Artemas at Coachella: A Breakthrough Soundtrack to a Festival First

It’s a sun-soaked afternoon in Indio, California, and Artemas is fresh off the stage at Weekend 1 of Coachella 2025. Behind him? A genre-defying set with cinematic visuals, moody lights, and crowd-igniting hooks. In front of him? A year of firsts – from a BRIT Award nomination and a platinum single to two sold-out headline tours and now, his debut on one of the world’s most iconic festival stages. This feature, captured in the California heat and paired with portraits taken during his Coachella debut, marks a milestone: Artemas, fully in his element, and fully in motion.

“There’s just been so many firsts that I’ve ticked off in the last year that it’s kind of hard to take it all in,” he admits. “We planned the Coachella set for four or five months – it was the biggest production I’ve ever done.”

For many festivalgoers, Artemas may have been a discovery set. For fans already following his rise, it was a statement. Either way, it landed. “Each track just had to hit hard and get people’s heads turning,” he says. “We built a whole new stage, had lights and cameras everywhere. I just wanted to make a spectacle.”

That intent paid off. A moody, immersive set reminiscent of Depeche Mode with a futuristic twist, Artemas created what he calls a “modern underground stage show” – the kind of experience that signals an artist entering a new chapter. “When I first started touring, it felt like I was the new kid. Now, I really wanted to make a statement.”

If you’re new to his world, Artemas is a 25-year-old UK-based singer, songwriter, producer, and multi-instrumentalist who emerged from his bedroom studio during lockdown with a sound that’s equal parts alt-grunge, dark R&B, and dreamlike pop. Inspired by everyone from Kurt Cobain and Anthony Kiedis to The Weeknd, his breakout moment came with the eerie, melancholic banger ‘i like the way you kiss me,’ which topped the Billboard Global 200, went RIAA platinum, and currently sits at over 1.7 billion global streams.

He still calls it luck. “Even the beat wasn’t finished. I was just freestyling and the line came out: ‘I like the way you kiss me, I can tell you’re missing me.’ I posted it and a week later the internet just started rooting for it.”

But Artemas doesn’t linger in the past. In March 2025, he released a double single – ‘southbound’ and ‘test drive’ — which marked the one-year anniversary of that breakout track. The pair highlight the duality that defines his approach. “‘southbound’ is kind of tongue-in-cheek and fun and doesn’t take itself too seriously. ‘test drive’ is more serious and darker. Putting them out together was just me flexing a bit.”

Still, the pressure of follow-up success looms. “It would be the death of me to chase that again,” he says. “Those songs are so random. You just have to stay honest.”

Honesty is a throughline in Artemas’ story. Raised in south London, he avoided traditional industry pathways early on. “I just turned my nose up at it all. I made music in my room, mixed it myself, didn’t care about playlists. It was about finding my fans.”

He still connects with those fans directly – through things like Discord chats – and credits them for the viral spread of his biggest tracks. “They’re the ones spreading the message,” he says. “They’re awesome.”

Since his debut release in late 2020, Artemas has steadily built a loyal fanbase. His mixtapes, ‘pretty’and ‘yustyna’, showcase a hypnotic, genre-fluid sound that has earned him praise from the likes of Clash, Dork, Variety, and EUPHORIA, and landed him on Zane Lowe’s “24 for 2024” list. The ‘yustyna’mixtape debuted at #4 on the Global Spotify Chart and has helped him rack up over 1.9 billion total streams across platforms.

Performing confidently now, after navigating early tours with nerves and adrenaline, Artemas is rethinking what sustainability looks like for a modern artist on the road. “At Coachella, I had the worst migraine of my life, and in a weird way it helped me not overthink the crowd. I just had to power through.”

Even now, with tens of millions listening and 75+ shows under his belt, he doesn’t feel like he’s fully broken through. “A year and a half ago, I had less than 100 fans. I think breakthrough is when you drop a track unannounced, and it trends anyway. That’s the level I want to get to.”

That next level may come with his first full-length album, which he’s both eager and slightly terrified to make. “It’s daunting to create something that cohesive, but it excites me too. I want to put my flag in the sand. I think I’m making some of the most exciting alt-pop music out there. And I do it all myself. I just haven’t communicated that clearly enough yet.”

As the sun sets on his first Coachella weekend, Artemas reflects on a standout moment: Stormzy surprising the crowd during Chase & Status. “I had this weird moment of British pride. Like, I felt properly patriotic seeing him out here.”

It’s fitting. Artemas may be flying under his own banner, but he’s carrying a new wave of British talent into the global spotlight – with a sound that breaks rules, expectations, and algorithms.