It’s the year 2005, he’s 44 years old and he calls his adult children to the kitchen to tell them he has made a life-changing decision.
He’s going all in. He’s closing shop at his engineering firm because he wants to focus solely on music. He had, after all, worked for 20 years, waiting for this moment.
Two-time Grammy winner Wouter Kellerman (61) sits down with Drum to talk about the day he decided that his main goal was to be nominated for a Grammy.
“I remember that conversation with my kids, around the kitchen counter, very clearly. They asked me what my main objective was when giving up my engineering firm, which was pretty successful, I may add. And my response was that I would like to be nominated for the biggest music award in the world, a Grammy.”
Wouter was born in Johannesburg in 1961 to a scientist mother and a father in the banking sector. He was the first born of four children and when he was 10 years old, his parents took them to a symphony concert and asked them which instrument they wanted to play.
His brother chose the clarinet and he chose the flute.
“My mom then organized a flute and hired a teacher. But the teacher did not arrive for our first lesson because she was sick and my mom would not let me touch the flute because we did not know how to assemble it, so she did not want me to break it.
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“And for a week after that I would come home and just stare at the thing because I was so excited, and I could not wait to learn how to play. When the teacher was eventually well, we met for the first lesson, and I then went home and played for three hours straight. I was so happy.”
He recalls there was only classical music played at his house when he was growing up, but there was only one artist in their musical collection, and that was Miriam Makeba.
His mother worked half days, and when she was away, their nanny and housekeeper, Selena, played African radio stations – introducing him to the African beat.
Though the music bug had bitten him, he did not do much about it that the time. He just continued to learn the flute.
After matric, his parents could not afford take him to university, but he was fortunate to get a bursary. He got an Anglo American bursary to study electrical engineering at what is now called the University of Johannesburg.
“I have two passions, music and maths. So engineering made sense for me. The agreement was that I would have to work for Anglo American for two years to pay them back for the bursary. After finishing my studies, I worked in a coal mine in Witbank, I had to be underground every day. I was miserable and I could not do it for another year, so I quit and paid them back for the outstanding year. I joined a military band and I also opened my engineering firm.
Wouter married young and had two children who are now 38 and 35 years old, respectively.
His marriage only lasted for seven years and he got custody of the children.
“I tried to get into music, but I just could not make it work. I would try, run out of money and go back to engineering. And I would do this every few years, but it never really worked out. I then decided to go overseas once a year to attend masterclasses.
“I also had a responsibility to my children, so I made sure they had everything they needed and I would also participate in their extra mural activities. Like if I was taking my daughter to tap dancing, I would not just sit there in the corner, I would also learn like the kids were.
“I was in my mid 40s when I decided to focus solely on music because my kids were grown and so I could afford to focus on myself and my dream and passion. My friends said I was crazy because of what I was giving up and that would be no guarantees. I gave up a solid in income, I would have been super wealthy by now.
It’s a Wednesday afternoon, Wouter speaks to Drum while still basking from his second Grammy win. We meet at the Jazzworx Studios in Bryanston, which happens be the only immersive studio in the country with state-of-the-art technology.
He says when he started doing his own music in 2005, he put together songs he had written over the previous two decades for an album. In 2007, he released his first album, Colour, which won him a South African Music Award for best DVD.
“I had booked the UJ Theatre for three days. There were dancers and I also did gumboot dancing at the end. I approached Husky Hoskulds who is a Grammy winning mixing engineer and he listened to it and said it was pretty good. But he was still willing to work on it. I flew to LA, met him and spent a week mixing it. It really got great reviews.”
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Over the years, Wouter has released 9 albums, won 8 SAMAs and now two Grammy Awards. He also part of the entertainment for the Fifa Soccer World Cup closing ceremony in 2010.
In 2015, he won a Grammy Award for Best New Age, Ambient or Chant Album for his album for Winds of Samsara. This made him the first individual South African to win a Grammy since idol, Miriam Makeba in 1966.
“Since Miriam Makeba there have been wins for groups like Ladysmith Black Mambazo and Soweto Gospel.
"Miriam Makeba has had a huge influence in my music. I think my favourite of her songs is The Naughty Little Flea. I was a big fan of her work, I even did my own version of Malaika.”
Wouter’s mission over the years, has been making music that he is absolutely proud of and exporting South African music to the world.
“What we are not good at is the business part of the music, I think that is where most artists fall short.”
Now that Wouter has done more than initially set out to do when he started in 2005, but winning two Grammy awards, the only thing left to do now is to do a collaboration with Nora Jones.
He understands his market is very niche and that is why he spends so much time overseas.
“In the 10 years before Covid-19, I have taken over 100 flights going overseas. I am grateful for technology, because nowadays because send and work on music from anywhere in the world.”
On the topic of collaboration, Wouter only met Nomcebo Zikode on the day they were going to shoot the music video for their Grammy winning song, Bayethe.
“I have known Zakes for a while and have been wanting to work together. He sent me the beat, cord progression and the melody. Nomcebo sent the lyrics and her vocals. We decided that we would split everything we make from the song three ways.”
He says they do not get any money for winning a Grammy, except the prestige of it.
“Because there are only three of us, we are all going to get an actual Grammy award. They are still going to send them. But large groups don’t usually get individual trophies, just one for the group.
He is also the man behind getting the Ndlovu Youth Choir from South Africa. His team found the choir online, he collaborated with them and they did the South African version of Ed Sheeran’s Shape of You.
“I think those kids are amazing and so we did a music video which we posted and sent to our friends around the world. The clip then got to America’s Got Talent and they reached out, asking the choir to come enter. The kids did so well, I am incredibly proud of them.”
What most people do not know about Wouter is that he dances. Some of his favourites include salsa, gumboot and tango.
