Cologne, Germany. Notable artists and filmmakers who studied or taught at the academy include Rosa Barba, VALIE EX ...

in 2011 with a degree from the film and television studies department. As a student there, he founded the ensemble Brandt Brauer Frick with classmates Jan Brauer and Paul Frick; Brandt plays percussion instruments. The trio released its first full-length album in 2010. After graduating, Brandt toured and recorded with the ensemble and founded his own record label, Gym Records; he also did video live event production for entertainment and news websites such as the BBC and the ''Guardian''. He went on to do record production work as well, including for German musician Anna F., whom he dated in 2017. His debut release as a solo artist, ''Eternal Something'', was recorded in multiple locations, including a cabin in Germany and

Joshua Tree National Park Joshua Tree National Park is a List of national parks of the United States, US National Park located in southeastern California, straddling north-central Riverside County, California, Riverside County and part of southern San Bernardino County, ...

in the United States. Brandt had initially wanted the album to be composed entirely of

cymbal A cymbal is a common percussion instrument. Often used in pairs, cymbals consist of thin, normally round plates of various alloys. The majority of cymbals are of indefinite pitch, although small disc-shaped cymbals based on ancient designs sou ...

sounds, but changed his mind as he composed and recorded for it. The album was released in March 2017 on the Erased Tapes label. Brandt played all the instruments on ''Eternal Something'' except for hang drum, trombone, and cello. Stylistically, the album was described by

Pitchfork Media ''Pitchfork'' (formerly ''Pitchfork Media'') is an American online music magazine founded in 1996 by Ryan Schreiber in Minneapolis. It originally covered Alternative rock, alternative and independent music, and expanded to cover genres includin ...

as a cross between

modern classical Contemporary classical music is Western art music composed close to the present day. At the beginning of the 21st century, it commonly referred to the post-1945 post-tonal music after the death of Anton Webern, and included serial music, elect ...

and

electronic dance music Electronic dance music (EDM), also referred to as dance music or club music, is a broad range of percussive electronic music genres originally made for nightclubs, raves, and List of electronic dance music festivals, festivals. It is generally ...

. Brandt followed ''Eternal Something'' with ''Channels'', his second full-length, in October 2018. ''The Line of Best Fit'' noted influences from

Detroit techno Detroit techno is a type of techno music that generally includes the first techno productions by Detroit-based artists during the 1980s and early 1990s. Prominent Detroit techno artists include Juan Atkins, Eddie Fowlkes, Derrick May, Jeff Mi ...

Tangerine Dream Tangerine Dream is a German electronic music band founded in 1967 by Edgar Froese. The group has seen many personnel changes over the years, with Froese the only constant member until his death in January 2015. The best-known lineup of the grou ...

, and

Steve Reich Stephen Michael Reich ( ; born October 3, 1936) is an American composer best known as a pioneer of minimal music in the mid to late 1960s. Reich's work is marked by its use of repetitive figures, slow harmonic rhythm, and canons. Reich descr ...

on the record.

Discography

*''Eternal Something'' ( Erased Tapes, 2017) *''Channels'' (Erased Tapes, 2018) *''Without Us'' (Erased Tapes, 2025)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Brandt, Daniel German electronic musicians Living people 21st-century German musicians Year of birth missing (living people) Erased Tapes Records artists