How Teddy Swims against the tide...
THE REFLECTS AMERICAN ON CHALLENGING SINGER TOXIC MASCULINITY AND PROMOTING GOOD MENTAL HEALTH THROUGH HIS MUSIC. BY NAOMI CLARKE
HEALING can be a very personal journey, with many bumps along the way. But when Teddy Swims sat down to write his debut studio album, he dived head first into his past and emotions.
I’ve Tried Everything But Therapy (Part 1) sees the American singer explore everything from past traumas and heartbreak to his reliance on crutches such as drinking at various stages of his life, in a blend of R&B, soul, pop and country.
Studio sessions with producers and co-writers became a form of therapy for him as he admits he never learnt how to cope with life’s challenges growing up.
And after the album’s powerful hit single Lose Control propelled him into the charts and the spotlight last year, he’s had the chance to bare his soul to the masses.
“With a song, you capture not only emotion, but a time in life that you can always go back to and access”, the 31-year-old Georgiaborn artist says as he reflects on tapping into his personal experiences when performing.
“It always brings me back to how far I’ve come in life and how much better I’m doing now.”
Over the last few years, Teddy has been on global tours and performed at festivals on both sides of the Atlantic, including entertaining the crowds at Reading and Leeds Festivals last month.
Ahead of his soulful set, he surprised commuters and festivalgoers at Reading train station with an intimate performance.
Over a video call shortly after his appearance, he tells me that performing to fans holds a special place in his heart as he feels connecting with others allows him to “reprioritise those awful feelings in a celebration with lots of people”.
“When you connect with people and you get to hear those stories about how [your music has] helped somebody through their divorce or something, it’s the coolest thing in the world”, he adds.
While the album’s title is a tongue-in-check indictment on how he has struggled with processing his own challenges, he was also keen to place the concept of therapy at the forefront amid a society which is still rife with toxic ideas about masculinity.
“We’re in a generation, I think, where we’re finally talking about mental health and prioritising it too”, muses Teddy.
“I think the more you can have that in the conversation, the more we can break this generational curse of ‘Oh, I’m not crazy. I don’t need therapy, I’m not damaged, I don’t need nobody to tell me what’s wrong with me’.”
The singer has not got himself a therapist in the traditional sense, but he has formed a relationship with former WWE wrestler-turned inspirational speaker Diamond Dallas Page, who he believes has changed his life.
“He’s really become my mentor and like my second father”, he says with fondness. “So it’s not like a traditional therapist, but it’s working for me and I love it.”
While it may appear to some like Teddy shot to fame quickly, in reality he had been grinding away for many years.
The singer, real name Jaten Dimsdale, gained popularity by posting unique cover songs on YouTube of fellow soulful artists including country star Shania
Twain, Lewis Capaldi and Amy Winehouse. He later began releasing music and started touring before he got his breakthrough.
Even when his dream looked far off, he says he felt a need and urgency to continue to pursue it, as it was all he has “ever wanted to do”.
He praises his father for encouraging him along the way, recalling that at aged 19, when he was in cosmetology school, he was given “permission” to drop out.
“He made me promise him I’d never go back to school and I dropped out of college and I pursued it”, he recalls. “And it took like 10 years, but that permission from my dad always really helped me, just to know that I had a good enough dad to say: ‘Go after your dreams, man’.”
What would he advise aspiring artists who are still grafting for their own dream? “I would say, don’t take no for an answer but also be patient on it, man”, he says.
“Because there were so many times where I (thought) I wanted this and I knew it was coming and I wish I had it right now, I wish I had it right this second.
“But I’m glad of the time that it did come in my life. I think timing is always of the essence. When it’s your time, you’re going to be completely ready for it, you’re going to be prepared for it...
“It takes the right amount of delusion to do it, so just stay with it.”
■ Teddy Swims’ album I’ve Tried Everything But Therapy (Part1) is out now and his performance at Reading station was in collaboration with Rockstar Energy Drink
With a song, you capture not only emotion, but a time in life Teddy Swims