Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Molly Brandt. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Molly, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Did you always know you wanted to pursue a creative or artistic career? When did you first know?
There were many moments in time prior to entering college that I thought about the prospect of being a creative and pursuing music. I eventually decided not to major in music in college to instead pursue politics and economics. My freshman year and an internship following proved to me that this path wasn’t the right one to take and I felt a pull back towards music that I had dedicated much of my youth towards prior to college. I swiftly changed my major to purse a Bachelor of Music With Business Emphasis and a Business Minor. I didn’t really know what area of music I would pursue and whether I would lean towards the business side of things or the creative side of things. For a while I was engaged in various areas of the music and creative industry, working at a guitar store, a record store, at music and theater non-profits, teaching piano lessons, singing in a jazz combo in Iowa, and working on engaging with my community while I was living in Des Moines. Through exploring all these areas of the business of music and the arts, I ultimately felt unfulfilled, not knowing where I was going to go. Then the pandemic hit a year after moving to the Twin Cities from Des Moines. I was laid off from nonprofit positions I held in the fields of theatre and choral music. Initially devastated, I look back and know this was meant to be. With loads of time on my hands, unemployment funds, and friends to help me out, I began the process of writing my own songs for the first time. Having been trained in classical piano, jazz music, and a lifelong love of listening to music and seeing concerts, I easily transitioned into this life of being creative. Only after recording and releasing my first singles in 2022, did I begin to feel like I could legitimately pursue a creative path in a more professional way. The encouragement I received from my friends, family, peers, mentors, and fans gave me the confidence to keep going, to continue writing new songs and performing live at every chance I got. From early 2022 to now, I’ve ushered in an era of pursuing this professionally like never before. Utilizing my skills and experience in all areas of the creative industry, and my years of training in piano lessons, voice lessons, and my degree in music, I’ve built my own path.
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
I am an independent singer/songwriter and performing musician. My sound can be described as a mix of Americana styles, with genres that include rock, blues, bluegrass, alt country, roots, pop, and much more. I’ve been performing around the Twin Cities, the midwest, and greater United States since early 2022 under my name, Molly Brandt and with a band of incredible musicians. I recently went on a tour through many cities in the U.S., including Nashville, Austin, Memphis, Chicago, Kansas City, and Des Moines, to name a few. In 2024 I have plans to perform at festivals and events throughout Minnesota and Wisconsin as I release several singles throughout the year, culminating in the release of my second full-length album, entitled “American Saga” on September 27th. What sets me apart from others is that I bridge the gap between many styles of music to a sound that is all my own and appeals to a diverse audience of all ages and demographics. I’m most proud of the fact that I pursued this after a time of struggle in my life and after hurdles and setbacks throughout my early 20’s. My first album, “Surrender to the Night” is one of my best achievements creatively of my life. I’m also super proud to have another album on the way that expands my sound even further. The main things folks would need to know about me and my work is that first and foremost, the artistic integrity and quality is my number one priority and having artwork that isn’t run-of-the-mill, but rather boundary-breaking and on the cusp of something new in the genres of Americana music.
How can we best help foster a strong, supportive environment for artists and creatives?
In my mind, the most tangible way for a society to support the arts, specifically musicians, is through proper funding to artists directly, whether that is overall social safety-net programs from the government or regulations to promote fair wages/royalties from companies that distribute music. Artists need some sort of unionization or government action that ensures we are getting paid fairly from streaming services, such as Spotify, who currently has an abysmal policy around paying musicians with basically no oversight from our government, allowing them to own a large chunk of the market and pay less and less percentage to musicians. For live performances, venues need to really have a reckoning with themselves about paying artists: whether that’s them doing more advertising/marketing on their end, charging a slightly higher ticket price, increasing the percentage of door split, or offering a good guarantee. Many venues take a huge percentage of the door sales in addition to a separate fee. Sometimes venues will only allow artists to make money from the door sales AFTER paying $500 or a large fee of their revenue back to the venue, meaning that artists are essentially PAYING to play, rather than the reverse. This means that in the end, lots of shows are ending up paying each player maybe $20-50, for several hours of work: rehearsing, marketing, being at the venue several hours ahead of the show for sound check, etc. There simply needs to be laws and regulations in place that prevent this kind of thing from happening. Similarly, society needs to provide people with the necessities to live comfortably and thrive: universal healthcare, universal income, social safety nets and supports, paid time off, parental support, and all the things that make society thrive. It seems like nowadays we are in a sort of “pay-to-play” kind of economy, one where wealthy artists can simply purchase more streams by taking out ads or paying someone to playlist them. And I’m not innocent in this: I have paid for advertisements and play listing and PR campaigns, but at the detriment of my own financial security and with mixed results. Recording music costs thousands of dollars, not to mention the costs of mixing, mastering, purchasing merch, paying designers, photographers, videographers, web designers, and a whole host of other costs. Musicians have to pay everyone around them who is on their team, meanwhile oftentimes the artist themselves will see the least amount of profit from any endeavor. Record labels and PR companies have well-paid employees who wouldn’t exist without artists, yet the artists do not make nearly anywhere near the employees at these companies – unless you’re a very famous musician. And it also seems that record labels increasingly want artists who can repeatedly “go viral” on Tik Tok, which isn’t super sustainable for anyone, let alone artists whose main focus, in my mind, should be the art itself, not virality online. There simply needs to be a shift in society to recognizing music as real work that is painstaking and takes time and should be fairly compensated.
For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?
The most rewarding aspect is that I get to create something entirely my own and feel proud of it. The process of creation alone is reward and is fulfilling in and of itself. Other ways in which I feel the reward of being an artist, is hearing and seeing how people react on a deeper level to my music, to the lyrics, the groove, the performance of it. I also love inspiring new artists to keep growing and learning just as those before me have done for me as I am still new to the scene. I love that I have an unconventional lifestyle. I am super thankful to not be working a 40+ hour-a-week 9-to-5 job inside an office. I have lots of freedom, independence, and control over my own schedule and my goal deadlines. I love the act of continually pushing forward and persevering, which is what this job requires: a steadfast perseverance. I love dreaming big and reaching for goals I don’t always know if I deserve or if are possible and getting rejected is no longer a loss, but another learning experience and motivation to keep trying harder. I also love being part of a community of other artists and of fans. The scene in the Twin Cities is deep and magical and I’m proud to be a member of this wonderful group of people.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.mollybrandt.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/themollybrandt/?hl=en
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Mollybrandtmusic/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@mollybrandtmusic
- Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/molly-brandt-747785439
Image Credits
1) Landon Stefanksi
2-4) Daniela Buvat
5) Madalyn Rowell
6) Daniela Buvat