Teddy Swims says Kiwi fans were the first to start "showing him love". Photo / JAR
On June 25, 2019, Jaten Dimsdale posted a cover of Michael Jackson's Rock With You on YouTube, 10 years after the death of the King of Pop.
When he woke up the next morning, it had 150,000 views - most of them from Kiwis.
"We were like, what the hell, where did these come from overnight?" the artist known as Teddy Swims tells the Herald at Parachute Studios in Kingsland, Auckland.
"We were getting all these comments like, 'Kia ora Teddy, we love you in New Zealand!' So I reached out and asked, 'Hey, do you guys want to hear me cover a New Zealand song?'"
Thousands of comments later, the most requested song was Rivers by Six60 - "so we did it, but it was only because they were already loving on a Michael Jackson cover. It was so weird".
Three years later he's not just posting YouTube covers anymore. He's produced two EPs, Unlearning and Tough Love, with a third, Sleep Is Exhausting, announced today. And he's embarked on a world tour, finally winding up in New Zealand for a sold-out show at Mt Eden's Powerstation on September 20.
"New Zealand is the first place that started showing me love," says the softly-spoken Georgia native ahead of the show.
"A lot of our fanbase, more than anywhere, is right here. I don't know why they love Teddy Swims in New Zealand, but I love it here."
Swims, 30, spent "ten years in a bunch of bands that nobody gave a s*** about" before going solo. Teddy is a childhood nickname, while Swims is an acronym for Someone Who Isn't Me Sometimes.
But to his fans, his appeal lies in the fact that he's not trying to be anybody but himself.
After his days of covering anything and everything from Shania Twain to Adele to Marvin Gaye to The Weeknd, his own music refuses to fit into any particular genre, blending soul, R&B, country and pop. His concerts are packed with fans of all ages, from all walks of life.
"I just don't know if I fit into those boxes," he says.
"I would just call my music soul music. It makes you feel something. I always say there's two types of feelings in the world: you're either making love, or crying about losing it."
So it's no surprise that his most recent collaboration is with British singer and songwriter Paloma Faith, duetting on a re-released version of her 2014 hit Only Love Can Hurt Like This.
"The song was blowing up on TikTok again," he recalls, "and they wanted to reissue it as a proper duet."
He still hasn't met Faith in person - the duet was recorded remotely - but he's exchanged Instagram messages with her, something he still can't believe happened. "It's crazy how that's happening."
Did he get to meet the members of Six60 after that viral cover? It turns out that he just missed them. When Swims was on the plane to New Zealand, Matiu Walters and his bandmates were on the inaugural Auckland to New York Air NZ flight for a special rooftop performance.
It’s here! My collaboration with @teddyswims on a special version of Only Love Can Hurt Like This is out now and I’m super excited for you to all hear it. Let me know what you think! 😘🎶#newmusic #collaboration #onlylovecanhurtlikethis #palomafaith #workingmum #teddyswims #remix pic.twitter.com/qPjk8ZeqDG
— Paloma Faith💙 (@Palomafaith) September 23, 2022
"They followed me on Insta and I was like, finally! They messaged me. They're in New York right now and I'm over here. We just literally probably passed each other in the air," he says.
While his days posting covers to YouTube are behind him, he still posts snippets of songs to TikTok for fans before releasing them. And Swims says he still owes a lot of his success to social media.
"It's the biggest part of what I do. It converted me to an original artist from a cover artist," he reflects.
"I think it's evened the playing field and now I'm allowed to be [myself].
"In the 80s I would have had to get skinny and not be able to have face tattoos," he adds with a laugh.
"Now I can do whatever I want."