UCLA - University of California - Los Angeles
04/17/2025 | Press release | Distributed by Public on 04/17/2025 10:59
Source alert: Coachella and the festival season
The Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival has become a fixture of the global music scene since its inception in 1999, thanks to its blend of the most popular and emerging alternative, hip-hop, electronic and pop music artists.
The appeal of the festival, which takes place in the Indio desert, around a two-hour drive from the creative capital of Los Angeles, goes beyond the attractions of music and the arts. In addition to last weekend's performances by Lady Gaga, Post Malone, and Gustavo Dudamel conducting the Los Angeles Philharmonic, the festival included a surprise visit from progressive former presidential candidate and Independent Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, as well as political statements from Green Day and others. Beyond its robust lineup, some festivalgoers are reportedly attracted by brand activations, celebrity sightings, networking, and nearby parties and poolhouses.
In just under two weeks, the Stagecoach festival, which celebrates country music, also returns to Indio, the sister events marking the start of the global music festival season. (And, coming up in the months ahead in the U.S. are festivals including Lollapalooza, Austin City Limits, Outside Lands and Borderland.)
To talk about the music, culture and more, UCLA has experts.
The festival experience
Tiffany Naiman is the director of music industry programs and an assistant teaching professor at The UCLA Herb Alpert School of Music, as well as a lecturer in the department of musicology. She is a scholar of women, aging and disability in popular music, as well as a David Bowie scholar. She is also a film curator and producer in the areas of music documentary, experimental film, music videos and LGBTQ+ film. Her expertise also includes experimental film and music, electronic dance music (EDM) and popular music. She can talk about EDM generally, how Coachella has evolved over the years and how its success has influenced other festivals.
Email: [email protected]
The new music
Professor and chair in the department of communication, Bryant studies communication and cognition from an evolutionary perspective. His research incorporates concepts and methods from cognitive psychology, speech science, anthropology and behavioral biology. His latest paper, "The cultural evolution of distortion in music (and other norms of mixed appeal)," focuses on how the increasing popularity of distortion points to the acceleration of musical evolution and cultural innovation. He can comment on why and how Coachella has added harsher, noisier and more experimental music acts to its lineups in recent years.
Email: [email protected]
The new youth
Founder and CEO of the Center for Scholars & Storytellers at UCLA and an expert on youth culture, Uhls' research focuses on how a variety of media impact the social and emotional well-being of young people. The center's latest "Teens & Screens" study shows that teens are longing for community and concerts are one of the top places they gather. She can also comment on youth culture and politics given the appearance by Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders.
Email: [email protected]
Afrofuturism, Missy Elliott and Coachella
An assistant professor of African American art in the department of art history, Barber can discuss the role of Afrofuturism in the visual and performing arts of the Black diaspora, including its influence on rap artist and label executive Missy Elliott, one of this year's most talked-about Coachella performers. Barber currently teaches about Elliott and other artists in her course "Black Women's Aesthetic Futures," using Afrofuturism, Black feminism and contemporary art to examine and expand ideas of creativity, history and culture. Barber is a scholar, curator and critic who studies, among other things, dance, feminism, representation, fashion and the arts of the Black diaspora within and beyond the U.S.
Email: [email protected]
The poetry of pop music
A professor of English and African American Studies at UCLA, Bradley studies and can discuss the poetics of hip-hop and pop songs: hip-hop as a lens for diversity and inclusion, and other aspects of pop culture and poetry. He is the founding director of the Laboratory for Race & Popular Culture (the RAP Lab), and his book, "The Poetry of Pop," continues his pioneering work examining lyrics as poetry by studying popular music across genres, from Bruce Springsteen to Beyoncé. A frequent collaborator with the Grammy Museum, Bradley was co-curator of the institution's recent "Hip-Hop America" exhibition. He also studies African American literature and culture, the Black Diaspora, and modern and contemporary poetry.
Email: [email protected]
Juliet Williams is a professor of gender studies and an expert in feminist theory, the cultural politics of privacy, masculinity studies and feminist cultural studies. Williams can comment on gender and popular music.
Email: [email protected]
Additional interesting information
The L.A. Phil, conducted by Gustavo Dudamel, made its Coachella debut last weekend with an eclectic program of recognizable classical music and a bevy of special guests, including rapper L.L. Cool J. Three UCLA adjunct faculty members from the UCLA Herb Alpert School of Music - Jim Miller (trombone), Boris Allakhverdyan (clarinet) and Chris Hanulik (string bass) were part of that performance and will return to Indio this Saturday, April 19, for another magical sunset set on Coachella's Outdoor Theater stage. UCLA school of music student Julian Johnson (trumpet), and Berkeley High alumni Camille Kerani (tenor sax) and Steven Schlosberg (trombone) serve as horn section for retro-soul band Thee Sacred Souls, who perform Friday afternoon on the Coachella Main stage. (3 UCLA global jazz studies students)
In previous years, adjunct faculty from UCLA's architecture and urban design have been commissioned to create some of the big art installations the festival is also known for.
Güvenç Özel in 2023
Jimenez Lai in 2016: (Not currently on faculty, but was when he did this piece)
Tags: faculty news