Teddy Swims is giddy about his first set at Coachella this weekend. With his festival slot, the energetic singer will bid farewell to his concert I’ve tried everything but therapy Era, the breakthrough chapter that propelled him into A-list territory thanks to the chart-dominating single “Lose Control.” But he’ll also be introducing what’s next: a new album and a pop-rock-leaning direction, starting with his single “Mr. Know It All,” due Friday, which he will go live.
“I don’t know if I’m supposed to say that, but whatever,” Swims says immediately. Hollywood Reporter “Yesterday an ’80s legend came in,” he laughed before joking with his special guests at the set. “I can’t say who he is, but he sang in the best rock band ever.”
He also says there will be two other guests, who swung through rehearsals on Tuesday: “the hottest guy in a band full of hot siblings” and the artist who went viral for covering him, behind “possibly the greatest song to come out of the 2000s.”
“We have a good lineup,” he adds.
Swims is the only artist to play Coachella and Stagecoach this year. This moment marked a major turning point in Swims’ career. Last year, “Lose Control” broke records Bulletin board Hot 100, it became the longest-running song in the history of the chart and surpassed 100 weeks. Bulletin board The chart metrics were changed late last year making it difficult for older songs to stay on the chart.
“It’s crazy, man,” he says. “I can’t believe it. They changed the rule for Ted! They said, ‘It won’t happen again.'” “My biggest pet peeve is that now I won’t be able to get over it!”
For the new music, Swims says he’s leaning into a diverse sonic palette shaped by ’80s rock influences, including The Police, Sting and Phil Collins, while maintaining his soul and R&B essence in some other tracks.
Ahead of Coachella and Stagecoach, Swims talks about who will stand out, the emotional journey behind his incredible success, and why vulnerability continues to guide his music. “I wanted to touch a place we’ve never been before,” he says.
how’s it going? How are Coachella and Stagecoach prep going?
Oh, it’s amazing. We have two of our surprise guests coming in today for rehearsals.
How did those conversations start?
Well, we’ve been talking to one of them for a while, but while we’ve been training for the past couple of weeks, the ’80s legend happened to be training next door to us. He’s getting ready to tour, so we’ve got it going. I was like, “Do you want to come play your band’s tune with me?” Naturally, he is an absolute machine, so he was willing to do this. And the Disney star randomly texted me last week — maybe last weekend or something — and just said, “Hey man, I’m coming to town to see you at Coachella, I can’t wait to see you on Friday.” So I said, “Okay buddy, if you’re going out, do you want to jump in and do something with me?” “Hell yes,” he said. So, we’re going to do something really strong… I don’t want to give everything away, but…
Give me a tease.
So I gave up playing football when I was 15 to watch him perform with my first serious girlfriend at the time. So, this was our “song” in 2007 or 2008. It’s a real love song. So we’re having real success.
This performance at Coachella will start a new era, right? With your single “Mr. Knows It All”?
The way we train, we are tough, the group is beautiful. I’m really excited about this.
What is the general atmosphere of the group?
Have you ever seen the musical? rent? It’s got this kind of “bohemian” vibe. But it also marks the time when my band and I first started the Teddy Swims project. We all moved into this house together – there were twelve people living in this five-bedroom house. It was a completely “undesirable” situation. We wanted to tag this house. So it’s a junk house where it feels like a frat party all the time. It’s all messy and bad, but still rentNew York bohemia kind of thing. I think it would be really beautiful.
Would you say this is the end of the world? I’ve tried everything but therapy era?
Yes yes. We finally got through it. I wouldn’t say the music is synonymous with this, but everything we try to strive for visually and creatively goes back to more of the roots of metal, punk and grunge. It touches that space where I come from. It’s kind of punk rock, the look of it all.
What are the biggest lessons you’ve learned from the past era?
I think it served its purpose and brought me a lot of love and support when it comes to vulnerability. I’ve been really growing as a person with a lot of people…the biggest learning curve for me is that it gave me the strength I needed to feel like I wasn’t alone. It gave me some clarity and justification for my feelings. I think the biggest lesson I’ve learned is that things that seem very specific about your own life end up being more relatable than you think.
“Mr. Know-It-All” has a different pop vibe. Did you succeed with Julian Bonetta?
Yes, he does everything with me. He is my hero. It is inspired by “The Prophet’s Dilemma”. It’s basically: anything you do to prevent something from happening can eventually become the reason it happens. But also, if you know it’s going to happen, you don’t give in to it completely and don’t do anything, and that also becomes the reason why it happens. In love, it expresses the feeling of failure from the beginning. You try to do everything you can to keep love from falling apart, but maybe that’s why it’s doomed to fail – because you cling to it too much. Or you’re not giving enough of yourself because you think it’s doomed, and that’s what’s dooming it.
Why was this an appropriate first song for the new album?
There’s still more soulful stuff and more R&B-leaning stuff on the album. I haven’t completely extricated myself from that area of my heart. It seemed like a good jump to the other side, something that might be even more exciting and worrying. Maybe we can do something nice and surprise people with something different. It felt like a departure.
Is your Coachella set different from your Stagecoach set? You’re the only one doing both this year.
This is a crazy moment for us. The only thing different is that we hope to have two different guests at Coachella. I haven’t received confirmation of that yet, but we’ll see. It’s basically the same set we’ll be playing, just with a few different tunes and a little different feel.
Are you bringing your son to the desert?
Yes, he will love it. He’ll have a blast. I’m super excited too, because I just bought a big stroller to carry my “little man.” So, he’ll be able to go to Coachella and Stagecoach when he’s nine months old. What a lucky little bastard, man.
Some of your collaborators – Giveon and David Guetta – are doing Coachella as well. Will we see you coming on other stages this weekend?
I hope so. We’ll see what happens. I know Jevon will be there, so either way, we’ll sit together. This is my baby.
