by Jorge Perezchica
There was never a moment when 54 Ultra tried to make his Coachella debut feel bigger than it needed to be.
Instead, JohnAnthony Rodriguez—the New Jersey singer, songwriter, and producer behind the project—brought the same philosophy that shaped his earliest performances: respect the music, trust the musicians, and make people feel something.
For Weekend 2, that meant walking onto the Sonora Stage backed by a nine-piece band complete with trumpet, trombone, congas, and bongos. The arrangement wasn’t designed simply to stand out in a festival lineup. It was an extension of the music Rodriguez has been chasing since the beginning.
“I was influenced by salsa music and salsa bands from the ’70s,” he says. “I wanted to bring that style of music to a stage like this. Especially on a smaller stage, I wanted to raise the standard of what we were doing.”
That attention to detail has become a defining characteristic of 54 Ultra.
Long before “Heaven Knows” introduced him to a wider audience and led to a deal with Interscope Records, Rodriguez was building a musical identity that refused to fit neatly into one decade. Latin soul, ’60s pop, synth-rock, indie pop, and R&B all live comfortably in his songs, while his vintage-inspired style extends beyond the music into every part of the project.
Even the name reflects that vision.
“I like Studio 54, the disco from the ’70s,” he says. “I like Nostalgia, Ultra by Frank Ocean. I put that together.”
Onstage, though, nostalgia isn’t the point.
Connection is.
When Rodriguez walked offstage after his first Coachella performance, he wasn’t thinking about career milestones or industry validation. He was thinking about the audience.
“I couldn’t believe I saw that many happy faces,” he says. “Everybody was singing the music and just having a good time. I was very happy to make so many people happy.”
The response caught him off guard.
“I didn’t expect there to be fans at a festival this big,” he says. “People were waiting for me at the front. I was very grateful they were there showing me love.”
That exchange of energy became even more meaningful when he performed “Mi Gente,” the Héctor Lavoe classic he once sang while performing with salsa bands in New York.
“It felt incredible,” he says. “It was beautiful to make it happen over here with the bigger band, with real drums and everything. I did it for my mother mostly.”
His Puerto Rican and Dominican heritage isn’t something Rodriguez wears for the stage. It’s the foundation beneath everything he creates.
“I feel honored to be Dominican and Puerto Rican,” he says. “I feel honored to continue the legacy that my parents gave me.”
He speaks about legends like Héctor Lavoe, Fernando Villalona, Daddy Yankee, and Anthony Ríos with the same admiration he has for the musicians of the 1960s and ’70s.
“I love the soul of it,” he says. “The detail—the attention to detail those musicians had. That’s something I try to follow through with the people I work with and the music I try to make.”
That respect for craftsmanship helps explain why, despite one of the fastest-rising careers in independent pop, Rodriguez still measures success differently than many artists.
Seeing his name on a billboard along Interstate 10 was exciting.
But his favorite part?
“My mother loved it,” he says. “That’s all I care about. My father liked it too.”
The same perspective keeps him grounded as bigger opportunities arrive.
“When I played in a basement, I thought I was playing Coachella,” he says. “When I played Coachella, I thought I was playing in a basement.”
It’s a mindset that explains why Coachella doesn’t feel like the finish line.
“It felt like an arrival of another level,” he says. “But I’m still here to grind and be a part of something bigger. I want to come back, and I want to keep bringing people music.”
Asked what he hopes people leave with after watching a 54 Ultra performance, his answer isn’t about vintage aesthetics or genre labels.
“I just want people to understand that I care about the music I’m making,” he says. “I want everybody to have fun. I care about everybody that’s there.”
That same intention guides his songwriting.
“I’m always chasing the feeling,” he says. “I want to feel proud, excited, nervous. I also want to feel really sad.”
It’s a fitting philosophy for an artist whose music often sounds suspended between decades. While many musicians use nostalgia as a stylistic choice, 54 Ultra treats it as a form of craftsmanship—taking the emotional honesty and musicianship of another era and carrying it forward without losing sight of the present.
Up Next
Following his Coachella debut, Rodriguez continues building momentum with performances across the country, including Oceanway Festival in Santa Monica this September, while finishing work on his debut full-length album. If Coachella introduced 54 Ultra to a wider audience, his performance suggested something more enduring: the past isn’t where his music lives. It’s where it begins.
SOCIAL: @54ultra