GUS DAPPERTON

For me, I have trouble working with people just because I sort of have trust issues when it comes to creative endeavors.

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.

My singing voice is very specific to me. That's my natural voice when I sing.

At some point, I kind of went through this weird existential crisis in high school where I was just really depressed.

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.

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 think my voice isn't that easy to digest.

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 would say that my music is surreal, it's inspired by dreams, and it's inspired by heartbreak.

Every new experience will trigger melodies in my head.

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.

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 tend not to get too excited and surprised about things.

I go back to things that are nostalgic for me - Michael Jackson, the Beatles, Britney Spears, Stevie Wonder.

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.

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.

At first, I was a pretty horrific singer, and then I got a little better.

I'm not really sure what I look for when I'm picking out clothes.

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 spend a lot of money on shoes and barely any on clothes.

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 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 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.

If there is going to be visuals for a song, I want them to be equally as good or better than the song.

I wear high water pants, always, so you can see my socks - I always wear white socks.