Backstage at Coachella 2024 With This Year's Stars

We were told you have a collaboration with Rodarte. How did that come to be? And why does their line make sense and resonate with you as a band?

Abigail Morris: It's been a brand that's in our mood boards since the [beginning]. I think their approach to fashion and femininity and drama is something that makes perfect sense for us. We're really glad to be wearing their pieces on stage today.

Lizzie Mayland: They also have really good sustainability and we love that.

I had the honor of seeing your show in Brooklyn last month and your first New York City show at Bowery Ballroom last November. What was the biggest difference between those shows?

Georgia Davies: The first time that we played at the Bowery Ballroom, it was one of our first-ever shows in America, so we were just completely blown away that anybody came at all and that anybody knew any of the words. That anyone gave a shit at all. This time when we came back to Webster Hall and Brooklyn Steel we knew that they'd been sold-out, we knew we had a fanbase in New York. We were all blown away by the dedication and the way the fans have leveled up. The outfits were unbelievable — the dancing! It was just incredible.

Abigail Morris: Yeah, you really dance in America!

Now that your album Prelude To Ecstasy is out in the world, are there any surprises when you play live? Any songs that go off differently than you expected?

Lizzie Mayland: The song "Beautiful Boy" has been really special and seems to be resonating with a lot of people who have gender dysmorphia or are going through a transition. That's really amazing to see.

What were the last text you sent? Who were they to and what did they say?

Aurora Nishevci: I sent my boyfriend a picture of the oxygen tank they give out in the artists' area. A tank of oxygen with eucalyptus. I was like "Look, Coachella."

Georgia Davies: Mine was from you, Abby. I asked her to buy me some cigarettes and she said, "I bought you some really cunty ones." They're really long.

Abigail Morris: I'm excited to try them later.

What are you most excited to play today during your set?

I’m most excited to play unreleased music during my set today. I’m most excited to play "Uptown Funk" by Bruno Mars during my set today.

What's the wildest memory you have from your recent tour?

An attendee from Frequencies [the illustrious NYC party series he hosts] set himself on fire by leaning into a candle with a fur coat. The club smelled terrible... it was awesome.

What are you most excited to share with your fans next?

I’m not gonna share anything with my fans next, I’m not excited to show them anything. If they get anything, they’re lucky.

What was the last text you sent, and to whom?

The last text I sent was to my friend, and it was of a crazy little muppet.

Anything else you want to share with your fans before your set?

It’s beautiful out here. I love being in Los Angeles and never apologize.

I know you just released a new single, can you tell us about it?

"I Need Some Money." That is the name of the single. I also may need some money [laughs]. It came out on Friday, it is with Chicco and me. He's from South Africa, and the song originally came out in 1986. Go check it out.

Anybody you're most excited to see play at Coachella?

I'm mostly excited to play Coachella. I think this is my 10th year coming and I've never played.

Since this is your 10th year, what do you feel is different about this iteration?

They opened it up. Coachella feels like it has every genre now. Dance music has become so big. They have the new Quasar stage with long-format, three-hour sets, which is amazing and so new for Coachella. I'll definitely be there every night.

What are you excited to share with fans next?

I was actually just in Pioneertown, which is only a skip and a hop over from Coachella with DJ Minx... so there might be an EP coming out. If you don't know her, check her out. She's a goddess, she's an icon, she's the original house techno queen from Detroit.

What was the last text you sent? Who was it to and what did it say?

The last text I sent was to Katy Perry and I said, "Girl, are you gonna make this show?"

How was your surprise set?

Tucker Halpern: It felt great to be at Do LaB and it went off.

Sophie Hawley-Weld: We played all this new music off our new album. It felt so good. I love it here.

What are you most excited to share with your fans next?

Tucker Halpern: We’re excited to share our new album. We’ve been releasing things, teasing things we’ve been teasing a song called “Throw Some Ass" already, and we played it today. It was such an amazing feeling to play it. It comes out on May 3.

What was your last text and who was it to?

Tucker Halpern: [Laughs] Bad-timed question!

Sophie Hawley-Weld: "Call me back."

Tucker Halpern: Let me answer this one. My last text was actually to Alessandra [Ambrosio]. I asked how her birthday was last night, and she said she’d see us here. And then she showed up.

Anything else you want to share with your fans before we go?

Tucker Halpern: Sophie doesn’t want to share anything else. She was oversharing!

Sophie Hawley-Weld: Kind of my go-to thing, oversharing. That’s fine!

Militarie Gun

How does it feel to be performing on such a big stage like Coachella?

Ian Shelton: I’d say that it feels more or less like a lot of others shows. There’s so much importance on Coachella, but at the end of the day we just go up and do or normal thing. It’s not like the people here are more important than other shows necessarily, we’re still gonna play for whoever we’re gonna play for.

What can fans expect from today’s performance?

Ian Shelton: They can probably expect us to jump around a lot. A lot of energy but then still try to feel some level of introspection there. It’s not meant to just be a mindless good time.

You just released a mini-documentary, Live Under The Sun — can you tell us about it?

Ian Shelton: We went to Atlanta and filmed ourselves teaching our songs to a bunch of our friends and collaborators which were Manchester Orchestra and Mannequin Pussy and it was just a cool experience. When you’re in a rock band, it’s not as common to collaborate. We wanted to reinterpret these songs and do it with our friends so it was a cool way to do it and to have this sentimental of the document was really nice. It’s fun to watch as someone who was involved because I get to go back to that moment.

What are you excited to share with your fans next?

Ian Shelton: New music soon. That’s the hope!

What’s the last text you sent?

Ian Shelton: The last text I sent was a screenshot of Tom Delonge [of Blink 182] following us on Instagram. Then I sent him a heart and then he left me on read.

Olivia Dean

How does it feel to have your debut album, Messy out in the world?

Having Messy out in the world has been crazy. It came out a little while ago now but we’re only just starting to tour it. This is our first show of the year. And it’s been amazing the reception, people seem to have connected to it on such an emotional level. With the songs I didn’t expect. You have the one’s where you’re like “this one’s a banger,” but a lot of the smaller songs people have liked.

What are some of those smaller songs that people are excited about?

There’s one tune on the album called “I Could Be A Florist” that was really written as a joke. It was one that was written in 20 minutes and I didn’t think too much about and I was like, “I love this,” and didn’t care if it was this big song. That’s the one that people seem to be vibing with. So it goes to show, not overthinking things is kind of the way forward.

How does it feel to have Coachella as the first stop of your tour?

It hasn't really sunk in yet. Coachella to me being from London, feels like such a faraway dream. I'm kind of wondering if anyone will come to my set... feeling a little anxious. But, feeling really grateful to be here. Even if there's two people there, I'm going to give them the best show of their life.

What are you working on next?

More Coachella. Then new music. I'm already working on my second album. I'm feeling really great but I'm taking my time with it. Excellent things take time to craft but I have a few songs I really like and I'm not overthinking them so they'll probably come out sometime soon.

What was the last text you sent, and to whom?

I don't have my phone on me... I also never text anybody. Probably my manager being like "Are you awake, do you want to get breakfast?"

Jungle

How has it been to share your album Volcano live with fans in person?

Tom McFarland: It’s been really fun. They’re really connected with the songs and it’s been nice sharing that experience.

Did you have any idea how huge of a hit “Back On 74” would be when you recorded it in the studio?

Lydia Kitto: When we made it afterward, we were going to dinner, tapping our feet still. And everyone else has liked it as well which is great. My dad never really compliments he likes to keep me very grounded. He was like, "Yeah, Lyd, that song, it’s alright. Everywhere I go, I’ve been tapping my foot... and I can’t control the tapping of my foot." Which, I think means he likes it.

Now, a serious question. What do you like about music?

Lydia Kitto: It’s an escape. It’s another language.

What’s the last text you sent?

Lydia Kitto: It was, "Call you back in a sec just getting changed," to my mum.

Tom McFarland: I said, "Amazing baby I’m glad."

Josh Lloyd-Watson: No idea, don’t have my phone. Probably, "Love you mom."

L'Impératrice

How does it feel to be back at Coachella?

Very great. Crazy. So good! Really great this time because we're playing the Outdoor Stage.

Tell us about your new record Puslar. What can we expect?

I think it's a record made for partying. It's going to be different. [The process] was really nice, we really enjoyed it.

What was the last text you sent, what did it say?

To a friend, it was, "Where are you?!"

Do you have a message you'd like to share with fans?

Thanks for being here and thanks for supporting us. Music is about the relationship between the musicians and audience, so thanks for being here.

Gashi

Tell us about your new single. It just came out before Coachella, right?

My new single "Midnight Sun" just dropped. I'm really, really excited to release music as an independent artist for the first time in a long time. The song is about finding light in darkness. During 2020, I went through a really rough time in my life. I found light in people and I found light in myself, and I just hope all the listeners find the same thing.

We're at the BMW experience here at Coachella, and I heard you had a tattoo dedicated to it?

It's always been part of my life. There's no engineering better than BMW. I lived in Germany for a long time, and it was always a dream of mine to own one. As soon as I had money, it was the first car I ever got, an X5M for me and my father. I could never drive another car; I even got it tattooed on my knee.

What was the last text you sent? And what was it about?

The last text I sent was, "As soon as I'm done driving this car imma come see you and you can ride me."

Photography: Getty Images, Coachella, courtesy of K Gladstein, S Hutchinson, Jamie Rosenberg, Jamal EID, K Shiver, R Polack, S Hutchinson, J Bernstein