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d4vd at Coachella: back-flips, BandLab gospel, and two bananas before the spotlight
“It’s been great. It’s been chaotic. It’s been fun… bro, it’s been viral.”
That’s how d4vd, fresh off his first-ever Coachella set, described the aftermath of a back-flip gone wrong during Weekend 1—a moment that unexpectedly exploded online. “25 million views over the weekend,” he says, calling his set the “most talked-about outta the underdog[s]… on some Lightning McQueen type.”
Spontaneity as operating system
The flip wasn’t planned. “I like to keep it real spontaneous… nobody expected that to happen. I ain’t even expect that to happen,” he explains. That unpredictability isn’t just a performance choice—it’s how he makes music too. He doesn’t overthink it. If something feels right, he runs with it, imperfections and all.
A phone, a closet, a philosophy
That same instinct guides his recording process. “I’m a bit of a control freak in the studio… The ear is the canvas and my voice is the paintbrush.” Control, for him, means isolation: no engineer, just an iPhone mic pressed between hoodies. The method dates back to “no label, no nothing, just me and TikTok and me in the closet.” He still believes anyone can replicate it—
“All you need is a phone, bro. You don’t need no mic, no nothing. Just a phone and some earbuds.”
Withered, his next project, keeps that bootstrap fidelity alive because, as he says, he likes “making music that other people think they can make too… inspiring the kids” on GarageBand and BandLab.
Bananas, prayer, perspective
Pre-show ritual is equally stripped-down: “I gotta eat two bananas—potassium, energy—and say a prayer.” Faith steadies the vertigo: “God is my foundation… keeping me level-headed, keeping me humble.” Humility surfaces again when he scans the festival grounds: “Ain’t no small stage at Coachella,” he insists, running a gratitude roll-call—team, family, fans—before every answer.
Favorite sets, future crashes
When the conversation turns to other acts, he rattles them off like a fan with an all-access pass: “Charlie XCX, The Marías, Clairo, Lady Gaga, Green Day… Oh, Benson Boone too.” Asked whose set he’d crash for a surprise collab, he eyes the Sahara tent and deadpans, “That was crazy. I wanna be up there.”
From nothing to something—still in motion
For d4vd, the through-line is obvious: back-flips, BandLab, bananas, and belief all orbit the same mantra—
“The motto from nothing to something bro is real. It’s not cliché.”
Coachella was the loudest proof yet: a viral stumble, an immediate rebound, and a reminder that the kid in the closet with an iPhone can hold a desert crowd in the palm of his hand—no safety net required.
