Remember when the next big thing in music was scouting young stars singing covers on YouTube? A tween boy with a blonde bowlcut singing Ne-Yo became Justin Bieber. Becky G’s cover of Jay-Z and Kanye’s “Otis” almost immediately secured her a record deal. Conan Gray’s queer indie iconography was borne from his days as a vlogger who moonlighted singing the Neighbourhood and Lana Del Rey.
Now that short-form content on TikTok has made it easier to post and platform original music, the art of the cover-discovery method seems like a lost art. That is, except for the case of Stephen Dawes.
On the cusp of his 20s, Dawes entered the music world on a high in 2022—although not intentionally—with his TikTok-viral version of Katy Perry’s “Teenage Dream” (which he also posted on YouTube, amassing over 50 million views, and Spotify, where it has over a quarter-billion listens). The cover played behind clips of long-distance relationships, friends reunited and reminiscing, prom transitions, cats, and concerts. Now, the singer-songwriter looks ahead of his youthful fantasies to see what’s next.
Throughout his childhood, Dawes moved around a lot—born in Manhattan, raised on Cape Cod, a teenager outside of San Francisco, a brief stint at New York University—but these days he’s working to make his current landing pad in Los Angeles a home. At 23, his voice has crystalized into a sleek driving force in the electro-pop arena after trying out more traditional pop, rock, and even folk spirits over his previous two albums. From the beaches to the Valley, Dawes is finally able to make music from the heart.
Ahead of the release of his debut album Skin to Skin, Dawes sat down with CULTURED to chat about the Arctic Monkeys, his “performative” media inspiration, and writing music while in love.
What do you do when you’re in New York?
I was just visiting a college friend. I went to NYU, but I only did two years. I left halfway through with the intention of going back. Then, every year I just was like, Eh, not this year.
What was that choice like?
It was hard. With music, when you have an opportunity, you gotta take full advantage of it. If you don’t take those opportunities, later on you have that feeling of, What if I had actually taken advantage of this and made the most out of it?
Was there a particular moment where you were like, Now is the time to seize the opportunity?
Yeah, there was. Honestly, when I went to school, I didn’t even completely want to be an artist. That was a during-school epiphany. I had the worst stage fright growing up. So even if I liked performing, it was something that was too terrifying for that to be my career. When I went to college, I had some friends that were playing live, and I went to go see them.
Where’d you go see them? Where were you playing shows?
Mercury Lounge, Baby’s All Right, Rockwood Music Hall. Some of the smaller venues. I had a few friends that made it look so easy. I tried doing some performances—I was working on my own music at that point—but I loved it, which I was not expecting. I was like, You know what? Maybe I should lean into this.
The second year I had the “Teenage Dream” cover, which was literally for a class assignment.
What was the assignment?
Everyone did “Teenage Dream.” It was a performance class, and you had to make your own version of it. Some people did a dance-y electronic thing; I did the acoustic folksy version, which is funny because it’s not even the type of music I really make anymore.
I was having a real writer’s block moment, too, so I just posted that on TikTok. All of a sudden, it started doing really well. It was one of those things where sometimes, when things go viral on the Internet, it’s before you’re even really ready for it. Next thing you know, you’re like, I guess I’m moving to LA.
How long ago did you move to Los Angeles?
Three years ago. There is so much music in LA. You could write with a new person every single day in LA. and never find the end.
Have you been writing with collaborators more or writing by yourself?
I did a lot of writing with collaborators the first two years of living here. Last year, as I started working on the album, I hit a point of burning out on writing with other people.
You get a very different song when you write alone. You don’t have anyone to tell you no. I get very insecure about my ideas before they’re fleshed out. Sometimes, when I’m writing alone, having ideas not be shot down immediately lets me do things that might be more ridiculous.
If you had to distill it, what would you say is the particular through line that connects all the songs on this new record?
Los Angeles and relationships, and finding someone that makes it a lot easier. A lot of it is about my girlfriend. I feel like a lot of the older music… not really having been in love, I was writing a lot about TV and books I was reading, a lot less personal.
What TV and books were you writing about?
Whatever at the time I was reading. I read Normal People, and that had at least a few months of inspiration that I was drawing on. I feel it’s hard to find specific examples that don’t sound ridiculously performative. It’s sometimes scarier to write about the real stuff. You get more raw and personal.
When you were writing the record, what was inspiring you?
Music and outfit-wise: Arctic Monkeys. Outfit especially. Alex Turner is definitely responsible, for sure. Musically, I’ve always loved the Flaming Lips. I’ve been listening to a lot of Joji. I love Wilco. There’s one song on the album, “Easy Words,” that’s a little bit different from the rest, but it’s very Wilco-inspired.
What is a song that changed a lot in the process of making the record?
There’s one, “Hurt Me Better.” That was more of an Arctic Monkeys, rock moment. My music always had a slight electronic element because it’s predominantly made in my room on synths. I’ve never fully leaned into that. About halfway through the year, I was just like, You know what? I think this album wants to be more electronic. That song took the brunt of the blow. It definitely happened across a few other songs, but that was one, for the most part, everything changed on it.
Are you going to try to do more songs like that?
Thinking about the theoretical live show, I’ve always done a guitar with me singing, and it’s always been very “rock band.” I had an epiphany that that’s not really who I’ve ever been. I’ve never been a big guitar person, but it’s not what I’m good at. I love synths and saw basses and loud noises, like it’s being made on a computer.
Do you do a lot of live shows?
I’ve done four tours now. This last year I didn’t really tour much because I was just working on music. They’ve all been very different, which I feel is a lucky place to be. When you go see a show there’s so many small things to—not steal—but just be inspired by. Every tour has been a very different vibe and type of music. When you think about doing your own show, it’s daunting, but having had the experience to go see so many different things, I know what I want, which is exciting, because I feel like for a while I didn’t.
What does your ideal show now look like?
I want it to feel like you’re experiencing it in the way that the songs were written. It’s not dance music, but it’s something you can dance to. That’s the very slight difference that I am trying to get right in the live show. I’m not a DJ, and I don’t want to be a DJ, but I do want people to feel comfortable dancing to the music. I want it to feel like a night out. When you’re going to pay money to see someone live, obviously there’s times when you wanna be going to see someone make you cry. But I do feel like right now, it’s fun to go to things and dance and be with friends, and so the idea of a night out with friends is what I’m trying to capture.
Do you have any dream collaborators?
I know I just said I don’t wanna be a DJ, but it would be fun to have at least some of the songs remixed by someone that I love. I’ve been such a big fan of The xx for so long, and doing something with Jamie xx would be a dream.
Out of all the songs on the record, which one is the most personal?
Probably “Optimist.” I love “Optimist” because it’s a sad song that is actually a love song. The love song element is just the second verse, but that is the core of what the song’s about. It’s definitely the most personal. I remember writing it, and it was one of those songs that just flowed out of me. It was super easy to write. Every line wrote itself in a way. And it also took a really long time to make.
I originally did it with this other producer, and we got into a really good place, but because it was so personal, it didn’t feel like it was personal enough in the production. The vocals weren’t totally right. I’m someone who likes to re-record vocals a bajillion times. I decided to just go work on it on my own, and then it took a little while of just redoing the vocals and redoing the piano. I finally got it to a place where it feels just as intimate as I wanted it to be.
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