A Deep Dive Into Dominic Fike

Like many fans who did not want to pay $500+ to go to Coachella, I was saddled with watching the live streams on YouTube. Was I disappointed that there was no Frank Ocean live stream? Yes. But the artist who made my viewing experience worth it on Day 3 of Coachella was the Euphoria actor and singer/songwriter Dominic Fike. Something he said during his set made me feel for him. Most artists get up onstage, introduce their songs, and then sing them, but Fike got more personal than that. Before he performed his last song, he noted how he wasn’t nervous coming onto the stage to perform. He told the audience he wanted to feel something, so they had to do something crazy.

“When you quit drugs, it’s hard to get the serotonin back.”

Dominic Fike, Coachella 2023

As a newer fan of his, I wanted to look at Fike’s life to find out what he meant by that. Maybe you will learn something on this journey too.

Growing Up

Fike was born on December 30, 1995, in Florida. I still can’t believe he’s 27. He looks so young, and I mean that in a good way. According to a Complex interview, he started playing guitar at ten and learned to play songs by the Red Hot Chili Peppers. His parents were not around often because his mother was in and out of jail for drug charges, and his father was “shitty,” in Fike’s words. Because of this, he had to take care of his three siblings: a younger brother, Alex, a sister, Apollonia (Apple), and an older brother, Sean. He spent his high school years smoking weed with his friends and creating rap songs to post on YouTube. It wasn’t until he started a Soundcloud with his producer that he got recognition.

Music Career

In 2018, Fike signed with Columbia Records to pay his mother’s lawyer fee. After that, he released his single “3 Nights” in the same year. The song gives people a laid-back vibe and is more upbeat than some of his other songs. His main genre of music is indie/bedroom pop and you can feel the emotion he puts into his songs. He continued releasing singles in 2019, like “Roller Blades” and “Acai Bowl,” and announced that he was going on tour. It lasted a little over a month, and he performed an unreleased song called “Chicken Tenders.” The song is about an ex-girlfriend, and he doesn’t sing it live anymore because of the memories it brings up. I noticed in the comments of the Coachella live stream that people requested that song multiple times, but he never performed it. However, his more well-known song is from the HBO Max series titled Euphoria.

Acting Career

According to Harper’s Bazaar, Euphoria is Fike’s first on-screen role. When reading with Barbie Ferreira, he was high off shrooms in an attempt at method acting. As you can imagine, it backfired on him, and he didn’t get the part at first. Fike went to a rehab center in 2020 to deal with his substance abuse issues. “Trying to make a f*cking album in the midst of that much pressure, the drugs, my family being insane, and me being insane, was impossible,” Fike said to GQ. His character, Elliot, also struggles with substance abuse. But Fike noted that he differs from his character because he is now sober. He decided to help cope with the pressures of fame by doing so, a common theme in the music industry.

Impact On Fans

Many of his fans were proud of him and supported him on Twitter. On the live stream, the camera panned to a girl in the front row who was in tears, seemingly tears of joy. When Fike told the audience he was sober, they started clapping and cheering for him. Fike’s story is an impactful one for those struggling with addiction. I hope he could feel something for his closing song, but we’ll never know. Thank you for coming along with me through Fike’s life, and I hope you learned more about the singer/songwriter and actor.

Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services (SAMHSA) National Helpline: 1-800-662-4357

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