We had the absolute pleasure of sitting down with Teddy Swims for a quick interview at this years Baloise Session in Basel. He was part of the line-up on the “Colors of Music” day of the festival and shared the stage with Eurovision winner Nemo. Keep reading if you want to find out more about his plans for the future. 

If you want to see some more photos of Teddy Swims and Nemo, check out this article: Teddy Swims & Nemo at Baloise Session

Interview with Teddy Swims

Hi Teddy! So nice to finally have you in Switzerland! First off, is it true that you’re a fan of milk? I saw that a fan brought a real life cow to your show in Savannah, Georgia and started milking it. Is there anything we can bring you to your Swiss show in February to top that? 
Yes, thanks for having me!
*laughs* The thing with the cow… So me and my crew had this thing. It just started out as a small joke, and it kept getting more and more. So we were on a ferry, actually. I think we were headed to London and my photographer, Bryce, had passed out, and I went and bought like 10 cartons of milk and put them right in front of him. I made it look like he opened one and put a straw in it, so it looked like he passed out while drinking milk.

And so then there’s this big milk thing that we always get over a bunch of milk for everybody, you know? So in Savannah, they came in with gallons and gallons of milk and a cow to try to win, you know? But I got something else in mind that I’m going to decorate their whole dressing room in milk. From the floor. They won’t even be able to walk in there. There’ll be milk everywhere. Maybe even my face on the cartons, like a missing persons thing or something.  

My emotions finally being validated is something so huge.

Yes! You better document it too, we want to see that.
So looking back on this year, your album came out, you went on tour. How does it feel to have your baby out in the world? 
It’s been so life-changing, truly. To have it out is one thing… I feel so justified and supported. You know, I feel like my feelings really matter and I feel heard and seen, you know? And that’s been a big thing for me. My emotions finally being validated is something so huge.

And also good to share that experience with some people that also feel the same way. They’ve gone through trauma and they’ve been able to take these songs and kind of turn them into their own problems as well. And I’ve gotten to meet so many wonderful people and share so many wonderful conversations and stories through that. So there’s just no better feeling than that, you know? 

I can imagine! Talking about meeting people, especially here in Europe where not everyone speaks English. Has the language barrier brought you any fun fan-encounters
Yeah, there’s some things like, you know, even in Paris last night… There’s some jokes you might say and turns out they don’t really stick. Because maybe they don’t get the joke or just don’t understand my accent. So I try to talk as slowly as possible and maybe even leave some jokes behind, you know? Because some things aren’t as funny out here, you know?

Teddy Swims & yours truly 🙂

So, on your album “I’ve Tried Everything But Therapy Part I” there’s one song that stood out to me: “Some Things I’ll Never Know” And I’ve seen a couple of videos of you performing it and showing pure and raw emotions, crying even… 
Oh, thanks. Yeah, I cry. I really cry every time I sing it. 

But like, how do you do that? How do you handle your emotions? Because when I cry, I can’t even speak properly. But you literally cry and still sound like a god singing…
Thank you so much! But to be honest, sometimes I absolutely butcher it. And I always have to apologize. If I’m on a bad day, I’ll really get into it. And I’ll say, sorry if I ruined your favorite song, y’all. But that song for me is one of those songs that I think is so special. Because every time we play it, too, I feel like we get such a beautiful ovation and really see people crying and get people touched. And I think it’s very emotional for me and for everyone. I think that dog will have its day.

I think that song will be bigger than it is right now. I think when people start really hearing it, I think it’ll grow and touch a lot more people than it already has. Because I remember when we wrote it, and I’ve said this to Julian, too. I think it’s way too early in my career for me to have this song. But it was something really beautiful for me because at the time in my life it helped me through it. When someone is walking out of your life and you don’t really get closure from it… You’re kind of just left with all these questions of why this happened. I think that really helped me through that. And it still does. 

So I’m super grateful for it. Whether it’s a friend that left your life or a significant other or even somebody that died in your family or something. I think the support that song offers is unlike anything else I’ve ever been able to sing. 

You can make love or you can cry to this thing, which is great.

Absolutely, I totally get that too!
This is getting me very excited for “I’ve Tried Everything But Therapy Part 2” which you’ve announced to be released on January 24th 2025 – which is very soon. Can you tell us anything about it? What can we expect?
Yeah, of course there’s going to be some heartbreak in it, just like the last one.

But it’s not going to be just only turmoil and heartbreak. There’s gonna be love songs, too. So I think there’s stuff for the lovers in there because I’m in a very good place mentally and spiritually and my love life, too. And I’m just overall doing better than I was last time around. So I think we’re still going to cry, of course, but I think we’re going to have fun, too. You can make love or you can cry to this thing, which is great. It’s a change of pace from where we were last time. 

Aaaaand there’s some really cool features I’m looking forward to, too. I think it’s already… 

Teddy turns to one his crew members and asks: all of them are kind of set in stone now, yeah? She nods and confirms… 
Yeah, I can say who got on there and stuff?

Her very quick and strict answer: Nooooooo.
OK, well, I guess I can’t say who’s on it, but I’m really pumped about it. 

So I absolutely want to do a record that’s just country music.

Ah no, too bad, this would have been so cool to know. But we’ll be patient then… But talking about features, I’m a big country music fan myself and was super excited to see your collabs so far. You’ve had Mitchell Tenpenny, Thomas Rhett on songs… Is there going to be a country album coming up soon, maybe? 
You know, I actually just did another song, too, with Thomas. We just started teasing it today. “Somethin‘ ‘Bout A Woman” and I’m pumped for that song. 

But yeah, we’re planning on things – after we put out part two – I want to go in and do some genre-specific albums. I really want to do something that’s super R&B and something that’s just on the rock side, too. Just to scratch that itch that I had. Because I grew up in rock bands so I really want to scratch that itch. And I really want to scratch that country itch, too. 

So I absolutely want to do a record that’s just country music. Because I grew up in Georgia… When we do these albums, there’s always someone saying like, this is too country, or this is too rock and roll. And I’m always like, well… So yeah, it’s going to find its home. And so I think I’m really excited to do some country music. And country is becoming cool all over the world, finally. 

Yes, even here in Switzerland!
Yeah, it’s so cool. 

Baby steps, but we’re getting there.
It’s really neat. 

So, we’ve got time for one more question (seeing as the label reps were waving me down for the past 2minutes 😀 – shoutout to Kevin and Hansjürg) 
If there’s one thing you could tell your teenage self with all the knowledge you have now, what would you say? 

I would tell myself to calm down and that everything’s coming, you know? Because I feel like I always did this to myself, that I wanted everything right now, right this second, right now. And even during the pandemic and stuff, too, I kind of was, why did this happen? But when I eventually got everything that I have now, I realized that timing is so pertinent, because timing is everything! I can handle it now, and if I would have gotten it when I was a teenager, like any of this, I would have absolutely just sent it to my liver or up my nose, you know what I mean?

I would have not been able to handle this like a man would, or even have the have this heart that I have to say what I need to say. And I really feel like I’ve lived enough life to, you know, share things and teach people something, rather than just be a kid trying to be famous, you know? And so I think I would tell myself that, you know, like, just keep doing it. Don’t worry so much. It’s coming. You are going to achieve your dreams. 

Perfect. Thank you for this, I think this is a great way and a great message to end this interview! Thanks so much for taking the time and I am very much looking forward to the performance tonight! 

Thank you so much, me too! It was nice to meet you too!

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