Zach Templar is bringing his blend of alternative and R&B music to Los Angeles for the first time.

The 18-year-old artist will perform at Echoplex on Nov. 7 alongside opener Frank Sativa as part of his ongoing concert series, “The Templar Tour.” The “missin something” singer – who hails from Bristol in the United Kingdom – will make his stateside live debut in Seattle today, with the release of his first EP set for next year.

Ahead of his performance Thursday, Templar spoke with the Daily Bruin’s Reid Sperisen about the preparations for the North American leg of his tour and his sonic influences.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

Daily Bruin: What has the preparation process looked like so far for transitioning the tour across the pond and bringing it to North America?

Zach Templar: For the UK tour, we had like a 45-minute set, pretty short. And me and Ben, my music director, were like, “We need to make this more of a full experience for the fans.” So we’ve added a few songs. There’s going to be a few covers as well, extra covers, which I hope people are going to love. It’s been, I would say, a lot easier, in a weird way, than the UK tour because before the UK tour, we didn’t even have a live show together. So I think now we know what we’re going to expect, but then again, you never know what you’re going to expect. We’re excited. It’s going to be great.

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DB: You’ve released four new songs so far in 2024 with “crimson,” “navy,” “roses” and “changes.” Which of these songs would you say you’re proudest of, and which do you believe provides the best representation of the direction your music is going?

ZT: I’m proudest of “crimson,” because to me, it’s like a rhapsody. You have this beginning of no lyrics, nothing, just hard drums and a hard guitar bass line, and then also this euphoric part of the end, and this Jeff Buckley-esque middle section. The whole thing comes together, in my opinion, just great and that song really translates live. We made like a two-minute long intro to that song as it’s the first one of the set. I love it live.

Describe where I’m going, I think “changes.” … I love that song. I really do. I think it incorporates that kind of classic chorus guitar that I always have in all of my songs. But, it’s different. It has a more dark vibe. And I think that to an extent, it will translate over into the EP and stuff next year.

DB: Since you mentioned that there’s this addition of a two-minute extended intro for “crimson,” are there any of your other songs that are going through modifications to be adapted for live performance?

ZT: I love doing it because to me a song, you can play with it forever. I think everything’s always changeable. “roses,” we’ve extended it to have a pretty sick guitar solo, so it goes on for another two minutes. Such a cool ending just on one really rocky chord. But I think “forever tide,” this is one of the favorite things I’ve ever done. I think it’s a Max Richter sample. It’s this orchestral sound. And this song is very poppy originally, very drums, guitar, but we’ve made it into this, orchestral, really euphoric, just soundtrack, and added the lyrics and the melody on top. And simultaneously, we’re going to have a projector projecting visuals from the year on the wall, which is going to be pretty surreal.

DB: In the past, you’ve named artists such as Tame Impala, Frank Ocean and Blood Orange as some of your artistic influences. How have these artists shaped your recent output this year, both sonically and lyrically, and are there any other artists whose work is providing significant inspiration for you?

ZT: Blood Orange is just amazing. I think a lot of artists influenced me. … Frank Ocean definitely does. His lyricism is just ridiculous, and his melodies, like the way he flows between his own soundtracks, is just so inspiring. I take that along with me as well. Steve Lacy plays a heavy part in a lot of my inspiration when I was younger as well. Also, Dominic Fike visually inspired me as well. I think he’s created such a world, and that’s why I want to do as well, create this whole world around Zach Templar. And instead of just making music, it’s this whole act.

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DB: On that note, what do you see on the horizon for the rest of the year and for 2025?

ZT: I think we’re going to keep rolling out singles. Maybe another one for this year and maybe two more at the start of next year, leading up to my debut EP, which I’m so excited for. That should be coming out pretty soon into the next year. That’s going to be my first project, which is as much as nerve-wracking, it’s so exciting. I can’t wait to get that all finished up and done.

DB: What do you hope that any people who might be unable to catch you on tour know about your artistry and musical point of view?

ZT: I think they should know that I really care about it. It’s not just something I’m just aligned in. I really care about the music and the art, my show. We’re having a projector with the shots of a tour documentary we’ve filmed the whole year, which is coming out very soon. I want it to be an experience, not just a ticket where you go to see someone just standing on stage. I want everything to mean something, and that goes for live but also goes for my music and the visuals.