backstage

Bailey Zimmerman performed Friday night at Stagecoach, where his set mixed post-grunge country hits like “Religiously” and “Where It Ends” with a cover of Miley Cyrus’ “The Climb” and an appearance by BigXthaPlug on their duet “All the Way.” Before Zimmerman’s set, I met with the 26-year-old singer inside a denim-bedecked pop-up presented by American Eagle, for whom Zimmerman serves as an official spokesbro.

Did you only agree to become an American Eagle ambassador because you thought you might be able to meet Sydney Sweeney?
I would understand why you would think that. But honestly, no — it was a full circle moment in my life. Before my American Eagle deal, I had all the American Eagle underwear. They couldn’t send me new ones — I had ’em all.

Do you get free jeans?
They give me everything for free.

Could you get me some free jeans?
Maybe? I could do one of those things where I’m like, “Oh, it’s for me,” but it’s really for you.

By my count, this is your fourth Stagecoach in a row.
Yep.

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You never miss this, bro.
It’s my favorite time of the year — it’s sick. I come out here the whole weekend. The first year, I brought my best friends, and we’ve done it every year since — all my friends and their fiancees now because we’re getting older and they’re getting married. So it’s just a big party all weekend. It’s something I look forward to.

Speaking of getting married, last year you you told me you were looking for a wife. Any progress?
Well, you know, honestly, I’m still just kind of doing my thing. I’m on God’s timing, truly —I’m just letting it roll.

You’re a Justin Bieber guy.
Beliebe it.

“Swag” or “Swag II”?
I was hesitant to want to listen to “Swag II” because I love “Swag I” so much. But then once you get into “Swag II,” it’s like, Dude, this is so fire, bro. Both albums are so fire — I’ll listen to either one.

Did you watch Bieberchella?
Yes!

What did you think of the YouTube of it all?
I thought it was really cool. I loved it — it was just something way different. I’ve never seen that done like that. Iconic — I would call it iconic. That’ll go down in history.

Bailey Zimmerman on Stagecoach’s main stage.

(Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)

You have a current radio hit, “Chevy Silverado.” What was your first truck?
A 2005 white Chevy Silverado. That’s what the song’s about.

Yes, of course. But I didn’t know it was true to life — I thought you were using writerly inspiration.
No, true to life, man. My grandpa had a 2005 crew-cab short-bed Chevy Silverado, and I bought it off of him. I had to borrow money from my bank in my hometown, and I bought it of him because times weren’t good at the time. When the used car dealership was going good, maybe he would’ve given it to me, but at that time, it wasn’t going good, so I had to borrow money and have a payment at the bank. Adult things.

You know where that truck is now?
I still have it. Honestly, I didn’t think anybody would resonate with the song — I didn’t think anybody would listen to it just because it was so personal to me. Every single line is a real life story from my life, so to see it resonating with everybody and seeing it do what it’s doing — it’s so cool, man.

David Lee Roth popped out at Coachella on Friday to sing Van Halen’s classic “Jump” with Teddy Swims. After the show, we grabbed a few minutes with the 71-year-old rock star, who wore a beaded vest and tight silver-and-black trousers and sipped from a red plastic cup.

Ted, Teddy, Theodore — what do you call Teddy swims?
I call him Teddy. Teddy Swims is one of the best names ever — everybody’s saying it. All around in the city here are visitors from Germany, Holland, Japan, China, and they all know that name. Something like Greenberg? Helfenbein? [Shrugs]

What if you’d been Dave Roth?
My full name is David Lee Roth — it’s an anagram. When I was born, I had a traumatic birth — I was backwards, I had the cord around, I was hyperactive. My grandfather, who was a 70-hour-a-week physician — graduated medical school in 1920 — took a look at me two hours after I was born and told my mom, “He’s gonna be trouble.” And Mom’s way of saying “Go schtup yourself,” she added the middle name Lee. If you reverse the letters, it comes out the devil.

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You ever been to Coachella before?
This is my first time on this stage, and it’s the most forgiving audience. What a colorful, noisy bunch.

A forgiving audience? What does that mean?
It means if you go to Kenny Chesney, you gotta have the hat — the girls have to have the cut-offs. There’s rules. If you go heavy metal, you gotta cut the sleeves off a black shirt — not blue.

And here it’s catch-as-catch-can?
It’s inventive, creative, imaginative without rules — the way artwork perhaps used to be in the middle ’80s. In 1985, graphic art, sculptural art, automotive art — there were no rules. Today, you’re not getting on any gallery walls without a political bias. And today, here, I’m not sure what the bias is. I can wear something like this and it’s like, “Too bad you showed up in your day clothes.”

What is this outfit?
This is Artemis moon mission. I’m vacuum-packed for your safety — kid-tested, mom-approved. She likes it because it’s good for ’em. I like it because it’s gonna taste so good.

“I got my back against the record machine,” from “Jump.” Could you explain to the kids what a record machine is?
It’s a jukebox. And it’s a visual — like Broadway: [Sings] “When you’re a jet, you’re a jet / All the way from your first cigarette…” Now, I know Tony like I know me — the playground is neutral territory.

Wait, who’s Tony?
“West Side Story.”

What’s a jukebox have to do with “West Side Story”?
It suggests an image of a human being leaning against a jukebox saying, “I may not be the best thing in your mind today — but I’m the right tool for the job.”

Van Halen’s highest-charting single — what was it?
Either “Panama” or “Jump.”

It was “Jump” — a No. 1 hit in 1984. Remember what was No. 2 behind it?
Oh my God, “Boogie Oogie Oogie”?

“Karma Chameleon,” Culture Club.
OK, that’s Boy George.

You ever meet Boy George?
Yes, I did. Boy George would have fit into Coachella perfectly. Where is he? A Boy George comeback at Coachella? Stop lying.

What’s the best Van Halen song?
It depends what verb you’re attaching.

You choose.
Pairing, for example, the right alcoholic beverage with the right firearm is important. A light Pilsner goes with that new Czech machine pistol we saw in the last John Wick movie. And a Benelli shotgun for Guinness stout. Van Halen music is the same thing: What verb are you participating in? Are you dancing? How long? The whole night. Are we running? Sure. Who with? The devil.

What’s in your cup here?
This is what made me what I am today — fat and unemployed.