Teddy Swims is giddy about his first Coachella set this weekend. With his festival slot, the soulful singer will bid farewell to his I’ve Tried Everything But Therapy era, the breakout chapter that propelled him into A-list territory thanks to his chart-dominating “Lose Control.” But it will also introduce what’s next: a new album and a pop-rock-leaning direction, beginning with his single “Mr. Know It All,” out Friday, which he’ll debut live.
“I don’t know if I’m supposed to say it, but whatever,” Swims immediately tells The Hollywood Reporter with a laugh before teasing his special guests for the set: “We had an 80s legend come by yesterday. I can’t say who, but he sang in the best rock band of all time.”
He also says there will be two other guests, who swung by rehearsals that Tuesday: “the hottest guy in a band full of sexy siblings” and an artist that he went viral for covering, behind “possibly the greatest song that came out of the 2000s.”
“We have quite a lineup,” he adds.
Swims is the lone artist playing both Coachella and Stagecoach this year. The moment marks a major turning point for Swims’ career. Last year, “Lose Control” broke records on the Billboard Hot 100, becoming the longest-lasting song in the chart’s history and surpassing 100 weeks. Billboard changed chart metrics late last year that made it more difficult for older songs to stay on the chart.
“It’s crazy, man. I can’t believe it. They changed the rule for Ted! They said, ‘Never again,’” he says. “My biggest upset with that was, ‘damn, now I’m not even going to be able to beat that!’”
For the new music, Swims says he’s leaning into a diversified sonic palette shaped by Eighties rock influences, including The Police, Sting, and Phil Collins, while still maintaining his soul and R&B essence in some other tracks.
Ahead of both his Coachella and Stagecoach performances, Swims opens up about who he’ll bring out, the emotional journey behind his breakout success, and why vulnerability continues to guide his music. “I wanted to touch a place we haven’t gone before,” he says.
How are things going? How is prep going for Coachella and Stagecoach?
Oh, it’s amazing. We got a couple of our surprise guests coming in today for rehearsals.
How did those conversations start?
Well, we’d been talking to one of them for a while, but while we were rehearsing over the last couple of weeks, the Eighties legend happened to be rehearsing next door to us. He’s getting ready to do a tour, and so we just hit it off. I was like, “Would you want to come do your band’s tune with me?” And of course, he’s an absolute machine, so he was down to do it. And the Disney star just randomly texted me last week—maybe last weekend or something—and he just said, “Hey man, I’m coming into town to see you at Coachella, can’t wait to see you Friday.” And I was like, “Well dude, if you’re coming out, would you want to hop up and do something with me?” And he said, “Hell yeah.” So we’re going to do something really strong… I don’t want to give away everything, but…
Give me a tease.
So I had skipped football practice when I was 15 to go see him perform with my first serious girlfriend at the time. And so, this was “our song” back in 2007 or 2008. It’s a real love song. So we’re doing a real lore hit.
This Coachella performance is going to start the new era, right? With your single, “Mr. Know-It-All”?
The way we’re rehearsing, we’re tight, the set’s beautiful. I’m really excited about it.
What’s the vibe for the set?
Have you ever seen the musical Rent? It’s kind of got this “bohemian” vibe. But it also represents when my band and I first started the Teddy Swims project. We all moved into this house together — there were twelve of us living in this five-bedroom house. It was quite a “junky” situation. We wanted to reference this home. So it’s a little bit of a junky house where it just looks like a frat party all the time. It’s all kind of messy and nasty, but still like Rent, New York Bohemia kind of thing. I think it’s going to be really beautiful.
Would you say this is the end of the I’ve Tried Everything But Therapy era?
Yeah, yeah. We finally got through it. I wouldn’t say the music is synonymous with this, but everything we’re trying to go for visually and creatively is leaning back into more roots of metal, punk, and grunge. It touches that space I came from. It’s kind of punk rock, the look of everything is.
What are the biggest lessons you took from the last era?
I think it served its purpose and brought me so much love and support when it comes to being vulnerable. I was truly growing as a person with so many people… the biggest learning curve for me was that it gave me the power I needed to feel I wasn’t alone. It gave me some clarity and justification for my feelings. I think the biggest lesson I learned is that the things that feel so specific about your own life end up being more relatable than what you think.
“Mr. Know-It-All” has such a different nostalgic, pop vibe. And you made it with Julian Bunetta?
Yeah, he does everything with me. He’s my hero. It’s inspired by the “Prophet’s Dilemma.” It basically is: anything you do to prevent something from happening can ultimately become the reason why it happens. But also, if you know it’s going to happen, you don’t give yourself fully to it and don’t do anything, that also becomes the reason it happens. In love, it expresses feeling doomed from the beginning. You try to do anything you can to prevent love from falling apart, but maybe that is the reason why it’s doomed — because you’re holding on too close. Or you just don’t give enough of yourself because you think it’s doomed, and that’s what dooms it.
Why was this the right first song for the new album?
There are still more soulful things and more R&B-leaning things on the album. I haven’t completely removed myself from that area of my heart. It felt like a good leap to the other side, something that might be a little more jarring and exciting. Maybe we could do something cute and surprise people with something different. It felt like a departure.
Is your Coachella set different from the Stagecoach set? You’re the only person doing both this year.
This is such a crazy moment for us. The only thing different is we’re hopefully going to have a couple of different guests for Coachella. I haven’t quite gotten the confirmation on those yet, but we’ll see. It’s primarily the same set we’ll be playing, just with a couple of different tunes and a bit of a different feel.
Are you bringing your son out to the desert?
Yeah, he’s going to love it. He’s going to have a blast. I’m super excited too, because I just bought my “little man” a big wagon to carry him around. So he’s going to get to go to Coachella and Stagecoach at nine months old. What a lucky little bastard he is, man.
Some of your collaborators — Giveon and David Guetta — are doing Coachella, too. Will we see you come up on other stages this weekend?
I’m hoping to. We’ll see what happens. I know Giveon’s going to be out there, so either way, we’re going to be hanging out. That’s my baby.
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