From sold-out stages and half-a-million-strong crowds to unexpected skydives, career-changing risks and a memorable encounter with a dog’s teeth, Nádine Hoffeldt’s life has certainly never been short on adventure.
In this candid Q & A, she takes us behind the music and beyond the spotlight, sharing the moments that have shaped her career, tested her courage, and taught her a few valuable lessons along the way.
Q: Have you ever had an experience you would describe as an adventure?
A: My career, honestly. Just to be creating, writing and recording new songs year after year, watching them unfold as the story of my life, and getting to share that with people. Being on the road, catching flights, touring — it’s a real adventure. I’m so grateful for it.
Q: If you could do it all over again, would you pursue the same career?
A: If I had to pick a career again, I don’t think I would ever give up music. It has brought me so much joy.
Q: What’s the hardest you’ve ever worked?
A: When I travelled to Sweden in 2008 to record an album there. We wrote and recorded songs in studio, I travelled a great distance, and I worked with an amazing production team and vocal coach.
It was intense, with no resting time. Working on my album This Time I Know was the hardest I’ve ever worked in my life.
Q: What was the biggest risk you’ve taken?
A: In 2001, at a time when nobody really invested in their own albums, I decided to become my own record label and recorded my very own album, Simply Me.
It was an English album with only one or two Afrikaans tracks on it. Ironically, my big hit Karoo Se Dyn ended up on that album. It was a big financial and career risk, and I’m so glad I did it.
Q: What’s the most nervous you’ve ever been?
A: When I had to perform just before the Miss SA crowning a few years ago. The organisers invited every Miss SA who had ever been crowned to walk on stage while I sang my song.
Q: When did you feel your biggest adrenaline rush?
A: In 2010, during the soccer world cup hosted by SA, I performed in Berlin representing my country.
There were about half-a-million people there — the biggest crowd I’d ever performed to. It was one of the most nerve-racking, exhilarating moments of my life.
Q: What is something people would be surprised to learn about you?
A: That I’m actually quite the joker among my friends. When we’re around a table, I’m always the one making jokes, being silly and bringing laughter. It’s important to me to be silly every now and again and really grab life.
Q: What’s the most physically painful thing you’ve ever experienced?
A: Years ago my dog bit me in the face while I was teasing her — and I still kept and loved her for many years afterwards. I had an operation and some scarring. I later had to go back for one more stitch, which needed local anaesthetic. A very thick needle numbing the skin in your face is the most painful thing I’ve ever experienced, and something I’d never want to relive.
Q: What is your biggest irrational fear?
A: Swimming in a dam or a river. It always feels like the unsafest place. I know a lot of people enjoy it, but I just cannot get into any water I can’t see through. I simply don’t trust it.
Q: What’s the most bogus rumour you’ve ever heard about yourself?
A: That I have triplets.
Q: Has your life been different to what you imagined?
A: Yes. I believe if you work hard at your goals, you’ll eventually reach them — but sometimes the road looks a little different to the way you pictured it.
Q: What’s the worst mistake you’ve made?
A: Investing in property years ago without really understanding the industry or the market. But I think we learn our lessons over time.
Q: What makes you who you are?
A: My loyalty, my character, my commitment, and that I’m a hard worker.
Q: What’s the most surprising thing you’ve learnt about yourself?
A: That I’ve taken after my mom in one specific way — she taught me to never, ever give up. I always thought there was a threshold where I’d give up on something, but I’ve realised that if I truly believe in something or someone, I won’t give up.
Q: Do you live by any piece of advice or motto?
A: I quite often say, “It is what it is”. You can only give everything you’ve got and do your best, and if that’s not enough, sometimes you just have to accept that it is what it is.
Q: What advice would you give your younger self?
A: To not worry so much about everything. I’m quite a worrier and I overthink things, so I’d tell myself to just breeze through life a little more.
Q: What’s something you’ve done that made you feel extreme happiness?
A: My shop, Nellie Fellies. It brings me so much joy and contentedness.
Q: What’s the most spontaneous thing you’ve done?
A: I once joined a friend who was going skydiving, purely to support them — and then at the last minute I decided to jump too. Skydiving definitely wasn’t on my list for that day, but I decided to just go for it.
- Catch Nadine at Centrestage at Baywest on Saturday at 7.30pm. Doors open at 6pm. Tickets cost R250 and are available through Quicket and Westway.
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