This A-Profiler we bring you Teddy Brent, a singer/songwriter hailing from Detroit, Michigan who currently (as of May 10, 2008) has broken through the Billboard charts at #147 of the hottest 200 albums and conintues to move up the charts. Find out more about Teddy Brent and how his parents essentially forced him to love music, how he starts his songwriting process with a melody first, and how he enjoys playing in USA Table Tennis tournaments.

Teddy Brent's debut album, Fashionable, is available on iTunes, Amazon, Target, and other fine music stores.

Your site URL:
www.teddybrent.com

What is your ethnicity?
I am Filipino-American. My parents emigrated from the Philippines and I was born in Michigan.

You've seemingly burst onto the scene by breaking into the Billboard Top 200 albums with your debut "Fashionable." How did you first get started in music? Have you always had a love for music?
I have been making music ever since I can remember. I took violin lessons at age 5, piano lessons at 6, and then voice lessons at age 12. The piano and violin lessons stopped when I graduated high school, but I continued taking voice lessons throughout college. I even taught voice lessons after college, and that's where my real music education began. I graduated from college in 2003. I guess that is when I started to really pursue being a recording artist. I slowly started collecting equipment and made several demos for years. I recorded in Nashville, New York City, and Detroit, until I finally found a home at Kass Record Group in Ann Arbor. I have always loved music. It's been my love, my life, even my therapist.

What did your parents think of your aspirations to become a recording artist? Were they supportive?
They have been very supportive from the start, though they made their opinion known that I should be a nurse, they love me and have been there for me the whole way. In fact, I blame them for my career choice. They made me take piano lessons when I decided I didn't want to anymore. They kept me going when I thought it was too difficult to learn. They made me sing in front of audiences for years, and rewarded me for my success. My parents made me love music. They made me want to sing and continue to do that.

Your album is inspired by 70s and 80s funk/R&B. Growing up in Detroit, MI where another Filipino American R&B artist named Gerry Woo hit the billboard charts the early 80's, is there a hidden wealth of Fil-Am male vocalists hidden in Detroit? Were you ever inspired by Gerry Woo (known these days as Harlem Lee)?
There is a hidden wealth of Fil-Am male and female vocalists everywhere. I really didn't listen much to Gerry Woo. I saw him sing at a Filipino party when I was young. We do share an acquaintance though. My high school choir teacher was his choir teacher at one point.

I think that in the music business, it's never a question of whether or not you can sing, but that it's, "Can you sing and be unique?" or "Do you sound like Prince?" If you fit the second category, then you have less of a chance because you aren't an original. I think if artists would place less effort on mimicking or portraying their influences, than there would be more cool music to listen to.

How would you classify your style of music?
My music belongs in a genre called "Good." I have classified it as Urban Retro-Pop before, but I'm not really into putting music into a box. I think good music is good music no matter what genre it belongs in. It seems that media always wants to classify music into pop, country, jazz, R&B, Hip-Hop, or classical. The reality is that lately musicians are blending all of these genres and the traditional classifications are actually confusing to the consumer. There are people who like one or two kinds of music and collect music only from those genres. In their efforts in finding good music they stumble upon an artist such as myself and expect traditional R&B, because that's what I have been classified as. Hopefully, they take my CD home and enjoy it, but if they expect that I'm going to sound like Usher and listen then there is a chance that they may be buying a product that they don't really want. There should be a system in stores asking you what you want to hear by giving you a 5 minute survey, and then people could find artist in a more efficient and cost-effective way without getting a bunch of albums with only 3 songs that they like.

What's been the most exciting thing to happen so far in your music career? Any embarrassing moments you can share with us?
Being interviewed by AArising :) Seriously, every day gets more exciting because I am making music. As for embarrassing moments, I think one time I had to sing in my drama teacher's old "dancing" uniform in a production of Grease in high school. That was pretty embarrassing.

You wrote 3 of the 11 songs on your album. Do you hope to write more songs in the future? How do you approach your song writing? What inspires your song writing?
I hope to write a lot more songs on the future albums, and I believe that's the way Kass Records wants to portray me-as a singer-songwriter. My approach to songwriting is songwriting through osmosis. What I mean by that is that it just happens. I could be writing a song right now. I also try not to force it. If a song isn't happening when I'm trying to write it I leave it along. I sometimes find stuff in notebooks from years ago that become songs.

I think songwriters tend to fall into two camps: the "music first" camp or the "lyrics first" camp. I fall into a third camp, "melody first." I try not to write with an instrument. I heard that Richard Marx writes with no instruments and I think that is cool because the song is melody driven, and not limited to your lyrical rhythmic schemes, or proficiency on an instrument. Chord progressions come naturally that way. Though I'm sure I'll be writing a different way tomorrow.

Any plans for a tour?
Yes. The band is practicing and ready to tour.

What do you enjoy doing in your spare time? Any hobbies or interests?
I love to play table tennis and golf. There is something about hitting a ball with some kind of stick. Seriously though, I play in a golf league and actively play in USATT (USA Table Tennis) tournaments.

What advice do you have for others who are interested in trying to break into the Billboard Top 200 albums?
Don't try. Just make good music. Define what success means to you and achieve it. Good music is good music whether or not you get public acclamation for it.

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This issue of A-Profiler is brought to you by Nelson Wong.
Special thanks to Teddy Brent and Anna Celentino.

Photos used with permission.
Copyright retained by original copyright holder(s).