Jonathan Suttin from 105.5 Triple M interviews Teddy Swims before his sold out show
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00:00Hey everybody, it's Jonathan Sutton from Odyssey Madison, and I'm lucky enough to
00:06welcome the one and only Teddy Swims to our talk.
00:10Welcome to Madison.
00:11So glad you're here.
00:12All right, let's get started.
00:13Let's go way back for a minute if we can.
00:15You're from Georgia.
00:17Football is life in Georgia.
00:18Yeah, it certainly was.
00:20And you did football.
00:21For most of my life, yeah, until I was about maybe 16 or 17, I did, and got into theater
00:26and it really changed my life.
00:28So that's the question.
00:29You go from, you know, football, what position did you play?
00:31I was a defensive tackle and offensive guard.
00:33All right, so then you start doing musicals and stuff in high school.
00:36How'd you make that transition?
00:37What did your family say?
00:39My best pal, Jesse, that's in there right now, he still plays guitar for me, his sister
00:42kind of got us in the theater and I just fell in love with it.
00:45We were trying to, you know, get into music and stuff, and my mom, I remember when I told
00:49my mom that I wasn't going to do music anymore, I mean, I wasn't going to play football anymore.
00:55She just cried.
00:56She started pulling out all this old memorabilia of my stuff, like little, you know, just magnets
01:01she had made from when I was like 10, like little trophies, everything, all these pictures,
01:05everything.
01:06She was like, why would you do this?
01:07We're a football family.
01:08Why would you do this to us?
01:10And sure enough, we, not too, you know, later on she came to see my show and I think we
01:17were doing Damn Yankees at the time, is this musical, and I did play two, maybe two lines
01:23I had in the whole show, and as soon as she saw me do my little two lines, her whole mind
01:29was changed.
01:30She was like, I'm so sorry baby, this is where you belong.
01:33And the good thing is, you know, if I break my leg doing this, my whole family's not absolutely
01:39screwed.
01:40Right, exactly.
01:41No kidding.
01:42So, and you did Rent, right?
01:43Yeah, yeah, me and my best buddy Jesse, he played Mark in there and I played Roger in
01:48that show.
01:49So, should we do some Rent?
01:50I could always, man, I could do that whole show, like, top to bottom and play every character.
01:54I love that show, man.
01:55I love it.
01:56And Shakespeare, is that true too?
01:58Yeah, yeah, we did Much Ado About Nothing and then, it was like an abridged version
02:03of Shakespeare.
02:04It's like kind of a comedy show too.
02:05Yeah.
02:06Much Ado About Nothing, I played Dogsberry in that one and I always loved, I love Shakespeare
02:10though.
02:11I loved it.
02:12I had a blast.
02:13That is awesome.
02:14So then, did you think like, okay, I've got the acting bug, like I'm going to be, I want
02:17to be an actor, or was it really more singing?
02:18I always wanted, I mean, I was in everything, you know, whether it was musicals and straight
02:22plays, I was in everything.
02:23I think my senior year, I did maybe ten plays or something.
02:27I was in everything.
02:28That was all I was doing and, of course, I still want to, you know, scratch the acting
02:32bug eventually, you know, but as far as this goes, it's, this is, I love playing with my
02:37friends and being in a band, you know, and I think, I think now what I've done to myself
02:41is I've kind of narrowed myself down to very specific roles like drug dealer or like prison
02:48inmate or like, you know, I mean, there's not, there's not too much I could do.
02:51I could do maybe kitchen worker or something, I don't know.
02:54Maybe they'll call you for the bear, right?
02:55Yeah, exactly.
02:56That would be sick.
02:57So then, speaking of bear, you had a band, Heroic Bear, is that right?
03:00Yeah, yeah, sure.
03:01My first ever band, I was a senior in high school and you can still find the YouTube,
03:07you know, our first ever EP that was on YouTube still on Heroic Bear.
03:11It's called I Am The Artist and it's so bad.
03:14We're so, we were trash.
03:16So then, how did you know to sing then?
03:18I mean, if you sang in high school and then you kind of had this band, you just couldn't
03:21find your voice yet?
03:22Yeah, I mean, I think, I think it's always, I still love metal, we still scratch that
03:26itch all the time, but I think, yeah, I think it took some level of like delusion though
03:30throughout the time to like really think you were awesome and people were telling me I
03:35was great and I don't know why they would tell me that.
03:36Now I look back, I'm like, God, you were so bad, but I think that level of delusion, that
03:40wanting it so bad and no matter what it was, if it was, if it was, if it was in a rock
03:45band, if it was in a metal band, if it, whatever it was, you know, if I was in a metal band,
03:48if I was making hip hop songs, whatever it was, as long as I could be using this, that's
03:51all I cared about.
03:52I just wanted to be making music and my favorite thing in the world.
03:56Which is fantastic and you're doing it.
03:57So then here you are, you cover Michael Jackson to, you did that because you were, why was
04:03there an impetus between you?
04:04Well, so it was, it was 10 years when we passed, June 25th of 2019, we had found like the stems
04:09online and it was so cool and I was just like, let's, let's record this and put it out on
04:13the internet just to say like, you know, happy, I don't want to say happy death day,
04:18but how do you recognize it?
04:19Yeah.
04:20Yeah.
04:21Yeah.
04:22Celebrating his life.
04:23Yeah.
04:24Celebrating his life.
04:26Happy death day is dark.
04:27Yeah.
04:28Yeah.
04:29Celebrating his life.
04:30Celebrating his life.
04:31And you know, and then we, we like, it was in a couple of days, it had like 10,000 views
04:33on it and it just kept going.
04:34And I think there was like a weird part of it when it started going viral originally
04:38on Facebook.
04:39It was like, people, I think it was, was it hit like a certain amount of views?
04:43Like maybe it was like 500,000, I think people were just like, either this is really good
04:47or this is really funny.
04:48And they started clicking and turned out it was probably both, you know, and it just,
04:52but I mean, I'm thinking about how wonderful and cruel the internet could be.
04:56And so when you, when those numbers started going up, I mean, you had to, what kind of
05:00feeling was that to get there?
05:01Oh, well, I mean like our first 10,000, we were just like, boys, we're getting hammered.
05:05Yeah.
05:06And you know, and now, now I feel like there's a, such a, there's such a, what's the word
05:11I'm looking for?
05:12Diminished returns.
05:13Yeah.
05:14Yeah.
05:15Oh, I, cause if, if now something I don't do doesn't get a million on it, I'm like,
05:19oh, I'm so washed up.
05:20You know?
05:21But back then it was like, we're getting absolutely a ham damn sandwich if we get 10,000 views.
05:26So I mean, I think, I think it's been, it was such a beautiful time to, I think it really
05:31helped me in growing, you know, and we kept on doing covers from them and me and the band
05:36was always writing these covers or we were flipping these covers or whatever.
05:40And I just kept doing it once a week, every Tuesday and it just started piling up.
05:46Next thing you know, we're at a million subscribers on YouTube and the biggest thing, the Shania
05:50Twain one, I still play today too.
05:52It's dedicated to my mother and it's, I think it's at like 180 something million views or
05:57something on YouTube.
05:58It's insane.
05:59And it's beautiful.
06:00And I have to say you're bold cause the first time I heard, wait, he's covering that song
06:02from Shania?
06:03All right, let me see it.
06:04I'm like, holy crap.
06:06You know, cause she did it so well, but you, I mean it takes a lot of guts to do one that's
06:10really good and then do it yourself and make it your own, which you did, which is incredible.
06:13Yeah, it was definitely tough.
06:15Like I had this fear of, you know, originally when I started kind of transitioning to my
06:19own music, it was, I was always kind of fearful that there was going to be some, they were
06:24never going to be as good as that, you know, they were never going to be as good as like
06:27some of the best songs ever written.
06:29I felt like I had put a wall up against myself in that way.
06:33And I think, I think it was hard for me at first to really like, how am I ever going
06:37to write something that good?
06:38You know?
06:39But you have.
06:40Yeah, you have.
06:41And is it like lightning in the bottle when you're writing stuff or it's, you're dragging
06:45it out?
06:46Sometimes, you know, sometimes I always try to, I try my best to just never think about
06:49stuff.
06:50You know, I find that, you know, the more you, not to overthink things, you know, cause
06:54the more you pick at something cause you want it to be good, that doesn't make you get the
06:57good song.
06:58You know, if you're ever trying to get the good song or you're like, anytime you're ever
07:01like, this might be a little too much of this or is this too country or is this too
07:03much of this, too much of this, then you start getting in the way of the creative actor.
07:08And so I just try to flow as freely as possible and, and just, you know, kind of Ouija board
07:12as I go.
07:13And, um, I think it's, I think, I think you can't, you're not always going to write the
07:17good ones.
07:18You know, you're just only going to hear the good ones from me.
07:20I've got some terrible songs, you know what I mean?
07:25And sometimes you're just so gung-ho about it.
07:27Like this is the best song ever.
07:28And then tomorrow it's like, Oh God, what was I thinking?
07:31For sure.
07:32All right.
07:33So then we'll, I know we don't have that much time, so I could, I feel like I could talk
07:37to you for the whole day and it just flows, but then you do the music, then you get to,
07:41you know, record labels call and then you're doing that.
07:45Like that, it took you a long time to get there, but then it seems like once it started
07:49getting traction, all of a sudden, boom, there you are.
07:51It was within six months.
07:52Yeah.
07:53So what was that like?
07:54I mean, what did you think it was prank call?
07:56Like how did that?
07:57Well, we started talking to everybody at the time.
07:59And I remember my manager, Luke, he's still my best buddy.
08:02We were, we were flying to like LA and New York and stuff.
08:05And we were trying to, we were trying to pretend at the time, like we had, we had this YouTube
08:10business that was paying us all this money, you know, and that we didn't need anything
08:13from them.
08:14And so like, you know, to try to get the best deal.
08:16And some of us were sleeping on the floors or like we're sleeping at, you know, Luke's
08:20sister's house on the floor and saying like, Oh no, we've got our own hotels.
08:23Don't you worry.
08:24Like to, to try not to let the label, you know, kind of talk us into it.
08:28And we were, we're even trying to pay for the record down there.
08:33Yeah.
08:34And it really, really, really paid off in the long run though, too.
08:35So we were just trying to, I guess, hardball, you know?
08:39Yeah.
08:40But that's, I mean, that's hard to do to have the, the cojones to do that.
08:43Yeah.
08:44We were broke as hell, dude.
08:45We were really, we was really down bad, but I mean, look at it.
08:47It's happening.
08:48It's beautiful now.
08:49Yeah.
08:50It's amazing.
08:51So two more things.
08:52One is that you are just like a human canvas that you let tattoo artists do whatever they
08:57want.
08:58Yeah.
08:59Sure do.
09:00So I'm so lucky.
09:01They hit me up on Instagram all the time and I'll just have them, you know, you'd see a
09:03little where people sign all over my body.
09:06I got the signatures and, and you know, they're just for people almost everywhere, you know,
09:11like the big ones.
09:12Did you pick those or you're just like, no, I think, I think for me it was always a, what
09:17I see some of these amazing tattoo artists, especially they're, they're, you know, renowned
09:21tattoo artists that will hit me up and, and there's always like nobody just like with
09:25cover songs.
09:26Again, I love doing my cover songs.
09:28I love singing cover songs, but I remember when I was trying to transition into my own
09:31music and I just felt like sometimes people were just like, shut up and sing Janiah Dwayne
09:34Fatboy, you know what I mean?
09:36And, and, uh, and there's, I know, I know that there's like with a lot of tattoo artists,
09:41there's always something that they drew up or that they really want to tattoo, you know,
09:44but instead they're just, some girls bringing an Etsy picture in and just put blessed under
09:49a boobie one more time.
09:50And they're just like, come on, can I just do the stuff I love?
09:52You know?
09:53And so, uh, I think you just always get the best out of an artist when they get to do
09:56what they love.
09:57Yeah.
09:58I agree.
09:59Do you have a Mr. Rogers tattoo?
10:00Yeah.
10:01Okay.
10:02I thought so.
10:03Cause I was looking at a video and I'm like, is that Mr. Rogers?
10:04So did someone just do that?
10:05Or you asked for Mr. Rogers?
10:06Oh, I'm asking for Mr. Rogers.
10:07So, uh, this guy tattoos by Randy in Atlanta.
10:09He's one of the best tattoo artists in the freaking world.
10:11Randy in Atlanta.
10:12Yeah.
10:13Tattoos by Randy.
10:14He's just incredible, incredible.
10:15And my, I call him my uncle, Randy, man.
10:19He's the best guy in the world.
10:20And, uh, he's, uh, you know, I, as I was growing up, um, I had been a costal granddad as a
10:26pastor.
10:27So when I was staying over at my grandparents' house, there's really not much you can watch
10:29other than Mr. Rogers and art.
10:31The PBS is all you're getting, you know what I mean?
10:33Even Nickelodeon was like, no, no, bro.
10:35So I, he just taught me so much about emotional, you know, understanding and emotional intelligence.
10:41And, um, you know, I just, uh, what do you do with the mad you feel?
10:45And, you know, he just really helped me as a sensitive little boy.
10:47It was, yes, he's really touched my heart in some way.
10:50I agree.
10:51And I feel like through this whole ride, you're really present of artists that I meet, they're
10:55kind of just come in and come out or they're cocky.
10:57I feel like you're confident, but you're not cocky.
10:59You know what you have and you're enjoying every second.
11:02Oh, absolutely.
11:03I'm enjoying it, man.
11:04I'm trying to be as present as possible.
11:06You know, I, I got a piece of advice one time that said, uh, you know, the most important
11:10person in the world is, and it's you and it's every person that you come in contact with.
11:14You just try to make sure you, if it's 10 seconds, 10 years, 20, a whole lifetime, you
11:19know, you want to make sure you're present with people.
11:21And I believe that a God has placed me right where I need to be right now.
11:24And I try to live exactly in that way as much as I possibly can.
11:28And I mean, it's a lot better to be present than be just right, go, go, go, go, not enjoying
11:34the moment.
11:35So there's people that plan shit now.
11:37So I, you know, I can, I'm, I'm just, I'm just wherever I'm supposed to be.
11:41God laughs while man makes plans.
11:42Yeah.
11:44And just final thing, not to be morbid, but we talked about the death thing.
11:46I think maybe you know this probably, but about a mile from here is where Otis Redding's
11:51plane crashed.
11:52Oh, whoa.
11:53I did not know that.
11:54Yeah.
11:55He died right behind us here a mile away in Lake Monona.
11:58And I know you're an Otis guy, right?
11:59Yeah, he's my number one ever of all time.
12:01He's my number, number one singer, man.
12:03He's like done everything for me and I had no idea I was here.
12:07Yeah.
12:08So when you're singing tonight, he, I mean, he was just like a mile away.
12:11That's crazy.
12:12He was 26.
12:13Yeah.
12:14Yeah.
12:15God bless him.
12:16Well, Teddy, you're awesome.
12:17Yeah.
12:18Love being here in the moment with you.
12:19Have a great show tonight.
12:20Yes, sir.
12:21And thank you.
12:22It's Teddy Swims, everybody.
12:23Awesome.
12:24Thank you, man.
12:25That's really good.
12:26Appreciate that.