WEBVTT - Music Saved Me | Chad Tepper 0:00:00.520 --> 0:00:01.440 Music Saved Me. 0:00:01.639 --> 0:00:04.120 Music one percent has healing powers. 0:00:05.040 --> 0:00:06.920 What I do every night before I go to sleep, 0:00:06.920 --> 0:00:10.719 I put on meditation music where it's just like, oh, 0:00:10.720 --> 0:00:14.200 like ambient music, and my day is so stretched out 0:00:14.200 --> 0:00:16.919 that I put that on. My heart rate drops. I 0:00:16.960 --> 0:00:19.919 feel relaxed, I feel calm. And it's the same way 0:00:19.920 --> 0:00:23.160 when you hear a heavy metal song and the energy 0:00:23.280 --> 0:00:26.119 just spikes in the room. And that's something that's so 0:00:26.200 --> 0:00:29.640 beautiful because you know, in fifty years or one hundred years, 0:00:29.720 --> 0:00:33.040 or when I'm dead and gone, I will still have 0:00:33.120 --> 0:00:37.080 my energy and my presence on this earth through my music. 0:00:37.200 --> 0:00:40.640 This is the Music Saved Me Podcast, and I'm your host, 0:00:40.800 --> 0:00:44.760 Glynn Hoffman. Today we have a guest whose vibrant persona 0:00:44.920 --> 0:00:49.120 comes shining through in his music, but his journey hasn't 0:00:49.159 --> 0:00:53.400 been easy. Chad Tepper is an alternative artist who truly 0:00:53.479 --> 0:00:57.640 has been saved by music. Welcome to the show. Tell 0:00:57.680 --> 0:01:01.200 everyone who you are and why music is so important 0:01:01.280 --> 0:01:01.520 to you. 0:01:01.840 --> 0:01:03.560 Hey, guys with something. Name is Chad Tepper. 0:01:04.840 --> 0:01:08.720 I'm an artist from Orlando, Florida, and music is so 0:01:08.959 --> 0:01:13.360 important to me because it is the lifeline and the 0:01:13.400 --> 0:01:16.560 blood to my heart. It is the thing that's keeping 0:01:16.600 --> 0:01:19.120 my heart beating and keeping my mind present. 0:01:19.840 --> 0:01:22.800 And music has always been something for. 0:01:22.800 --> 0:01:26.480 Me where you know, I'm in school being bullied or 0:01:26.520 --> 0:01:29.360 picked on in you know, gym class, and I'm in 0:01:29.400 --> 0:01:32.280 the corner of the bleachers with my pack of CDs 0:01:32.319 --> 0:01:34.399 that I got from the library, and I'm listening to, 0:01:34.600 --> 0:01:37.480 you know, all all this different types of music to 0:01:37.640 --> 0:01:40.520 escape my reality. And I think music is one of 0:01:40.560 --> 0:01:43.280 the most beautiful things because let's say you're having a 0:01:43.319 --> 0:01:46.280 horrible day, nothing's going right. You put on a song 0:01:46.600 --> 0:01:49.360 and that one song can make you smile, can make 0:01:49.400 --> 0:01:52.240 you happy, you know, or if you're driving and you 0:01:52.280 --> 0:01:55.080 hear a sad song, can make you cry. It's just 0:01:55.480 --> 0:02:00.080 all those emotions. For music is so beautiful and for me, 0:02:00.480 --> 0:02:03.240 music is the greatest and most purest thing on this earth. 0:02:03.680 --> 0:02:06.680 Do you think music has supernatural healing powers? 0:02:08.400 --> 0:02:11.360 One music has healing powers. 0:02:12.320 --> 0:02:14.200 What I do every night before I go to sleep, 0:02:14.200 --> 0:02:17.280 I put on meditation music where it's just like, oh, 0:02:18.000 --> 0:02:21.480 like ambient music, and my day is so stressed out 0:02:21.480 --> 0:02:24.200 that I put that on. My heart rate drops, I 0:02:24.240 --> 0:02:27.200 feel relaxed, I feel calm. And it's the same way 0:02:27.200 --> 0:02:30.440 when you hear a heavy metal song and the energy 0:02:30.560 --> 0:02:33.400 just spikes in the room. And that's something that's so 0:02:33.480 --> 0:02:36.919 beautiful because you know, in fifty years or one hundred years, 0:02:37.040 --> 0:02:40.320 or when I'm dead and gone, I will still have 0:02:40.400 --> 0:02:44.360 my energy and my presence on this earth through my music. 0:02:45.000 --> 0:02:48.320 Like who else can say that, you know, when I'm 0:02:48.360 --> 0:02:51.760 dead and gone, that my music can still I can 0:02:51.800 --> 0:02:55.040 still affect people and make them happy or sad or 0:02:55.080 --> 0:02:57.799 angry or whatever I'm gonna, you know, put out in 0:02:57.880 --> 0:02:58.440 my music. 0:02:59.000 --> 0:03:01.000 I can affect people years and years later. 0:03:01.200 --> 0:03:03.280 You see it all the time with people listening to 0:03:03.320 --> 0:03:06.919 like Elvis Presley and Queen and those people are gone, 0:03:07.240 --> 0:03:10.880 but they live on forever and they continue to help people. 0:03:11.080 --> 0:03:14.399 Think about how many people listen, okay to Elvis Presley 0:03:14.720 --> 0:03:17.280 and it changes their whole mood in their life. And 0:03:17.320 --> 0:03:20.080 he's been gone for what like thirty forty years, but 0:03:20.440 --> 0:03:25.840 every day there will look for the next hundred years, 0:03:26.000 --> 0:03:29.000 every single day someone will listen to Elvis Presley. 0:03:30.880 --> 0:03:34.160 Isn't that insane? Isn't that insane? 0:03:34.360 --> 0:03:37.720 His music will play on forever, And That's where I 0:03:37.760 --> 0:03:38.600 want to be in my life. 0:03:38.600 --> 0:03:42.280 I want to help people forever. So it's it's fucking awesome. 0:03:42.280 --> 0:03:42.480 Man. 0:03:43.080 --> 0:03:46.680 Do you remember the first time you realize that music 0:03:46.800 --> 0:03:48.080 had this force? 0:03:48.760 --> 0:03:50.000 I did? I did. 0:03:50.120 --> 0:03:53.760 I realized at a very young age when I would 0:03:53.800 --> 0:03:56.080 go skateboarding and I would listen to music and it 0:03:56.080 --> 0:03:59.120 would get me excited and I'd want to skate harder 0:03:59.200 --> 0:04:00.920 or skate better because of the music. 0:04:01.640 --> 0:04:03.680 I've always been that guy where. 0:04:04.960 --> 0:04:08.360 I'll have so I had a Walkman when I was 0:04:08.480 --> 0:04:11.360 about five years old. My mom got me a Walkman 0:04:11.440 --> 0:04:15.120 at a thrift store. Cassette player didn't work, you know, 0:04:15.240 --> 0:04:17.719 but the radio worked on it. And my mom said, 0:04:17.760 --> 0:04:20.600 from since the age of five when I got that cassette, 0:04:21.080 --> 0:04:24.680 I would always be asking her for batteries and it 0:04:24.720 --> 0:04:28.240 was glued to me all day, all night. I just 0:04:28.279 --> 0:04:31.359 wanted to take it in everything. And it's been like 0:04:31.400 --> 0:04:33.960 that since I was a age. You know, I always 0:04:34.040 --> 0:04:37.600 had music connected to me. Even now, like you know, 0:04:37.920 --> 0:04:40.200 it gets annoying for my fiance. I know it, but 0:04:40.760 --> 0:04:43.480 maybe it's not. But I have music on all day, 0:04:43.600 --> 0:04:46.680 all night, in the house, in the car, if I'm 0:04:46.720 --> 0:04:49.240 walking around, I'll put it on my phone on the speaker. 0:04:49.760 --> 0:04:51.279 Music just makes life better. 0:04:51.720 --> 0:04:54.720 You are so honest about what music means to you. 0:04:55.000 --> 0:04:56.680 How are you able to be that way? 0:04:57.360 --> 0:04:59.960 Yeah, I think a lot of people are really afraid 0:05:00.200 --> 0:05:02.760 to be themselves. They don't want to get picked on, 0:05:02.960 --> 0:05:04.760 they don't want to admit they like some type of 0:05:04.839 --> 0:05:06.600 music because they want to be cool, they want to 0:05:06.600 --> 0:05:07.679 fit in with their friends. 0:05:08.360 --> 0:05:12.440 And for me, I'm like. 0:05:12.400 --> 0:05:15.320 That guy where you know, I buy like the new 0:05:15.360 --> 0:05:18.080 barbecue sauce that's really good, and I want to tell 0:05:18.120 --> 0:05:21.239 everybody about how good it is. And for me, music 0:05:21.600 --> 0:05:26.200 is it's so beautiful and amazing and I don't care 0:05:26.279 --> 0:05:29.159 what anybody thinks. You know, I've always been that person 0:05:29.200 --> 0:05:31.320 that's been made fun of or picked on or been 0:05:31.360 --> 0:05:36.440 the weird guy, and music's always been something that helps 0:05:36.440 --> 0:05:37.320 me out through my day. 0:05:37.480 --> 0:05:40.560 So yeah, if that's an answer, I don't know. 0:05:41.000 --> 0:05:43.599 No, that was a great answer. What do you want 0:05:43.640 --> 0:05:46.280 people to know about the homeless population? 0:05:47.320 --> 0:05:49.480 When when I was a kid and I was homeless, 0:05:49.720 --> 0:05:53.360 I didn't think that it was weird. I thought it 0:05:53.480 --> 0:05:57.680 was normal, which is so crazy to me, And for 0:05:57.960 --> 0:05:59.280 years I never. 0:05:59.160 --> 0:06:02.400 Wanted to to it. I was very ashamed of it. 0:06:03.440 --> 0:06:08.080 I went so I was homeless for seven years in Orlando, Florida. 0:06:08.600 --> 0:06:12.919 We lived in cars and tents, side of the road motels. 0:06:13.640 --> 0:06:16.080 And I think the biggest thing that people need to 0:06:16.120 --> 0:06:19.560 realize is not all homeless people are drug addicts or. 0:06:19.680 --> 0:06:22.960 Horrible people, or junkies or drunks. 0:06:23.600 --> 0:06:23.720 Uh. 0:06:24.080 --> 0:06:26.320 There's a lot of homeless people that are just put 0:06:26.360 --> 0:06:28.440 in that situation, you know. And there's a lot of 0:06:28.440 --> 0:06:31.440 people around the world right now that are one paycheck 0:06:31.480 --> 0:06:35.479 away from being homeless. And we need to be more 0:06:35.520 --> 0:06:38.880 grateful of what we have on you know. I know 0:06:39.040 --> 0:06:41.440 this country sucks sometimes. I know there's some things that 0:06:41.640 --> 0:06:44.320 are not right here, you know, but we need to 0:06:44.360 --> 0:06:48.120 be grateful that we're able to have food for breakfast, lunch, 0:06:48.200 --> 0:06:51.240 and dinner, you know, to have this the simple necessities 0:06:51.279 --> 0:06:53.400 like we have a like I have refrigerator full of 0:06:53.400 --> 0:06:56.320 food right now, and I have a I have a 0:06:56.320 --> 0:06:59.400 pantry full of food, and I didn't have food when 0:06:59.400 --> 0:07:03.040 I was a kid, and it's it's fucking. 0:07:03.320 --> 0:07:05.240 It's a great life, man, it's a great life. 0:07:05.240 --> 0:07:07.760 And we we need to we need to look at 0:07:07.960 --> 0:07:11.040 what we have and be grateful because there's a lot 0:07:11.080 --> 0:07:13.200 of people out there that don't even have a pillow 0:07:13.240 --> 0:07:17.200 to lay on. And we we need to be more 0:07:17.200 --> 0:07:19.240 thankful in life, and we need to not look down 0:07:19.320 --> 0:07:22.600 upon other people. It's very hard not to look down 0:07:22.640 --> 0:07:24.600 upon other people. And it's in our DNA, it's it's 0:07:24.640 --> 0:07:27.440 it's just who the human race is, you know, people 0:07:27.480 --> 0:07:29.520 thinking they're better than other people, like, oh, I don't 0:07:29.560 --> 0:07:30.560 need to help that person. 0:07:31.560 --> 0:07:32.680 But when when. 0:07:32.480 --> 0:07:35.600 I was a kid, all all somebody had to do, 0:07:36.160 --> 0:07:38.680 you know, was like, oh, you know, and we ran 0:07:38.720 --> 0:07:41.760 into multiple people when we were homeless that wouldn't help 0:07:41.840 --> 0:07:46.080 us or do anything. From family, from extremely rich family members. 0:07:46.200 --> 0:07:48.280 When I tell you this, you're gonna lose your mind. 0:07:48.600 --> 0:07:48.880 Uh. 0:07:48.920 --> 0:07:54.720 My dad's side of the family is extremely extremely rich billionaires, 0:07:54.800 --> 0:07:59.480 and he got disowned by by his whole family because 0:07:59.760 --> 0:08:03.320 he was he was Jewish, and he married a Christian 0:08:03.360 --> 0:08:06.920 woman and kind of got disowned by his family and 0:08:07.360 --> 0:08:08.400 lost everything. 0:08:09.280 --> 0:08:10.400 And I think we all. 0:08:10.280 --> 0:08:15.040 Need to look at being humans and you know, loving 0:08:15.080 --> 0:08:18.880 each other more and really walking walk them mill on 0:08:18.960 --> 0:08:22.840 somebody else's shoes before you judge them. Okay, because my 0:08:22.920 --> 0:08:25.880 mom and dad were great people. The cards just weren't right, 0:08:26.040 --> 0:08:29.480 you know, and they've been through such horrible things and 0:08:29.640 --> 0:08:31.360 I've been through such horrible things. 0:08:31.640 --> 0:08:33.000 I'll tell you this right now. 0:08:33.360 --> 0:08:36.960 I think I have a better mind space, and you know, 0:08:37.120 --> 0:08:40.880 vision and love in my heart more powerful than people 0:08:40.920 --> 0:08:44.040 that grew up, you know, super rich or having everything 0:08:44.080 --> 0:08:46.520 they wanted. Because I have a lot of friends that 0:08:46.559 --> 0:08:49.200 grew up super rich, and for them, you know, having 0:08:49.920 --> 0:08:51.960 a little bit of money or a nice car doesn't 0:08:51.960 --> 0:08:54.000 mean anything to them because they've always had it. 0:08:54.800 --> 0:08:57.280 And for me, the little things in life mean so much. 0:08:57.720 --> 0:08:59.720 And there's so many people out there right now where 0:09:00.800 --> 0:09:02.920 you just buy them a pair of shoes, you know, 0:09:03.080 --> 0:09:05.960 or a new shirt to wear the school, or you know, 0:09:06.120 --> 0:09:09.880 talk to them or there's just so many little things 0:09:09.880 --> 0:09:12.200 and we all need help and we're all struggling. But 0:09:12.920 --> 0:09:15.960 your basic necessities that you take for granted, people would 0:09:16.000 --> 0:09:20.240 do anything to have anything. So we need to love 0:09:20.320 --> 0:09:23.800 more and be appreciative more and really look to help 0:09:23.840 --> 0:09:27.240 each other. And you know, I see people in La 0:09:27.360 --> 0:09:30.520 driving around Lamborghinis and Ferraris and they pull up to 0:09:30.559 --> 0:09:33.320 the red light and there's a bunch of homeless people sleeping, 0:09:33.400 --> 0:09:36.840 and you know, it is what it is, you know, 0:09:36.960 --> 0:09:40.360 it's it's it's very sad and horrible that we we 0:09:40.520 --> 0:09:43.160 live in a world where or even a country where 0:09:43.600 --> 0:09:46.840 homeless people are so looked down upon and and they're 0:09:46.880 --> 0:09:50.240 looked at as drug addicts and criminals and horrible people. 0:09:50.280 --> 0:09:51.600 Where you know, you. 0:09:51.520 --> 0:09:53.439 Can't judge buy a book a book by its cover, 0:09:53.600 --> 0:09:56.880 not not everybody's the same, you know, everybody's an individual 0:09:56.920 --> 0:09:57.840 and everybody's different. 0:09:58.400 --> 0:10:01.040 Talk to us a little bit about how it makes 0:10:01.080 --> 0:10:04.640 you feel when your music really connects with someone you 0:10:04.679 --> 0:10:05.680 know really deep. 0:10:06.400 --> 0:10:09.360 Uh. It makes me feel like I'm actually making a difference, 0:10:09.640 --> 0:10:15.800 and it makes me feel really good. I recently started 0:10:15.920 --> 0:10:17.880 having people come up to me and being like, Oh, 0:10:17.960 --> 0:10:18.840 I love your music. 0:10:19.000 --> 0:10:20.840 This song's really good. It really helped me. 0:10:20.960 --> 0:10:23.440 Or I'll get a comment on a music video saying, wow, 0:10:23.520 --> 0:10:26.719 this song I felt it in my chest. 0:10:26.040 --> 0:10:28.120 You know, like this song really hit me. 0:10:28.720 --> 0:10:31.520 And there's so much music out there that did that 0:10:31.600 --> 0:10:33.960 to me growing up that if I can do that 0:10:34.040 --> 0:10:36.520 for one person, it's so cool. 0:10:36.840 --> 0:10:37.160 It's it. 0:10:37.640 --> 0:10:39.320 This is why you do what you do. You know, 0:10:39.360 --> 0:10:42.160 you want people to appreciate the art you're making. So 0:10:42.360 --> 0:10:43.240 it's a great feeling. 0:10:43.320 --> 0:10:44.160 Yeah. 0:10:44.640 --> 0:10:47.760 Chad Tepper is a man who loves his craft. His 0:10:47.920 --> 0:10:52.240 story truly embodies the spirit of the Music Saved Me podcast. 0:10:52.559 --> 0:10:53.240 If you like. 0:10:53.320 --> 0:10:56.920 Music Saved Me, If you like music saved me. Please 0:10:56.960 --> 0:10:59.200 share it with a friend. You'll be glad you did. 0:10:59.720 --> 0:11:01.640 Lin Hoffman, thanks for listening.