{"id":3943,"date":"2026-04-19T14:47:31","date_gmt":"2026-04-19T12:47:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/timsmal.com\/show\/?post_type=podcast&#038;p=3943"},"modified":"2026-04-20T07:26:13","modified_gmt":"2026-04-20T05:26:13","slug":"hugo-veldsman","status":"publish","type":"podcast","link":"https:\/\/timsmal.com\/show\/podcast\/hugo-veldsman\/","title":{"rendered":"Hugo Veldsman \u2013 These Fears Are Not Our Fears"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure data-wp-context=\"{&quot;imageId&quot;:&quot;69e784f324ed7&quot;}\" data-wp-interactive=\"core\/image\" data-wp-key=\"69e784f324ed7\" class=\"wp-block-image aligncenter size-large is-resized wp-lightbox-container\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"1024\" data-wp-class--hide=\"state.isContentHidden\" data-wp-class--show=\"state.isContentVisible\" data-wp-init=\"callbacks.setButtonStyles\" data-wp-on--click=\"actions.showLightbox\" data-wp-on--load=\"callbacks.setButtonStyles\" 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This file is auto-generated *\/\n!function(d,l){&quot;use strict&quot;;l.querySelector&amp;&amp;d.addEventListener&amp;&amp;&quot;undefined&quot;!=typeof URL&amp;&amp;(d.wp=d.wp||{},d.wp.receiveEmbedMessage||(d.wp.receiveEmbedMessage=function(e){var t=e.data;if((t||t.secret||t.message||t.value)&amp;&amp;!\/[^a-zA-Z0-9]\/.test(t.secret)){for(var s,r,n,a=l.querySelectorAll(&#039;iframe[data-secret=&quot;&#039;+t.secret+&#039;&quot;]&#039;),o=l.querySelectorAll(&#039;blockquote[data-secret=&quot;&#039;+t.secret+&#039;&quot;]&#039;),c=new RegExp(&quot;^https?:$&quot;,&quot;i&quot;),i=0;i&lt;o.length;i++)o[i].style.display=&quot;none&quot;;for(i=0;i&lt;a.length;i++)s=a[i],e.source===s.contentWindow&amp;&amp;(s.removeAttribute(&quot;style&quot;),&quot;height&quot;===t.message?(1e3&lt;(r=parseInt(t.value,10))?r=1e3:~~r&lt;200&amp;&amp;(r=200),s.height=r):&quot;link&quot;===t.message&amp;&amp;(r=new URL(s.getAttribute(&quot;src&quot;)),n=new URL(t.value),c.test(n.protocol))&amp;&amp;n.host===r.host&amp;&amp;l.activeElement===s&amp;&amp;(d.top.location.href=t.value))}},d.addEventListener(&quot;message&quot;,d.wp.receiveEmbedMessage,!1),l.addEventListener(&quot;DOMContentLoaded&quot;,function(){for(var e,t,s=l.querySelectorAll(&quot;iframe.wp-embedded-content&quot;),r=0;r&lt;s.length;r++)(t=(e=s[r]).getAttribute(&quot;data-secret&quot;))||(t=Math.random().toString(36).substring(2,12),e.src+=&quot;#?secret=&quot;+t,e.setAttribute(&quot;data-secret&quot;,t)),e.contentWindow.postMessage({message:&quot;ready&quot;,secret:t},&quot;*&quot;)},!1)))}(window,document);\n\/\/# sourceURL=https:\/\/timsmal.com\/show\/wp-includes\/js\/wp-embed.min.js\n&lt;\/script&gt;\n'\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t   title=\"Embed Code\"\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t   class=\"input-embed input-embed-3943\" readonly\/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<button class=\"copy-embed copy-embed-3943\" title=\"Copy Embed Code\" aria-label=\"Copy Embed Code\"><\/button>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\n\t\n\n\t<\/div>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center is-style-text-subtitle is-style-text-subtitle--1\"><em>Watch episode with subtitles on <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=IZd2828sIc8\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">YouTube<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading has-text-align-center\"><strong>\ud83c\udf99\ufe0f Episode Summary<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>In this episode, Tim sits down with <strong>Hugo Veldsman<\/strong> to discuss the evolution behind his 2025 album, <strong><em>These Fears Are Not Our Fears<\/em><\/strong>. Drawing from his classical training at the Stellenbosch Conservatorium and a deep-seated love for Americana, Hugo explains how he transitioned from the quiet folk of his debut to a bold, &#8220;stadium rock&#8221; energy. A central theme of the conversation is the philosophy behind the album\u2019s title\u2014a roadmap for navigating modern anxiety. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The discussion also dives into the technical wizardry that defines Hugo\u2019s signature sound, specifically his mastery of the <strong>Weissenborn lap steel<\/strong> and his innovative &#8220;parallel rig&#8221; that blends acoustic and electric signals. He also highlights the power of the global music community, detailing his cross-continental collaboration with Brazilian musician <strong>Daniel Arena<\/strong> and his upcoming work with local South African legends.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading has-text-align-center\"><strong>\ud83c\udfa7 Key Takeaways<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>The Evolution of Sound:<\/strong> How Hugo transitioned from the &#8220;scary&#8221; first steps of <em>The Calm Before<\/em> (2019) to the confident, live-energy sound of his latest work.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Gear Talk:<\/strong> A look at the <strong>Weissenborn<\/strong> lap steel and Hugo\u2019s unique &#8220;parallel&#8221; rig that blends electric grit with acoustic intimacy.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Songwriting as a Lexicon:<\/strong> Hugo\u2019s philosophy on absorbing music like a language to build a creative vocabulary.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>The Anatomy of Anxiety:<\/strong> The meaning behind the album title and how it serves as a boundary between global media-driven panic and personal growth.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading has-text-align-center\"><strong>\u23f1\ufe0f Timestamps<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>[00:00] Introduction:<\/strong> Tim welcomes Hugo Veldsman and sets the stage for the 2025 record, <em>These Fears Are Not Our Fears<\/em>.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>[01:09] Technical Roots:<\/strong> Hugo discusses his transition from childhood blues to training as a classical guitarist at the Stellenbosch Conservatorium.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>[02:14] The Calm Before:<\/strong> A look back at Hugo\u2019s 2019 debut album and the &#8220;scary&#8221; experience of recording in the Klein Karoo.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>[03:52] Chasing a Stadium Sound:<\/strong> Why this record leans into a &#8220;live&#8221; feel and how touring influenced the new sonic direction.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>[05:21] Lap Steel Deep Dive:<\/strong> Exploring the <strong>Weissenborn<\/strong> guitar and its role in the single &#8220;Can&#8217;t Stand To Break Your Heart.&#8221;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>[06:50] Character in the Percussion:<\/strong> How Hugo took over drum-writing duties to give tracks like &#8220;A Matter of the Heart&#8221; their emotional drive.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>[08:01] The Country Influence:<\/strong> Hugo explains how sessioning with <em>The Betsies<\/em> helped him develop his country and bluegrass chops.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>[09:00] The Musical Lexicon:<\/strong> A breakdown of major influences including Jeff Lang, John Butler, and The Black Keys.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>[10:40] Subconscious Inspirations:<\/strong> Addressing the &#8220;Springsteen&#8221; comparisons in &#8220;Crossfire&#8221; and the surprising influence of local act <em>Freshlyground<\/em>.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>[12:31] Drones and Energy:<\/strong> Discussing &#8220;Slip Away&#8221; and the heavy, punchy John Butler-esque energy of the album&#8217;s final compositions.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>[14:38] Defining the Fears:<\/strong> The philosophy behind the album title and navigating the boundary between global anxiety and personal growth.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>[16:29] Finding Humor in the Dark:<\/strong> The story of a panic attack at the <em>Up The Creek<\/em> festival that inspired &#8220;River Run Dry.&#8221;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>[18:55] Rig Rundown:<\/strong> Hugo geeks out on gear, explaining his parallel acoustic-electric signal chain and his Schecter Diamond Series guitar.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>[21:25] Global Collaborations:<\/strong> How a shared love for the Weissenborn led to a collaboration with Brazilian musician Daniel Arena.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>[23:03] What\u2019s Next:<\/strong> Upcoming projects with Luna Paige and pedal steel session work for <em>Yellow House<\/em>.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>[24:47] Closing Words:<\/strong> Hugo\u2019s final message to fans: &#8220;Consume local music and never stop consuming music.&#8221;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading has-text-align-center\">\ud83d\udd17 Links<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Bandcamp:<\/strong> <a href=\"https:\/\/hugoveldsman.bandcamp.com\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">hugoveldsman.bandcamp.com<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Instagram: <\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/instagram.com\/hugo_veldsman\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">instagram.com\/hugo_veldsman<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>YouTube: <\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/youtube.com\/@hugoveldsman\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">youtube.com\/@hugoveldsman<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading has-text-align-center\">\ud83d\udcc3 Transcript<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Tim Smal [host]: <\/strong>Hi folks and welcome to the show. My name is Tim Smal. My guest today is Hugo Veldsman. If you&#8217;ve spent any time over the last year getting lost in the resonant haunting ring of a lap steel guitar, you&#8217;ve likely been listening to Hugo Veldsman. His latest record, <em>These Fears Are Not Our Fears<\/em>, has become a sort of companion for a lot of us since it dropped in 2025, a roadmap for navigating the anxieties we carry. Today we&#8217;re sitting down to talk about the afterlife of that record, the grit of the Western Cape music scene, and why these fears don&#8217;t actually belong to us. Hugo, welcome to the show.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Hugo Veldsman [guest]: <\/strong>Hey man, great to be here. Thanks for having me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Tim [00:43]: <\/strong>You&#8217;re welcome. I&#8217;m really excited to talk about your latest record, but first off, I&#8217;d like to find out a little bit more about the style of music that you play because I believe you&#8217;re very passionate about Americana and Blues music, and your style is rooted in, I would say, alternative folk songwriting, heavily influenced by your finger-picking technique that you developed when you were training as a classical guitarist at the Stellenbosch Conservatorium.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Hugo [01:09]:<\/strong> Yeah, that&#8217;s correct, man. Yeah, so I think my roots kind of stem from the blues and stuff as a kid learning the guitar. But a title that I really like, that someone just once threw at me is kind of alternative folk. I feel that&#8217;s like a nice title to capture kind of my love for Americana. And experimenting outside of that into more kind of traditional singer songwriting stuff. Yeah, I started there and then later in life, around about 16, I did classical guitar. And yeah, that was a great learning experience for me. I really developed my right-hand technique, which actually translated really well into Americana and folk music.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Tim [01:54]: <\/strong>Great. And your first record that came out in 2019 was called <em>The Calm Before<\/em>, which is a really interesting title considering your second album, which we&#8217;re going to talk about in a moment. But I&#8217;d like to just hear a little bit about your first record and how that&#8217;s kind of impacted you over the last five or six years since it came out in terms of your career.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Hugo [02:14]: <\/strong>Yeah, man. It was a scary time for me in the sense, you know, it was my first record. It was my first year doing music full-time. And what most people do is they kind of do singles and EPs starting out, but I did the bold thing of like, I&#8217;m going to record an album. And I headed out to Ladismith in the Klein Karoo to record with a good friend of mine, Jo Ellis. I think I was 23 at that time, maybe 24. And you know, this was my first time also driving long distance, so that was scary for me. So my first time being in a studio&nbsp;\u2013&nbsp;well, not the first time being in a studio, but you know, for my own work, not sessioning with someone else. And there was this kind of sense that things were gonna change after this. And I think that is where the title came from,&nbsp;<em>The Calm Before<\/em>. And it is also kind of more of my old style. These were songs that I wrote from 2016 onwards, when I was starting to experiment with songwriting and writing my own tunes. And yeah, so I think that&#8217;s where the title of the album came from.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Tim [03:25]: <\/strong>Great. And the new record, which was also recorded in Ladismith with Jo&nbsp;Ellis, is an incredible album. The genres are mixed in there&nbsp;\u2013 I mean, there&#8217;s definitely Americana and Blues and Rock. But I can pick up some Country and some really groovy stuff in there as well. So&#8230; so much to talk about with this new record. Where to start? Where to start? Why don&#8217;t you tell us a little bit more about how the new record, <em>These Fears Are Not Our Fears<\/em> came together.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Hugo [03:52]: <\/strong>Yeah. So I think the big thing with the new record was, after the first album, I was performing and touring and stuff for five years with the band. And the more you perform, you learn a lot and you get all kinds of cool ideas. And I think that the thing I really wanted to do with <em>These Fears Are Not Our Fears<\/em> was really incorporating everything I learned from touring and so on. That&#8217;s why it kind of has a lot more of a stadium rock&nbsp;\u2013 not that I played stadiums or anything&nbsp;\u2013 but just it has more of a kind of a live sound and is more genuine to things that me and the band do live. Yeah, I think that was kind of the sonic inspiration for that. Also, a lot of other music that inspired me after the first album also worked its way into there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Tim [04:39]:<\/strong> Oh yeah, I&#8217;d love to hear more about your influences because I can hear so many of them coming through in the album when I was listening to this new record. But let&#8217;s talk about the first track on the album, <em>Can&#8217;t Stand To Break Your Heart<\/em>, because this is a really big track on the album and there&#8217;s even a music video that you&#8217;ve got on YouTube. So this would be your big stadium rock track, right?&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Hugo [05:00]: <\/strong>Yeah, I guess. It&#8217;s been our favorite one to play live and it gets really good reception with people. It was almost not the single. I was first skeptical about it, but my band convinced me. They were like, &#8220;No, this is the one. This should definitely be the first single off of the album and it should be the first track on the album&#8221; and they were right. I was wrong.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Tim [05:21]:<\/strong> Well, I think this is a good time to talk about the lap steel guitar, which is a big feature in your music. In fact, you mentioned to me before we started the interview that you own about four different kinds of lap steels and one of them certainly&nbsp;\u2013 well, at least one of them appears in this song. So tell me more about the lap steel guitar in this song in particular.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Hugo [05:40]:<\/strong> Yeah. So on this song, I am playing an instrument that&#8217;s called a Weissenborn. So you get different kinds of lap steel guitars. You get square neck resonators, electric lap steels and then of course the Weissenborn. I think Ben Harper made this instrument a lot more popular. He is known for playing it. And it&#8217;s kind of iconic through its chambered neck. So the neck of the guitar forms part of the chamber of the body. And yeah, it&#8217;s kind of become my calling card. I&#8217;ve been playing it now since I think 2019. And this track is a great example of it being put through its paces.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Tim [06:19]: <\/strong>Absolutely. So the folks should definitely go check out this music video. I believe it was filmed in Basson&nbsp;Laubscher&#8217;s studio. So you can see Hugo and his band having a great time there. I&#8217;d like to touch on a few of the other tracks. Let&#8217;s look at <em>A Matter of the Heart<\/em>, because that&#8217;s actually a more chilled song where the drums are cutting through quite nicely in the mix and it&#8217;s very emotive. So talk to me about how this track, along with others on the album, how they carry so much emotion in the music.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Hugo [06:50]: <\/strong>Yeah, man. So I think the real emotion in this track has to come from the drums. So another unique thing about this album that I did that I didn&#8217;t do with the previous album was I actually wrote the drums. With the previous album, Chris and Jo kind of had a lot of input in the drum writing. I just kind of came with the songs as demos. We came in there and just worked them back from the bottom that way. So I really have to tip my hat to Chris with nailing the drums on this track. I really like writing drums that have a lot of character, and this kind of &#8220;tom thing&#8221; is what really gives the drive and the momentum to the song.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Tim [07:31]:<\/strong> Beautiful. Yeah. Chris really did a great job on that track, and of course, he played drums throughout the whole album, so his style is really coming through there nice and strong. I would say that the drums are an incredible addition to this album, they really help to fill things out and bring a lot of energy throughout the whole album.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Hugo [07:47]: <\/strong>Yeah, a lot of energy. Yeah.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Tim [07:50]: <\/strong>Okay. Well, let&#8217;s look at a track called <em>Glow<\/em>, because this has got a really nice Country feel, and you&#8217;re bringing that sort of Country\/Americana style into this album quite a lot, right?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Hugo [08:01]: <\/strong>Yeah. I think another genre that I started experimenting a lot in, and it&#8217;s mostly due to after the first album, I started playing pedal steel guitar, and I also started playing and sessioning with another band called The Betsies, who&#8217;s a sister duo act that do classic Bluegrass and Country music, and they&#8217;re some of the best in this country, honestly, and they&#8217;re amazing songwriters. And working with them, I really had to work on my country chops and stuff, and the best way to do that is, of course, just to listen to Country music. So this was another passion that I discovered along the way that I wanted to work in there. With a bit of my own twist, I&#8217;d say this kind of has like a Gregory Alan Isakov&nbsp;feel to it for me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Tim [08:48]: <\/strong>All right. Yeah, I&#8217;m glad that you&#8217;re mentioning your influences because gosh, you must listen to so much music. I can hear all of that coming through. In fact, maybe now is a good time to just run through some of your big influences on this album.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Hugo [09:00]:<\/strong> Yeah, of course, man. When it comes to lap steel, my biggest influence&nbsp;is definitely a guy called Jeff Lang. He&#8217;s an Australian-based blues songwriter and he&#8217;s a wizard on the lap steel guitar. In fact, he&#8217;s the guy that inspired me to take it up in the first place. And if you know Jeff, you&#8217;ll also know that he collaborated with Chris Whiteley, a very famous, kind of a cult classic in America, kind of the Americana blues scene. He had a very unique style to him. He was more of a slide player. And then also, I have to admit on this album, there&#8217;s a great deal of John Butler sneaking through, especially his album <em>Flesh and Blood<\/em>, which is my absolute favorite of his. So I think that those are three staples, definitely coming through there. There&#8217;s a bit of other things in there as well that I can definitely say, like I think I channeled a bit more The Black Keys and, as I previously mentioned,&nbsp;Gregory Alan Isakov, for the more subtle, nuanced songs and so on.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Tim [10:08]:&nbsp;<\/strong>Cool. Yeah, it&#8217;s interesting when you listen to music as a fan, like in my case, right? And I listen to one of your tracks like <em>Crossfire<\/em>. And then I&#8217;m thinking, &#8220;Wow, this is so awesome because it kind of reminds me of someone, in a good sense, right?&#8221; But my brain&#8217;s trying to think of, &#8220;Who am I thinking of, right?&#8221; Because the first guy that comes to mind would be Bruce Springsteen. And I&#8217;m thinking, but is that accurate? But that&#8217;s what&#8217;s coming to mind. But let&#8217;s talk about <em>Crossfire<\/em> because once again, very emotive, the pianos featured there, the tracks got strong vocals. Another real banger of a track, right?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Hugo [10:40]:<\/strong> Yeah, thanks, man. It&#8217;s actually really funny that you say Bruce Springsteen. You&#8217;re actually the second guy in an interview that made that connection. And I find it interesting. I do dig Bruce Springsteen. <em>Nebraska<\/em> is my favorite album of his, that&#8217;s always stuck with me throughout the years. But I don&#8217;t know. Yeah, that&#8217;s an interesting connection. And yeah, it&#8217;s the first album that I kind of did on the piano. It&#8217;s something that I kind of hope of doing more. I&#8217;ve always had this idea, you know, at some venues there is an upright piano and it would be cool if we had a track that we can do like that. I kind of like the romance of putting down the guitar, and for a nice intimate groovy song just kind of turn towards the piano. But the weird thing for me is, this song was actually for me more channeling Freshlyground, more a local act&nbsp;in this one. For me personally, it evoked those memories for me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Tim [11:34]:<\/strong> Awesome. Well, that&#8217;s why it&#8217;s interesting to find out, right? Because there&#8217;s so many artists out there and everyone influences us over many years and it&#8217;s all in our subconscious, right?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Hugo [11:44]:<\/strong> Yeah. Yeah, man, you kind of just absorb these type of things. I read a lot of books on music, on writing composition and music cognition and stuff. And there is kind of a golden thread throughout all of them that just says like: Listen to a lot of music, as much as you can. And it&#8217;s in your nature to absorb them. It&#8217;s like a language. You kind of build up this lexicon and just naturally learn to incorporate it in your everyday life.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Tim [12:16]: <\/strong>Yeah, you can definitely hear that approach coming through on this record, as I mentioned earlier, so many different genres, and every song is so unique. So if we look at another one, <em>Slip Away<\/em>, this is now a big, punchy, bold track with a lot of high energy, right?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Hugo [12:31]:<\/strong> Yeah. I think this was actually the last song I wrote on the album. It was the last one to finish, and when I finished it, I was like, &#8220;Okay, cool. Let&#8217;s book studio time and get this thing on the roll.&#8221; I&#8217;m definitely channeling a lot of John Butler in that track. Like that kind of very droney, like the whole song just has this low D running throughout and me kind of wailing on it throughout the track. Yeah, definitely a heavy John Butler influence there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Tim [13:03]: <\/strong>Absolutely. And then there&#8217;s another track which you have a lyric video for on your YouTube site. So folks, definitely go check out the YouTube channel for Hugo, he&#8217;s got some great videos there. And this track is called <em>Skin and Bones<\/em>, which once again is very groovy. It kind of reminds me of Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers album <em>Mojo<\/em>, when they did a lot of groovy stuff, nice and chilled. So tell me more about that one.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Hugo [13:28]: <\/strong>Yeah. For me there, I think that was like the big The Black Keys track that I was kind of channeling there. So if you look on YouTube and everything and Instagram, like every Friday, I have this little fun video that I put together that I call 8 Bar Fridays, which is just like a great little exercise for me to churn out something and experiment. It&#8217;s almost like an idea log. And this was one of them actually. So it was just this kind of G minor vamp that I was playing around with. And yeah, I always thought that there was kind of a potential there. And also the lyrics came very naturally. And yeah, that&#8217;s how the ball got rolling.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Tim [14:12]:<\/strong> Awesome. And then a really big track on the album is called <em>Chasing Shadows in the Dark<\/em>. So when this one comes up, there&#8217;s something about this track that is really special to me. Or should I say, I can understand why the album title comes from this track. So I would say this is one of my personal favorites on the album. A very memorable song, perhaps is a good way to articulate it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Hugo [14:37]: <\/strong>Oh, thanks, man.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Tim [14:38]: <\/strong>Can you tell me a little bit more about the song and a little bit more about the name of the album, <em>These Fears Are Not Our Fears<\/em>?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Hugo [14:47]:<\/strong> Yeah, so you&#8217;re correct that this is where the title comes from. So at first, it was really weird for me. The lyrics just came to me when I was writing the bridge, like, &#8220;you see, these fears are not our fears.&#8221; And I was like, &#8220;Woah, that&#8217;s a weird one!&#8221; And often I would only find the meaning for a track or something afterwards. And as I pondered about it a lot more, and as I was fleshing out the lyrics of that track specifically, I think it just deals with, around about the time that I was developing the album was after 2020. And the overwhelming anxiety that you feel and like the kind of pervasiveness of consuming media, reading the news and everything, you know, I would sometimes find myself in a borderline paranoia almost. Like I&#8217;m sitting in my living room and it&#8217;s like, it feels like the world is ending tonight type of thing. And I realized I&#8217;m just consuming all of these fears, like these often legitimate fears, like from all over the world, from every bloody corner. And I decided &#8220;I have fears too, and I have ones that are more pressing to my life, that are important to me, that I need to tackle.&#8221; So I think it&#8217;s just kind of dealing with that type of thing of distinguishing what fears are important in your life that you want to tackle. Because some fears are not your fears, type of thing, you know?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Tim [16:11]: <\/strong>Yeah, that makes a lot of sense and a very interesting concept for that track. And the last track on your album is called <em>River Run Dry<\/em>. And this is a really groovy track, also quite an exciting, bold song, right?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Hugo [16:29]:<\/strong> Yeah, this track is kind of, yeah, it&#8217;s an interesting one. I&#8217;m definitely channeling more Jeff Lang here. And what Jeff does, he has a lot of Aboriginal Rock influences from Australia, and he also has a background playing East Indian traditional music. So he kind of has this world music influence in there. And I&#8217;m also a big fan of&nbsp;Ali Farka Tour\u00e9&#8217;s stuff, especially his collaborations with&nbsp;Ry Cooder. And I think that&#8217;s kind of what I&#8217;m channeling here. So it kind of has this&#8230; a bit of a world music thing going on in it. But the story behind the song is: I was at a music festival, I think it was Up The Creek. And I kind of had this panic attack. And anyone that has had that experience will know you kind of&#8230; it feels like this very pressing feeling. And everything feels a bit haywire. And I found a secluded corner and I was kind of sitting there thinking I&#8217;m dying. And it feels like the world&#8217;s about to end. And there was this little grace period that I was just like, &#8220;Okay, so it&#8217;s ending now, but like this is a great place for it to happen. Because we&#8217;re at a music festival, I&#8217;m surrounded by the thing that I love.&#8221; And so I think that&#8217;s where the inspiration for the lyric comes from, like &#8220;how long until the river runs dry. And come on baby, let&#8217;s move our feet and dance&#8221; and the type of thing. Rage at the dying of the light type of thing. So yeah, there&#8217;s a bit of humor in there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Tim [18:07]: <\/strong>Yeah. And I guess the story of that song, as you mentioned, talking about panic attacks and so forth, also ties into the theme of <em>These Fears Are Not Our Fears<\/em>, right? Dealing with anxieties, dealing with these challenges. Okay. Well, let&#8217;s turn our attention to an area where you&#8217;re very confident, and I&#8217;m sure the anxiety levels go down. And that would be your gear, right? The gear that you use. You&#8217;ve done a video on YouTube recently called Rig Rundown, where you take a walkthrough of all of your gear. And it&#8217;s an amazing video, I encourage everyone listening to go and check it out because it&#8217;s very detailed. But maybe you could just run me through the basics of some of the instruments that you use and what that video is all about.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Hugo [18:55]:<\/strong> Yeah, man. So guitar nerds always geek out about gear and stuff. So I made that video just to answer some common questions. But I kind of just talk about all the guitars that I use. Well, mostly that I use at shows like my acoustic and my lap steel and my Diamond Series Schecter, which is an odd one, you don&#8217;t see that one floating around a lot. But yeah, so the unique thing about my setup is I get the electric guitar sound running in parallel with the acoustic guitar. And I kind of blend them together to get a bigger sound out of the acoustic guitar. Because on a dime, I can go into a very hard rock vamp and then strip down to a very intimate Folk\/Country type of finger-picking thing. So I kind of had to develop this thing to really make the acoustic stand out within the band setting and also be able to be very dynamic on a big stage, kind of make up for that lost space.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Tim [19:59]: <\/strong>Great. Yeah, I love the sound of your Schecter Diamond Series electric guitar, which is featured in this video, it&#8217;s got a beautiful tone. As well as the Fender Paramount dreadnought acoustic, which also sounds beautiful, and I&#8217;m a big dreadnought acoustic fan. So you&#8217;re definitely getting those guitars to ring beautifully both on the albums and live, right?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Hugo [20:20]: <\/strong>Yeah. I need to give a shout out to Jo Ellis there. A big reason why I like working with Jo is just, I remember listening to a recording that he did before I started working with him, and I fell in love with how he records an acoustic guitar. Because I knew that the big challenge was going to be like this thing needs to stand out in a very busy mix and Jo just is a wizard and he has a way of doing that. It doesn&#8217;t feel like the acoustic is just like this rhythm thing in the background, it&#8217;s actually at the epicenter of the tone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Tim [20:51]: <\/strong>Yeah, Jo has done a really great job producing this record and I&#8217;m looking forward to seeing what you guys do on your next album, right?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Hugo [20:59]:<\/strong> Yeah, man.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Tim [21:02]: <\/strong>Awesome. Okay, and I&#8217;d like to touch on some of your collab projects that you&#8217;re working on at the moment. I&nbsp;know that you did release a single with Daniel Arena, who is a musician from Brazil that you met online because of your shared love for the Weissenborn lap steel. So maybe you can tell me a bit about that single and then some of the other projects that you have coming up.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Hugo [21:25]:<\/strong> Yeah. So I literally met Daniel through just the #Weissenborn community on Instagram. Like we all keep tabs on each other, we all know all the other Weissenborn players out there. And he reached out to me and I listened to his music. And one day he just kind of took a chance and said, &#8220;Hey, would you like to collaborate with me on this song?&#8221; And this was actually <em>Burning River<\/em>, like back in 2022, I think. And then a couple of years on, he reached out to me and he&#8217;s like, &#8220;Hey, I&#8217;m thinking of maybe heading out to South Africa. We should maybe do a tour and a couple of shows that side.&#8221; Yeah, so I started organizing events and venues and stuff. And we had three days off and I told him, &#8220;How about I actually drive him out to the Klein Karoo, to Ladismith?&#8221; and we recorded <em>Madeleine<\/em>, which is a song that he&#8217;s been working on that we fleshed out in the studio. So it was just like a magical two weeks that Daniel was this side, he&#8217;s a lekker oke. Yeah, and I hope to head out to Brazil sometime and then we do the same thing there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Tim [22:37]: <\/strong>Amazing. Yeah, I&#8217;m definitely going to check out his music. And it&#8217;s so cool how you can collaborate with musicians on the Internet these days. It&#8217;s a very cool way to not only stretch yourself musically, but also grow your fan base, right? Because you&#8217;re connecting with other musicians and they&#8217;re learning about you from other parts of the world. So yeah, I look forward to seeing who else you collaborate with in the future. And you said you had some new projects coming up as well?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Hugo [23:03]:<\/strong> Yeah. So a big thing that I started doing, it was a goal for me this year was actually collaborating with other artists and stuff. And the ball kind of started rolling with Daniel. And I&#8217;ve been working with The Betsies, as I said earlier, and I&#8217;m also planning on doing some things with Luna Paige, who&#8217;s an amazing singer-songwriter here from South Africa. She&#8217;s one of my favorite female frontmen. So yeah, I&#8217;m really looking forward to working with her. We&#8217;ve got a couple of dates lined up and we&#8217;ve been working on some things together. But nothing official yet, but I&#8217;ll keep you posted on that. And yeah, I&#8217;ve also been doing a lot of pedal steel work with some very cool acts in South Africa, such as Yellow House, who has a new album coming out, I think now in August. I did a couple of tracks with them and I&#8217;m really excited for that. And also, I&#8217;m doing all kinds of pedal steel session work with other artists also from overseas and so on. So yeah, collaboration and working with other musicians is something I really want to be channeling this year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Tim [24:12]:<\/strong> Awesome, so lots to look forward to in the world of Hugo Veldsman. Yeah, I&#8217;m looking forward to catching you live at a show and I&#8217;m going to be digging even deeper into your latest record, <em>These Fears Are Not Our Fears<\/em>, now that I know even more about the songwriting process and the stories behind all of the songs. So Hugo, thanks so much for joining me on the show today. I encourage the listeners to go check out your music. And of course, you&#8217;re on all the different social media platforms, so check Hugo out there too. Do you have any final words for the fans?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Hugo [24:47]: <\/strong>Yeah, thanks so much for having me, Tim. And yeah, I hope to see you at a gig. And yeah: &#8220;Consume local music and never stop consuming music.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Tim [24:58]: <\/strong>There you have it folks, the one and only Hugo Veldsman. Check out his latest record, <em>These Fears Are Not Our Fears<\/em>. Thanks once again, Hugo, and have a fantastic day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Hugo [25:08]:<\/strong> Thank you, man. Cheers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Hugo Veldsman discusses his album, These Fears Are Not Our Fears. <\/p>\n<p>\u2022 Show notes: go.timsmal.com\/hugo<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3945,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"episode_type":"audio","audio_file":"https:\/\/timsmal.com\/show\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/hugo-veldsman-3.m4a","podmotor_file_id":"","podmotor_episode_id":"","cover_image":"https:\/\/timsmal.com\/show\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/hugo-veldsman.jpg","cover_image_id":"3945","duration":"00:25:12","filesize":"30.11M","filesize_raw":"31567466","date_recorded":"2026-04-20 06:35:45","explicit":"","block":"","itunes_episode_number":"","itunes_title":"","itunes_season_number":"","itunes_episode_type":""},"tags":[],"series":[97],"class_list":["post-3943","podcast","type-podcast","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","series-the-tim-smal-show"],"episode_featured_image":"https:\/\/timsmal.com\/show\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/hugo-veldsman.jpg","episode_player_image":"https:\/\/timsmal.com\/show\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/hugo-veldsman.jpg","download_link":"https:\/\/op3.dev\/e\/timsmal.com\/show\/podcast-download\/3943\/hugo-veldsman","player_link":"https:\/\/op3.dev\/e\/timsmal.com\/show\/podcast-player\/3943\/hugo-veldsman","audio_player":null,"episode_data":{"playerMode":"dark","subscribeUrls":{"apple_podcasts":{"key":"apple_podcasts","url":"https:\/\/podcasts.apple.com\/us\/podcast\/the-tim-smal-show\/id1504252908","label":"Apple Podcasts","class":"apple_podcasts","icon":"apple-podcasts.png"},"google_podcasts":{"key":"google_podcasts","url":"","label":"Google Podcasts","class":"google_podcasts","icon":"google-podcasts.png"},"spotify":{"key":"spotify","url":"https:\/\/open.spotify.com\/show\/4YeyVPJug9FJEcs2NY2abB","label":"Spotify","class":"spotify","icon":"spotify.png"},"stitcher":{"key":"stitcher","url":"","label":"Stitcher","class":"stitcher","icon":"stitcher.png"}},"rssFeedUrl":"https:\/\/timsmal.com\/show\/feed\/podcast\/the-tim-smal-show","embedCode":"<blockquote class=\"wp-embedded-content\" data-secret=\"2Amp8DbRQB\"><a href=\"https:\/\/timsmal.com\/show\/podcast\/hugo-veldsman\/\">Hugo Veldsman \u2013 These Fears Are Not Our Fears<\/a><\/blockquote><iframe sandbox=\"allow-scripts\" security=\"restricted\" src=\"https:\/\/timsmal.com\/show\/podcast\/hugo-veldsman\/embed\/#?secret=2Amp8DbRQB\" width=\"500\" height=\"350\" title=\"&#8220;Hugo Veldsman \u2013 These Fears Are Not Our Fears&#8221; &#8212; The Tim Smal Show\" data-secret=\"2Amp8DbRQB\" frameborder=\"0\" marginwidth=\"0\" marginheight=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\" class=\"wp-embedded-content\"><\/iframe><script>\n\/*! 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