A WKU alum is tapping his way to fame on Sweden’s version of America’s Got Talent

Isaac Middleton ('14), right, with Thomas Bergstig. Together they make up the tap dancing duo, Swedish Gun Factory.

By Rose Rementer

For many of us, the dance of life to find our true passion can have many steps in the right and wrong direction. Isaac Middleton (’14) is no stranger to this tricky tango. But, his persistence and talent of simultaneously tap dancing and playing musical instruments landed him on Sweden’s version of America’s Got Talent.

Middleton graduated from WKU with a bachelor’s degree in Interdisciplinary Studies with a concentration in the Arts, but before the Harlan, Ky., native made his way to the Hill, he spent majority of his formative years in Mexico.

“When I was three, my parents sold their house and moved to Chihuahua, Mexico, to serve as missionaries under the organization New Tribes Mission,” said Middleton. “I was in Mexico until the age of 18, when I returned to the States to attend WKU.”

Middleton describes himself as a bit of a recluse growing up in Mexico, spending majority of his time alone learning how to play music.

“I asked my dad to teach me guitar, chord by chord, until my fingers stopped hurting, and sat at the piano for hours until it started making sense,” explained Middleton. “I played in the church praise band in high school, and I discovered my knack for picking up chord changes. I had no skill, but I had an ear. I was just happy to be there. I tried every instrument I could get my hands on—violin, clarinet, mandolin, accordion, bass, guitar, drums, banjo—and I tried to not get too frustrated when I was completely terrible.”

It wasn’t until his time at WKU that Middleton actually learned how to read music.

“I took every music theory and history class offered for minors,” stated Middleton. “Upon realizing I hadn’t learned enough, I became a music major so I could take their exclusive courses, then switched majors again once I felt I had enough information to get me started.”

His love for tap dancing began at the age of 15.

“My parents took me to see Riverdance,” said Middleton. “I remember sitting in the balcony mesmerized—this was tap dancing. Their feet and bodies were instruments and the rhythm was the music. I was in tears at one point. It was so beautiful to me.”

On the Hill, Middleton eventually registered for every tap dance class the WKU Dance Department offered.

“I owe most of what I know to Amanda Clark, who is now the Head of the WKU Dance Program,” added Middleton. “She let me register for tap classes that no one in my position should be allowed to take. I was always the straggler, the kid in the back tripping over his own feet, surrounded by dance majors who had been training since they were 5. My form was terrible and most classes I couldn’t make it through the combinations. Slowly, though, I got better.”

After graduation Middleton moved to Memphis, Tenn., for an acting internship with Playhouse on the Square, which is where he met Thomas Bergstig, who was the Music Director at the time. Once they worked together on multiple shows, the two realized they had similar passions for tap dancing and playing music. Bergstig was already working on a project called Swedish Gun Factory, combining musical instruments and tap dancing.

“We decided to further the project together,” commented Middleton. “We originally had the intention of bringing it to America’s Got Talent. We auditioned Feb. 4, 2017, in Memphis, Tenn. We made it through the preliminary stage, but then we never heard anything back. After a month of moping, we decided to submit to Talang, Sweden’s version of America’s Got Talent. We heard back very quickly and flew out to Sweden for nine days and auditioned.”

Middleton and Bergstig got a call two days later and became one of 16 acts to make it through to the next round. Unfortunately, during their semi-finals audition in March 2018, Swedish Gun Factory was eliminated.

“It went well, but we lost to a puppet, an opera singer and a magician,” added Middleton. “Such is life!”

This isn’t the end for Swedish Gun Factory, however.

“Talang gained us a pretty good following in Sweden, which has opened a lot of doors for our career,” explained Middleton. “We’re going back for the summer to play some live gigs and shoot some music videos. We’re really excited! We will definitely be putting out more material with some amazing artists some time in June.”

To see Swedish Gun Factory’s audition videos, visit these links:

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=TbLV6iVh7ZM