While most South Africans would recognise him as “Bart Kruger” from the popular SABC 2 Afrikaans soapie “ 7de Laan”, Neil Sandilands has been a busy man since his local TV days.
Sandilands is also known for his roles in international shows, including “Sweet Tooth”, “News of the World” and “The Flash”.
His has hosted kykNET’s “Die Groot Niks”, which translates to “The Big Nothing”.
Not only is he an incredible actor, but Sandilands has also shown his not-too-exposed musical side in his first radio single released recently.
His song “Huistoe”, a song that forces you to listen attentively, is about a postcard that his grandfather, Joe Sandilands, sent his grandmother, Nettie, during World War II.
Sandilands said: “The song came knocking at my door in September, 2022, while I was in Sydney, Australia. I remembered a postcard we had in our house that grandpa Joe Sandilands sent to grandma Nettie during the Second World War.”
Sandilands said his grandpa was a tank driver for the South African troops during the battle of Tobruk in Libya in 1942.
He dives into the history of the relationship between his grandparents but singles out how relevant the longing for home is for anyone whose been away for that far and long.
“I thought about the longing for an unscathed return home and reunion with the people you love, the environment you love, and the language and culture you know and love. In a way, I could relate.
“The second element that was also valuable in the creation of this song, was a personal experience I had far from South Africa, on the island of Kauai in the Pacific Ocean. I was there in 1997. It is literally the other side of the planet.
“The road ends at Ke’e beach. It is not humanly possible to drive further or be further away from your origin, Randfontein, South Africa.
“When I got back into the car and drove away, the thought occurred to me that it didn’t matter whether I was driving north, east, west, or south, in a way, I was travelling ‘home’. Back to origin.”
IOL Entertainment caught up with the multi-skilled artist for a brief Q&A.
How would you describe yourself ?
“I would describe myself as an alpha-particle oscillating somewhere between Saturn, the sun and our very own moon. I fit comfortably in the glove of raconteur meets impresario meets fisherman.
“With a love for open fires and ‘skaaptjoppies’ (lamb chops). And I can play a ukelele.
Where is home?
“I’m from the streets of Randfontein. Sometimes, for the sake of good storytelling, being raconteur and all, I slip in ‘Maropeng’ (Cradle of Humankind) and also like to mention I was born in the ‘Discovery’ clinic not far from Luipaardsvlei.
“For our international readers I approximate it to South Africa and when they ask for a recognisable city, I say Joburg.”
What does it feel like, to have written this song with such significant meaning for you?
“Although I’m an actor, I’m not all that good with pretending. I find with writing specifically, I can’t just make things up. I mean I can, but that ain’t the yummy stuff. It has to come from some place of ‘knowing’.
“I either have to know it personally, have lived through it, experienced it or at the very least imagined or examined it. Usually there is some universality in relaying a specific, personal experience as accurately as one can.
“You’ll find people elsewhere would read or listen to it and relate. This song is about ‘home’ in its simplest form. What does that mean to you?
“The next level would be being away from home and then returning after some years. Or never. Most people can identify with these concepts.
“In this particular song, the departure point is a postcard my grandfather sent to my grandma during the Second World War. He was fighting in North Africa as a tank driver. He had minimal literacy.
“What would he have written to his loved one if he could type as freely as I do now?
“I can imagine the anxiety of not knowing whether he’ll see grandma ever again. Had he died during the battle of Tobruk, for example, I would not be writing this.
“The song presents these constructs and I have found those questions and experiences to exist universally. For each one of us.”
How long have you been making music and which genre appeals to you?
“I have only been ‘making’ music the last three years or so. It came about when I was asked to play a character for the series ‘Desert Rose’. Freddy Fingers was a small-town balladeer.
“I wanted to create his own ‘oeuvre’ and teach myself performance and get to the level of being able to play with other musicians in a ‘live’ environment. Little did I know this kick-started a musical journey. I’m already pushing 50!
“One song led to more songs and my first full length album ‘Sangoma Sandilands’ and ‘Jou Pa se Posse’ was nominated for a South African Music Award. So, I kept at it.
“In the interim I produced two more EPs with five songs each and now, two years later, another full length album. My album ‘’Allegaarkie vir ’n Askeet’ features 14 tracks, 13 of them are originals.
“This means I have created 34 songs during the last three years. In Afrikaans primarily, although there is an English song or two ‘Desert Rose’ and ‘The Times They Are A’Changin’.
“I’m proud of it and grateful to all the magnificent musicians I’ve collaborated with. I’m grateful for the producing collaboration Theo Crous (Springbok Nude Girls).
“As for ‘genre’, Chris du Plessis, the great writer and newspaper editor calls it ‘Afriqanga’. It’s less of a genre than it is the way Afrikaans should sound with its feet and hands firmly in the soil of Africa.
“It is an indigenous African language, after all. I try, with these works, to not represent Afrikaans as being from the Americas or Europe or God knows where, but here.
“The language is secondary, I myself, am African firstly. This music is my truth. Perhaps my only truth.”
“Huistoe” is available on all digital platforms.