After his monumental first Coachella set, Taemin is setting an even higher bar for himself heading into the second weekend of the festival.

“Weekend One, I really emphasized the elegance, and there was a smoothness to everything,” says the singer, in L.A. a few days before heading back to the desert stage in Indio. “There will be elegance to Weekend Two as well, but I want it to feel more impactful, feel sexy and bring more power into it.” 

He’s still processing the “very new experience” of performing at the popular music festival alongside some of the biggest names in music. “ It’s been very fun, and it feels really fresh,” he says. “It is very, very busy, but I’m still having fun in spite of it all.”

Offstage, he got to meet fellow performers including PinkPantheress and Teddy Swims, and ran into G-Dragon, another K-pop trailblazer who was at the festival with BigBang.

“I was so happy to be able to say hi and catch up with him,” he says. “Weekend One, I had so many nerves; I wasn’t able to really enjoy as many sets as I wanted and attend so many other sets. But Weekend Two, I’m really looking forward to letting it all down, now that my nerves are a little bit eased up, to really enjoy the concert.”

Known as the “Idol’s Idol,” Taemin has established his legacy through strong stage performances and choreography, both as a solo artist and with second-generation K-pop group SHINee. This spring, he’s claimed a few “firsts” — he’s the first Korean solo male K-pop artist to be featured on the Coachella lineup, and the first to have a dedicated exhibition at the Grammy Museum.

During his first Coachella performance, the singer performed an energetic set of some of his most popular solo hits — including “Move” and “Guilty” — along with six new songs he debuted onstage. 

“ I was pretty nervous, because these are songs that I haven’t performed before, and the audience hadn’t heard any of these songs before,” he says. “But it’s Coachella — it’s an experience, and it’s a great space for people to meet me for the first time. So I thought it was a great place to perform all of these new songs.”

He describes his newest music as a more “intimate” reflection of himself. “ They have a lot of expressions of what I’m currently feeling, and what I wanted to express out of my current thoughts and meditation,” he says.

Missing from his Weekend One set was “Long Way Home,” his first all-English track, which was released last month. “ I wanted to create a song that was easy to approach, even for people who don’t know me yet,” he says of the track.

While his Coachella appearance was hotly anticipated by his fanbase — known as TAEMate — the singer is leaning into the opportunity to introduce himself to new fans as well.

“ I want them to see the type of musician I am through the performances, the music and the way I’m expressing everything,” he says. “I know that our cultures are different and languages are different, but I’m hoping that this is a really good opportunity for them to meet me as the artist that I am.”

Taemin also recently debuted “Taemin: Performer. Artist. Icon” at the Grammy Museum in L.A. On display in the exhibition are two signature stage looks, a red and black outfit from the encore of his “Ephemeral Gaze” tour and all-white look from his “Veil” tour, along with a selection of “artifacts” including his official lightstick, in-ear monitors and stage microphone.

“I wanted [the world] to see my identity through this,” he says. “I want them to hear my music and look at the direction everything is going — the costumes and the movements — and I want them to experience my world building.”

Fashion is an important part of that worldbuilding and Taemin describes his onstage outfits as an extension of his music. The artist, dressed in jeans and a textural red top — one of his signature colors — opted for an all-white outfit for the first weekend. But he teases that he has a new look prepared for Weekend Two. 

And despite being focused on his own performance, Taemin has still found time to be a fan himself during Coachella. “Justin Bieber performed on the same night that I did, and I really wanted to see his concert,” he says. “My schedule was pretty packed right after my show, and I rushed through telling everybody ‘I need to get to the Bieber set.’”

Next month, he’ll reunite with SHINee for a three-day concert in Korea. “ As always, I think it’s gonna be very fun, as it always has been,” he says of performing with the group, which debuted in 2008. “We’ve built so many memories with our fans, and I’m excited to add another memory to that memory bank.”