Naethan Apollo

Meet Naethan Apollo, a storyteller and world-builder on the verge of something legendary. With over 1.4 million followers on TikTok, 250K+ on Instagram, and over half a million monthly listeners on Spotify, Naethan Apollo is already a total phenomenon, building his realm one fan at a time. Raised in a rural town called Solon, Iowa, and later shaped by basement shows while attending Iowa State for graphic design, Naethan Apollo creates a sort of DIY mytho-music where everything is canon and the songs serve a bigger-picture narrative arc, not just algorithmic playlists. Each scene on Wyldflowers is voiced by Apollo's real-life friends and fiancee, and ties into lore that fans can later dig into across social media, music videos, and live shows, too. He started making music about a decade ago, but that infectious determination to chase his dream really took off when he lost a close friend and musical mentor, Praeditus. The "ae" in Naethan is there to honor him, as they always promised one another they'd make it together. A fan of Greek mythology, he chose the last name "Apollo" because it's the god of music, but it also serves as a continued commitment to his vow to Praeditus––that now, he’s going to succeed for them both. That relentless drive shines through on the album’s first single, "Loser,” a braggadocious rap song about being the best. It also dives into the mind of one of the main characters––Arthur Kroane, a high-achiever whose cockiness masks deep trauma and insecurity with his place in the world. It's an ego-fueled banger, strangely relatable, and yet it's just one moment on a sprawling record that finds every song tied to a cinematic companion. Throughout, we follow a squad of rejects, including our protagonist Apollo, as they train for an impossible fight in a brutal fantasy realm called, The Wyld. Failure is expected, but isn't that also when we find out what we're really made of? Across eight fully-scripted scenes and their accompanying tracks, Naethan Apollo tells an epic story about resilience and finding the power in being who you are. But Wyldflowers isn’t just a nerdy side quest. It’s a bold and wildly entertaining album that delivers tracks that go as hard as anything in the alternative scene today. Standouts like “Run Away,” “Go! Go! Go!” and the title track showcases Apollo’s knack for humor and high-stakes, singalong hooks. He weaves rap, folk, rock, and spoken-word to create something entirely his own.