August 2025

Creative Resource: Tell me a little bit about yourself

Gustave: My name is Gus Stork and my artist name is Gustave. I’m from San Luis Obispo and I am an Aquarius. I started DJ-ing my freshman year of college and I am going into my fourth year of college.

CR: In highschool, you were and still are a percussionist. Going into your career as a DJ, how much did having previous experience in music, specifically with rhythms, help you out?

GUSTAVE: It definitely gave me a leg up, my musical background was not only in percussion but I had started off with piano so I had a good musical foundation. It made a big difference because a lot of the technical aspect with DJing in terms of mixing was paying attention that you mix two songs in the same key. If you mix songs and they’re in different keys, its just going to sound terrible when they mix together; so it was a big help knowing my circle of fifths. On top of that, it would’ve been much harder to get started if I didn’t have any prior experience working with rhythms, especially when it comes to writing the drum parts for songs.

CR: You had the opportunity to perform at the Shabang Music Festival in San Luis Obispo twice as well as at the Morning on the Green event at Cal Poly SLO earlier this year. How did performing in lineups with artists such as Galantis, Odd Mob, and Jungle help you grow as an artist?

GUSTAVE: That was huge for me. When I started DJing, I bought myself a little two hundred dollar DJ controller which was what I would use at every single party I would play at. The first time I played at Shabang, it was a huge step up for me because I’m playing on a full CDJ setup which is a 5,000 dollar DJ setup. It’s the real deal that the professionals are using so I basically just showed up for my 15-minute sound check and had to learn to use it in that moment. Having those opportunities to use professional equipment and perform in front of a bigger crowd has been really impactful. It was super great for networking as well. When I would perform, I got to meet other artists and that was super cool. I opened for Walker and Royce at the Fremont Theatre which was pretty insane but what was funny was that only Royce showed up for the show. I was still able to meet him and I’m just super grateful for these insane opportunities.

CR: As someone who began DJing at fraternity events, what are your thoughts on the growing presence of fraternity-affiliated DJs?

GUSTAVE: I think it’s in line with the overall rise in the popularity of EDM music. It’s become one of the mainstream genres of music which is pretty crazy because five years ago, it was a lot more of an underground scene. The popularity of EDM, I think, has definitely caused a lot of people to get involved in the community of DJing and the barrier to entry is super low. Anyone can buy a hundred dollar controller and learn how to DJ within a week or two after watching some videos and practicing as much as possible. I think that aspiring DJs who are a part of Greek life are definitely drawn in by the party scene and that has its pros and cons. You start seeing this growing fanbase for DJing but with that comes some cheesier music becoming popular. Sure, you start with listening to whoever is popular at the moment like John Summit or Fisher but once you get into that, you find more underground music that's really cool.

CR: Not all fraternity DJs are performing at Shabang. Networking is always involved in music, but skill-wise, what do you think really set you apart as a DJ?

GUSTAVE: My musical background has helped me a lot. I’ve been able to progress a lot faster and because it’s a lot to learn as a DJ and with my background, I’m able to avoid sounding bad for longer. Producing takes a long time and being a musician my whole life is one thing I’ve been so grateful for.

CR: What are your thoughts on international club culture and how it’s evolved with the rise in popularity of EDM?

GUSTAVE: It’s definitely changing. There’s all these videos of shows where everyone is just standing around with their phones out, videoing shows, just so they can post it on their social media. The whole point of electronic dance music is that it’s dance music; you’re supposed to be dancing and really enjoying the music and enjoying yourself. You can go to the club to forget the stresses in life and enjoy the music and I think this idea is being lost in modern club culture and social media is impacting the EDM environment heavily. I will say, there’s always going to be cool underground spots, and you can always find them. No matter where you are, they’re there. I’ve been to cool clubs in the U.S and in Europe and in my experience, it feels like it is more common in the U.S to have cool raves somewhere like in a field or something. Clubs in the U.S however, I’ve found to be not so great. That’s how it goes.

CR: A lot of your sets have heavy Latin influences. What inspired that? Was it from music you grew up listening to or something you discovered later on in life?

GUSTAVE: Honestly, I just love that style of music so much. I feel like as an artist, you want to recreate something you really like and with that, I just love the percussion aspect of Latin house. What really does it for me with producing is the heavy percussion. I’ve always loved it and that’s where I discovered Latin music, especially because all of the music is so danceable. A lot of popular subgenres of EDM are more minimal and don’t have too much extra fluff but I love heavy bass and that is absolutely something I align my sets with. I studied abroad in Barcelona for four months and I was doing a lot of producing there. A lot of what I produced there was influenced by local artists. I would sample tracks from them and make remixes which was super cool since whenever you travel, you can find so much inspiration. I definitely want to visit South American countries and find more inspiration just because of how much Latin music has influenced me as an artist and helped me find that sound for myself.

CR: Music is both extremely personal as well as something so universally understood. How does it feel having shared these powerful experiences with local artists in different parts of the world?

GUSTAVE: Music is such a powerful language. All around the world, people are making music, and it’s a cool way to transcend borders. It’s so impressive to see every culture’s interpretation of music and discovering how you can be involved with so many different kinds of music. I believe everyone loves sharing their culture and music is such a beautiful way to do that. Music and food are the two best ways, I believe, to share one’s culture.

CR: Music has had a rich history of being a way for change to be brought about. What issues are you most passionate about and how have they involved themselves in your creative process?

GUSTAVE: With my music, especially taking a lot of inspiration from Latin American music, when it comes to immigration from Central and South America, it has been really involved in my work as a producer. It’s so important to highlight the positive impact that immigrants have had on our county and how much value they bring to our country and all they’ve contributed to. Music is a huge part of that, and that is probably why I love highlighting Latin music and artists. It’s my own personal way to to share that genre of music with people who might be strangers to it. It’s the best when people listen to a set I’ve done and they start asking about the song that I sampled or just showing interest. It’s just a unique experience to see the people who have a different perspective on immigration than I do speak very highly of Latin house or other genres with heavy Central and South American influences.

CR: Do you think sampling has had an impact on how different cultures keep their musical history alive?

GUSTAVE: Absolutely. I think its not as common to listen to soul music but rap is popular and so many of the best rap tracks sampled soul music. It’s a way for those artists from the past and their music to stay alive and get another turn of being a part of the forefront of music. It’s just super tricky with the legal issues that are involved with sampling and that can make it difficult as a producer to get samples cleared. Whenever I send music to labels to get signed, if it has any samples, they don’t even look at it just because of all the work that comes with that. For example, Mau P just released a remix of a Tame Impala song. He’s been performing it for the past two, three years but he couldn’t get it released on a platform until recently.

A good aspect of sampling would have to be the way it forces you to create stuff yourself. That has probably been one of the more challenging aspects of producing for me because vocals are just a whole different thing. They’re a big part of music, especially electronic music. Finding vocals is challenging in itself but trying to record your own is even more challenging. You can record something and feel like it sounds awful.

CR: The Amen Break is considered the most used sample in producing. What do you think sets certain sample’s apart and what do you think establishes the popularity of these samples?

GUSTAVE: With the Amen sample, there is literally an entire genre of music that came from that one drumbeat. It’s just such a good sample. It’s so dynamic and I think that sampling is a very interesting thing to talk about with people. If you talk to someone a little older and maybe a traditional EDM listener, you might hear that sampling isn’t even making your own music or that you’re just stealing someone else’s work. Sort of an EDM purist where there’s the idea that everyone needs to be playing an actual instrument for it to be real music. But I think that the art of sampling is easily a form of music in its own way. Especially with hip-hop, rap, and electronic music, sampling is so prominent. I think it’s a really cool way to be able to take a snippet of something somebody else created and use it as inspiration. For example, 90s hip hop. Artists would find some sample from some R&B or soul music and completely transform it. It’s just such a cool form of creativity and definitely where the beauty of sampling comes from.

CR: The original musician of the Amen Break, Gregory Coleman, did not receive any compensation for a musical break that transformed music and died poor and homeless. Now, sampling another artists music comes with upfront payments and on occasion, royalty splits to original creators. What are your thoughts on how these legal aspects of sampling have evolved over the years?

GUSTAVE: It’s a balance more than anything. Its difficult because the original artist deserves all the recognition for what they contribute, especially if a producer is making money off of using someone else’s work in any way. However, like I had mentioned before, sampling is so powerful because of how it keeps an artist’s sound alive. It is such a big part of music and has a huge history in so many amazing ways.

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