I went to school for audio engineering, and I was around a lot of sound engineers over the summers in New York, so I'm pretty comfortable in engineering my own stuff.
Gus Dapperton
I wear high water pants, always, so you can see my socks - I always wear white socks.
If there is going to be visuals for a song, I want them to be equally as good or better than the song.
I would say that my music is surreal, it's inspired by dreams, and it's inspired by heartbreak.
I grew up producing hip-hop music, actually. I was producing for my friends, who were all rappers in upstate New York, where I'm from. But in the eighth grade, we had this songwriting contest in our school, and I got really excited about it and actually won. After that, I just kept making music forever.
I came up with a lot of characters when I was growing up that were just creative outlets, and then, at one point, I came across Gus Dapperton in the back of my head when I was making music.
I spend a lot of money on shoes and barely any on clothes.
When I first started making music, I was pretty drawn to hip-hop beats wrapped together with super-good lyrics. The most important thing in that is wordplay, so that stayed with me when I started writing songs.
I love the bowl cut. I had it when I was younger, and I decided to go back to it. It seems to fit me.
Every new experience will trigger melodies in my head.
I generally use a lot of analog instruments, a few synths from the '80s like the Roland Juno-106, and an old Fender bullet guitar.
When I perform, I wear white Capezio dance shoes. It's more of a superstition, but I only wear them when I perform and when I dance.
I'm not really sure what I look for when I'm picking out clothes.
I like to dress really warm when I'm making music. I want the air to be really cold so I can wear really big sweatshirts and jackets.
I tend not to get too excited and surprised about things.
At some point, I kind of went through this weird existential crisis in high school where I was just really depressed.
At first, I was a pretty horrific singer, and then I got a little better.
I think my voice isn't that easy to digest.
Some people ask me what instruments I play, but usually I'll just say I'm more of a producer or a composer or songwriter - those are my strongest suits: arranging and composing.
A lot of artists have a super-specific musical hero they definitely try to hone in on. I'm basically inspired by everyone. I don't have one particular artist who I'm super-obsessed with.
I went through this kind of existential crisis. I was going through a breakup; I tore my ACL and my meniscus and had to have surgery, so I was out of school for a few months. Then my computer crashed, which was, like, my whole life. So when I came out of it, I started making music that, I think, was the most true to me.
I go back to things that are nostalgic for me - Michael Jackson, the Beatles, Britney Spears, Stevie Wonder.
I'll hear a phrase around me that someone says... I'll write it down in my notebook, and as soon as I'll sit down with my guitar, I'll come up with the rest of the arrangement there.
I work out of my home studio that I built in this warehouse in Philadelphia. I've kind of curated it for my needs and my sound.
For me, I have trouble working with people just because I sort of have trust issues when it comes to creative endeavors.
My singing voice is very specific to me. That's my natural voice when I sing.
