When New Zealand went into lockdown in 2020, South Auckland high school student Eden Betham decided to make the most of a difficult situation.
With a laptop given to him by his brother, he started creating and writing original music
Fast forward to 2023 and Betham, who goes by the name Teo Glacier, has signed to Universal’s Capitol Records – home of Katy Perry and Sir Paul McCartney – and his music has 11.8 million downloads on Spotify.
"Music is pretty much my life. I still can’t really believe it right now," he said.
The last six months has been a whirlwind ride for the schoolboy.
Capitol Records was one of a dozen recording companies in the UK and US which wanted the 18-year-old on their books.
They’d seen how his music, particularly his song Close with Desires, had gone viral on TikTok – his top five audiences are in the US, Philippines, Indonesia, Brazil and Australia.
While Betham got the name Teo Glacier from a random name generator, his influences are not so random.
One of them is Jawsh 685, who was a student when he topped the US charts with Savage Love.
"He's from south Auckland and Samoan and I’m from south Auckland and Samoan. Seeing someone that has the same sort of background as me doing what he did like that – that was a motivator," said Betham.
He was also influenced by his mum's R&B sounds.
While music is his passion, his family has a big place in his heart.
The youngest of four children, Bethan said they have been supportive of his dream.
"This is all for them, really," he said.
Betham was emotional as he spoke about his much-loved grandmother, who has Alzheimer’s and is living in a rest home.
He cried as he talked about his dream to buy his family their own home so they don’t need to rent and so they can all be together.
"I want to move grandma back in.. I think it would be better if she was just here because I don’t like the idea of having her there [in the rest home]," he said.
His mum Angelina says they couldn’t be more proud of him.
"He’s like my right hand man as well. He is the baby of the family. He does a lot for all of us as well. He has a very kind heart – a very good boy," she said.
She’ll be travelling with Betham and his agent, Ashley Page, to Los Angeles next weekend to spend a week with Capitol Records.
Betham said he’ll be meeting the team, writing music and playing with other artists.
"I have always wanted to go to America but I always thought 'oh too expensive, I will never get to go'," he said.
But wherever he goes, Betham said his family will always be with him.
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