Meet Peter Schrupp | Children’s Musician & Indie Rock Artist

We had the good fortune of connecting with Peter Schrupp and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Peter, is your business focused on helping the community? If so, how?
I’m really fortunate to say that I get to see the impact firsthand everyday. I make music for children. I perform live for them. I’m their foray into the experience of live music – interacting, making requests, playing games, learning Spanish, using our imagination. Children in my classes range from 3 months to 7 years of age and I’ve witnessed so many of them learn pitch, rhythm, how to interact socially with each other and truly so much more. I’m one of the lucky ones who gets to see the growth day in and day out. I get messages from preschool teachers saying their students use my Youtube videos to learn how to say bear in Spanish (it’s “oso by the way”) and I really couldn’t be more grateful for that opportunity.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
I’m living a Hannah Montana split screen life. I’m not sure if it’s the best of both worlds but I certainly enjoy being in both camps. As Teacher Peter I’m a children’s musician by day and an indie rock artist by night. This means I play preschools, birthday parties and backyard music classes. Then during nap time, I sing in my band Arms Akimbo, recording rock songs, touring in a van, and hocking tee shirts. It can be stressful managing both spaces…it’s certainly a lot of time spent understanding social media or shooting Youtube videos in front of a green screen, or learning how to edit or scheduling my days so I can squeeze a recording session in between multiple music classes. It’s exhausting actually! But it’s also something I’m grateful for daily!

I started Teacher Peter during COVID. My band couldn’t tour and I needed to make money so I took my part-time job as a kid’s musician and started doing music classes. They would be socially distant in parks or backyards and this just blossomed into a beautiful word of mouth business – one mom telling another mom about me. Or a group of nannies getting together in a park with the kids they work with, or preschools hiring me because they heard I speak Spanish and they want their kids to learn it from a young age. Anyway, one day one of the moms from class suggested I meet her husband because he works in music. His name was Freddy Wexler and I had no idea but he was a big songwriter (Justin Beiber, Ariana Grande, Billy Joel) and also is now a show creator for children’s television (Kid Cowboy). He had a complete understanding of my project and introduced me to his label partners, who included the CEO of the Recording Academy, Harvey Mason Jr. So I signed a deal with this new label EEE, and I started recording the kids’ music I was writing in the hopes of delivering this record, developing a series and ultimately sharing my music with children all over the world.

So began my hours of writing, directing filming and editing Youtube videos for my kids songs, or learning the ins and outs of Youtube thumbnails and how marketing for children differs from marketing say my band’s music. There’s a decision you have to make with children’s media – how much do you want to encourage positive behavior or how much do you want to exploit the opportunity to get more clicks and grow an audience. Children’s brains are SO susceptible to outside sources, and the degree to which our phones affect them is currently incomprehensible. I think keeping foundational integrity is so important. My work with kids started from connecting in person. Every single song on the album was born out of a fun idea that one of my students had in class and I turned that into a song! I always try my best to keep the interest of the kids and families in mind with every step I make as a musician, content creator, and hopefully a role model for my students.

I have to say however, that this week has been one of the most gratifying weeks of my life. I released my first children’s album, “Oopsie Daisy” on May 2nd, and I threw an album release party. Unlike conventional release parties, this one was held at a public park at 10 in the morning. Dozens of the families I’ve worked with over the past 6+ years showed up to hear me play these songs. The kids had an amazing time and I just had a beautiful experience. I finally got a chance to thank those families for letting me into their home and be a part of their routine once a week…that was a really special day. Then, later that afternoon I went to rehearsal with my band to prep for a tour we have this summer. I hope this whiplash adds some authenticity to each world that wouldn’t exist if I only had one of these focuses – I can bring some of that indie rock flair to kids’ music, and I can bring some of that joy and life that is infectious from being around young kids over to my band.

Since the release of the album I’ve been receiving tons of videos of kids dancing around to the songs and parents saying their kids are clapping along to all the songs or requesting more of my music. That’s the biggest win I could ask for!

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
Oh brother! Ok well I’m a breakfast boy so we’re getting the bacon burrito at Cofax. I’ll probably get a cold brew there and that won’t be the end of the coffees today. I love Los Feliz as a general hub so let’s assume it’s nice out and you can go to Barnsdall Art Park and just hang with some loved ones for a few hours. My girlfriend (she’s hilarious and beautiful by the way, please print that) turned me onto Camel Coffee so that’s a current obsession it’s very good. Are we doing lunch? let’s do lunch. How about Oi? Super underrated Asian fusion bowls that are really affordable and even though I have high cholesterol I ask for an extra egg in my adobo bowl. Ok honestly at this point I’ve been away from a screen for too long so we gotta hit the Vista Theater (I’m trying to see ‘Friendship’ soon so let’s say that’s our movie). By now it might be nap time? So my apartment for a little, then sushi anywhere, I’m not picky and then wrap it up with a comedy show at Largo. They have really good monthly hosted shows by Pete Holmes, Lisa Gilroy, Chris Fleming, Ben Schwartz and a bunch more so I bet you’ll find something good.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
My mom, Leticia. It’s almost her birthday (and mother’s day). She bought me my first guitar, encouraged me to start singing in the first place and made sure I grew up in a bilingual home. She passed in 2023 and I don’t go a day without thinking about her.

Website: https://www.teacherpetersings.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/teacherpetersings

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@teacherpetersings

Other: https://www.tiktok.com/@teacherpetersings

linktr.ee/teacherpetersings

BAND

linktr.ee/armsakimbo

Image Credits
Emily Pinto, Casey Murray, Rachel Charest