If you are a fan of bass music, have a love for Electronic music or just love to follow gnarly individuals on social media, I can assure you this dude will make you happy. With one of the meanest swags in the game, Ghastly has become a household name over the past year or so. I say household name and you know what I mean, dont get cute. Your grandma probably doesn't know who Ghastly is. YET. But, David has hit the mixers hard and within the EDM community has become seamlessly one of the most recognizable guys in the industry both in steez and sound. Kicking off 2017 with two polar opposite sounds, “We Might Fall” and “Geisha”, the foundation has been set for what is going to be an insane future for this Dub/Bass DJ/Producer. With live sets that not only captivate the masses but also nearly split spines in half, Ghastly is most certainly going to be a fixture on the scene for years to come along with the rest of Moe Shalizi's crew. We sat down with the dude and had an insanely entertaining yet knowledgable conversation prior to his wreckage of his show at newly created nightclub, Schimanski in Brooklyn, NYC.
Follow along with me-italicized and Ghastly-bolded:
Thanks for taking the time man looks like we’re pressed for time here so let’s jump right in.You dropped Geisha and We Might Fall so far this year, two completely different tracks but bangers in their own regards. What’s the roadmap look like for what’s to come?
So, I’m currently finishing up an album right now, and like, Geisha was kind of like a release that was a made to show that I’m going to be moving back more towards, my roots of Bass House, for an album that I should have coming out early 2018. It’s uh, 13 tracks total all across the ranges of genre. A lot of house , a lot of Future Bass, some 90BPM, some dub, you know a bit of everything
Trance?
BAGGAAAA, I don’t know about Trance, I don’t know how that would resonate with my fan base, like ABOVE and BEYOND and GHASTLY! WHAT?!
But yeah man, I’m working my butt off on that, just have a couple more tracks I need to finish up and then we are going to release it, get it out there.
Has this been a project you have really been able to sit down and just bang out, or has it been one of those works in progress, years of work?
It’s honestly been a mixture of, see I write a lot when I’m at home, I get in my best creativity when I don’t have any prior or upcoming engagements. You know, you always have that weight on your mind while you’re working on a track, especially if you’re on an airplane, you know man, producing over the sound of a jet engine its kinda hard you know, kinda loud…hahaha.
Could bring some inspiration for some dub drops…
Haha valid, I never looked at it that way. But haha, I’ve written this album in parts of Japan, which is one of my favorite countries, parts of Europe, I’ve written it all over the world and really just taken inspiration from places that I’ve been to and I’m just super excited to see how it’s received.
The diversity sounds like its gonna be pretty rad and we all look forward to it.
With Bass Music, the USA is really heavy into the dubstep, trap & bass. But, of late, it seems like Bass is really taking the world by storm. What’s been the biggest surprise for you traveling the world and playing your style of music?
Indonesia is crazy, dance music just started getting really big there and Japan has been in it for a while. Japan is crazy as fuck man, probably my favorite country in the world and I’m playing in Paraguay next week it’s called “Beatbrations” which will be my first time down there. It’s with like Armin, Steve Aoki, some others, and me. I’m like, im nothing like Armin or Steve but Let’s Do it! should be dope.
Should be a cool experience being probably one of the only bass guys on the lineup. Will be cool to see how the crowd reacts. You are part of one of the most tight knit management groups and teams in the industry. What’s it like having that backing and really all being on the come-up together?
Yeah man, its awesome. We have Marshmello, Slushi, Jauz, Ookay, Tiesto, Dotcom, Sikdope, Borgeous, Metro Boomin and more. It’s such a trip man cause even like with Jauz and stuff and even Moe, I knew Moe back before his management career really took off. I remember when he was first starting. He had just picked up Jauz who had like 4,000 followers on Soundcloud, and we were homies you know, before anything really happened. I knew Ookay and I knew Dotcom and all these people, it’s just an incredible thing to be a part of this family as well as all being about our business. You know like business and pleasure mixed at all times. It’s a great combination, we all love it, it’s amazing.
You have a choice to make here, can only keep one around, your pet snake or Jauz. Go!
I would definitely get rid of… uhhh. Can we merge a Snake-Shark? Ill take a Snake-Shark. If Sam was half snake, that would be pretty cool. But, if I HAAAAD to choose and they couldn’t get merged together…. Of course I’m gonna pick my fucking snake. I’m kidding, Of course I would pick Sam. I love Sam.
It’s been super rad to see the growth on the team, other than Tiesto, it’s like you are all on the same path together. Marshemello took off, Jauz is taking off and its seems like now each and every one of you are on this ride together. I feel like this could be a career changing album for you…
Ooh yeah, oh yeah, I’m really really excited for this album. Once that drops we are going to be doing a new Live Production for the Tour that no one has ever done before. I mean it’s been done, what we’re going to do has been kind of done before, in like art displays and stuff, but it’s never been done on a consistent basis for a DJ set. Going to put pretty much aallll of the money I make off of the album right back into this and creating a whole new style…. I don’t want to give too many details away, cause the element of surprise is what it’s all about.
Couldn’t agree more man, where did the Glasses and the hair come from? Pretty individual swag you got going…
I’ve related to circle glasses from like John Lennon and then I’ve always related to uh like really really vinyl glasses that you can’t really see through from “Fear and Loathing”. And these glasses are a little bit of both. It’s of course a big part of my personality, woah, sorry If I just spit on you right there..hahahaha
hahahaha Bro, haha tastes like… a Cheeseburger? say it don’t spray it haha, what are you 5?
Hahahaha, for real my bad I had a really good dinner. Hahaha, the HAIR I’ve always just had it. Dying it is really it doesn’t have to do with anything. Dying your hair it’s like the same thing as getting tattoos or piercings, or anything no reason other than the fact that you could and nothing else.
Hahaha this conversation is getting out of control I’d be crazy, at this point, not to ask… So what’s your favorite color?
You know, people always make jokes about that question. Like it's the question that a corny person would ask someone to start a conversation. But man, Haha man, that’s impossible, it depends on the context the color’s being used in. If you’re using Purple in like a dildo, I mean its not my favorite color anymore. But I mean, If you’re using Purple on like a trampoline, its freakin awesome. I love every color. I think black is my favorite base color and then uhm, my favorite color outside of that is, probably, like Yellow maybe, I’ve liked Yellow a lot lately. But man, I cant just pick one color, they’re all just so damn awesome…
*Set was about to start so we had to cut it off**
Well, Dave, thanks for your time man. Looks like the very near future has a lot of great things in store for you and we cant wait to see what’s to come for the remainder of 2017, 2018 and into the future. Rad vibes man, we’ll catch you soon?
Oh yeah dude! Awesome stuff man. Thanks for taking the time. I’ll definitely see you soon.
In summary, shit is about to get real.
Follow Ghastly on socials for more updates on his upcoming Album and Tour. Guy is a hell of a personality and will udoubtably entertain both in his production and on Socials.
