From pain to pride: Teddy Swims turns trauma into triumph

Sep 17, 2024, 1:16 PM

(Photo by Catherine Powell/Getty Images for MTV)

KOSI 101.1

If you’re like us, you can “feel” the lyrics as Teddy Swims sings them every time “Lose Control” comes up on KOSI 101.1.

Many of the songs on Teddy Swims‘ album I’ve Tried Everything But Therapy Part 1 are about painful experiences he’s gone through, including his #1 hit “Lose Control,” which is about a toxic relationship. But at the MTV VMAs, he told ABC News that being able to write songs about those experiences have been a big help to him.

“It sure is,” Teddy said when asked if making music is cathartic for him. “I mean, it’s been such a therapeutic thing for me. And I now have the best people in the world, my team, that helps me put my trauma into words.”

“It’s such a beautiful thing to be able to take trauma that you have and turn it into a celebration amongst other people that have similar stories,” he added. “And so I’m grateful to be celebrating that trauma in a different way and taking ownership of it.”

But before he turned his trauma into music, Teddy was an unknown, posting cover songs to YouTube. So, does he have any advice for aspiring musicians?

“Yeah: It’s okay to suck, you know?” he told ABC News. To illustrate this bit of advice, he described a conversation he had once with his aunt.

“She was telling me, ‘You’re always going to Nashville, to LA, writing songs. And we never see you. But then why, when you’re writing every day, do you only put out like 10 songs?’ And I said, ‘Well, because I’m trying to write the good ones.'”

“And she said, ‘Why don’t you only write the good ones?'” he laughed. “And it dawned on me that [it’s] because I can’t! So just keep pushing and keep hitting it, keep hitting it! Nobody’s going to remember your failures except you, you know?”