Peggy Gou Goes Global

By Lily Moayeri, DJ Times 2019

Peggy Gou swings into her bedroom, her dress a burst of flaming red, her eyes hidden behind cat-eye black sunglasses.

These aren’t ones from the limited-edition collection she created with Ray- Ban, but they are pretty fabulous. She whips off the shades, swapping them for a similarly shaped pair of seeing-eye glasses, giving her the air of a studious Korean scholar—albeit one with tattoos scribbled all over her body. Gou may be done with formal schooling, but she is always taking lessons, whether it’s in music or dancing or producing, to better her knowledge and her skills.

The South Korean-born, Berlin-based DJ/producer has just returned from a whirlwind of spinning at four festivals in four days, and she is amped. There is a lot for Gou to be hyped about. In 2019 alone, she has launched her own Gudu Records with the excellent two-song Moment EP with the breezy and bumping lead single, “Starry Night.” The song features Gou’s vocals in Korean on the verses and in a spoken-word of sorts in English on the chorus. She also launched her own clothing line, Kirin, which is Korean for giraffe, her spirit animal. This is in addition to the aforementioned partnership with Ray-Ban.

In the middle of a packed schedule of festival dates this summer, Studio !K7 is releasing Gou’s installment of its revered DJ Kicks series. For this special collection, Gou casts her widest net pulling together pioneering electronic tracks like Shades of Rhythm’s “Exorcist,” Aphex Twin’s “Vordhosbn,” Spacetime Continuum’s “Fluresence,” Sly and Lovechild’s “The World According to Sly and Lovechild (Andrew Weatherall Soul of Europe Mix).” She couples these with unreleased material from I:Cube (“Cassette Jam 1993”) Hiver (“Pert”) and Gou herself, in the form of her first-ever produced track, “Hungboo.”

It seems like Gou appeared on the international dance music scene in a flash. Prior to 2016, you hadn’t heard of her, then, all of a sudden, after the release of her Art of War EP, she was everywhere. Single after single, EP after EP, each one besting the last, and on credible labels such as Rekids, Phonica, and the Ninja Tune offshoot, Technicolour. She both commissions thoughtful remixes of her material and, on occasion, will do a signature remix for a fellow artist. Even with her criss-crossing the globe on a weekly basis, if you don’t catch her in-person, her far-ranging mixes online are plentiful and muchplayed. Her Instagram is addictive, showing off her style as much as her travels and her shows and generating many #goals. Her fans and followers have a never-ending stream of loving puns her on name, “Just Gou It,” “Wake Me Up Before You Gou Gou,” “Gou-ci Gang,” to name a few.

It is not unexpected that with this combination of achievements, Gou is uber-confident. Camped out in front of her computer in her bedroom, which from one angle is a stylish boudoir and from another, a working studio, she speaks in irrevocable proclamations, her delightful accent making you want to agree with everything she says. The more you listen to her talk, the more you realize, she was born with this confidence. And that not only is Gou-mania real, but it is justified, and it’s here to stay.

DJ Times: What was your first exposure to electronic dance music?

Gou: I was always into music, but growing up in Korea, I didn’t really have a chance to listen to house and techno. It was more EDM. I moved to London to learn English and later go to university, and I started clubbing. It wasn’t the music I was used to dancing to, but I could dance to that BPM. I started knowing about genres. A friend of mine gave me a Roman Flügel album, Fatty Folders, in 2011. I had never heard anything like it, and I fell in love. I listened to everything he made in one day. It was a nerdy moment.

DJ Times: Your first release, the Art Of War EP, was released only three years ago, which makes your rise to the top of the electronic dance music seem super-swift, but you had been working on music for a while before that release, hadn’t you?

Gou: Because my first EP was in 2016, people thought I started making music in 2016, which isn’t true. When I was at London College of Fashion, I was already learning production, which is why I failed my fashion course – because I wasn’t going to university anymore. I wanted to do more music, so I went to Berlin in 2014.

DJ Times: How did the move to Berlin affect your pursuit of music?

Gou: I was working in the record store during the day. When I wasn’t at the record store, I was working on music at home. And every Sunday, I was going to Berghain. I was living in the music, every single day. Working at the record store gave me a chance to find out a lot of artists, a lot of labels, a lot of different music. Watching people play music in a place like Berghain, which is the best club in the world, also taught me a lot. It changed my taste. It upgraded me.

DJ Times: You put a marked effort into understanding the history of electronic music and educating yourself on what came before you. Why do you feel this is important?

Gou: Most of my inspiration comes from the music that came out before I was born. I play older tracks in my sets. I spend a lot of time thinking about how the sounds and the inspiration came to the producers. The people I respect are those that have been in this industry longer. DJ Harvey is a good example of someone who is my hero. I recently met Laurent Garnier. Without them, we wouldn’t even exist. It’s important to know the roots. I watch documentaries and read books on the culture. I want to make music that you can listen to in 20 years, and still like it. That’s my goal. To understand this, I need to understand what came before.

DJ Times: How did you get started in production?

Gou: My hobby was going out every weekend. I met a promoter and a friend of his on Facebook asked if I was interested in learning production. He taught Ableton Live. I started going for lessons every week. I was at his studio instead of at school.

DJ Times: You have classical training on the piano. Did that help when you started producing?

Gou: Knowing how to play Beethoven or Chopin doesn’t help you in production. You need to take lessons for jazz chords and house chords, all these necessary keys. I started taking lessons when I moved to Berlin, then I listened to the demos I made in London and I realized a lot of things were missing. Basslines used to be the most difficult part when I started making music. It became the easiest thing after learning jazz piano.

DJ Times: What is your studio set up?

Gou: I have an iMac with Ableton Live and Roland Jupiter 6 is the main synthesizer I use. I have a Yamaha digital synthesizer, a Koto synthesizer, a Waldorf synthesizer, which I used to use a lot. I’m planning on buying a Clavia. I have a piano, I have a MIDI keyboard, I have a Roland 606 drum machine. I use KRK speakers and recently, on one of my trips, someone gave me a new IK Multimedia UNO Drum. It’s really good and easy to use. I might use it for my live set in the future.

Photos by Mok Jungwook

DJ Times: Do you use all the synthesizers?

Gou: These days, I only use what’s in Ableton and Jupiter 6. I used to want a lot of stuff, but you don’t need that much. You need to find something that you love. It takes time to master even one synthesizer. Until you have mastered one synthesizer, there’s no point getting another one. Once you’ve mastered it, if you think it is limited, then get a new one. But there’s no point in having too much stuff. I bought an Akai MPC3000 that I don’t know how to use because it is so difficult and it takes time for me to learn fully.

DJ Times:You were DJing prior to producing, weren’t you? Gou: I learned how to DJ in Korea. My first love was a DJ and he showed me how to use turntables and beatmatch. I wasn’t very good at it. My first experience is a funny story. Every university in London has a Korean community. These communities always do parties to welcome new students. My university wanted a DJ, but didn’t have one and I was like, “I know how to DJ.” They gave me a chance to play – I was playing shit music. But, people loved it, and I loved it – the reaction, the interaction, people dancing to the music I was playing. Then another university asked me to DJ their party.

Photos by Mok Jungwook

DJ Times: How did you make the shift from those kinds of events to playing clubs?

Gou: Through going out, I met promoters and they became Facebook friends and saw how much I liked music and gave me a try at clubs. I was always one of those kids with an MP3 player, taking my earbuds and telling other people to listen to the music, but I wasn’t trying to be a DJ. My mom jokes now that she planned for me to be a DJ because she went clubbing when she was pregnant with me.

DJ Times:Your selections on the DJ Kicks compilation span a longer time period than a current club set would. What was your intention with it?

Gou: I used Ableton to mix it because it is so eclectic, from 90 BPM to 150 BPM – and it wasn’t easy. It was a long process to put the mix together because, you know, once it’s out, it’s out. There are new, exclusive mixes and classic tracks. It shows my music journey. I kept changing my mind, but I like it the way it is now.

DJ Times: How do you have your USB organized?

Gou: I have a 2019 folder and inside that I have Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, which are chronological. Part 1 will be earlier in the year. Part 2 will be last month. Part 3 will be last weekend. I have a “happy” folder, a “to end” folder, a “beginning” folder, a “130-BPM” folder, a “140-BPM” folder, all these different ways of organization. I have the history of what I played because of rekordbox, so I can have those sets as a reference.

DJ Times: What are some determining factors in what you decide to play?

Gou: What time I play, who I play with, which slot I have, how many hours I’m playing… I try to be as eclectic as possible. Island people, they love techno, they like kicks, so I use that folder. Paris, I’m playing early, it’s going to be sunshine, I’ll play happy music. Primavera [in Barcelona], I’m playing 4 a.m. to 6 a.m., it’s dark, but there’s going to be a sunrise, I start with dark, but by the time sunrise comes, I’m playing happy music.

DJ Times: How does a festival set differ for you from a club set?

Gou: Usually the festival gives you shorter time. The average time is an hour-and-a-half to two hours. In a club, two to three [hours] to longer. The atmosphere is different. Usually, the festival is daytime, so it’s sunny, people are happier. Club is nighttime. But it all depends on which club, which festival, which city. At a festival, you have big acts that aren’t DJs. The stage I play, they book DJs, but you reach a different crowd. When I played Primavera, a lot of people tagged me in their story and they were people that you wouldn’t be able to meet in a club. I got messages saying, “My son and I enjoyed your set” – and, “Me and my dad enjoyed your set,” which is a cool thing. It’s a varied crowd. Clubs are more the DJ’s thing.

My mom jokes now that she planned for me to be a DJ because she went clubbing when she was pregnant with me.

DJ Times: You have been curating your own stages and tents at festivals for the first time this year. How’s that been?

Gou: It’s a big opportunity. I send the festival promoter my list. They will also suggest a list to me, but I’m a control freak, so I want the people that come from my list. It shows what kind of artists I like to play with and what kind of artists I support. I also try to book completely different artists. I was able to curate a live stage, not just DJs, at All Points East and Nuit Sonores, a band to a house music section to a techno section.

DJ Times: Your DJing schedule from spring into summer is mainly festivals, sometimes even two in a day.

Gou: Last week was my biggest weekend: Nuit Sonores in Lyon, Primavera in Barcelona, We Love Green in Paris, Forbidden Fruit in Dublin. When I came home, I cried. I had a lot of messages from DJs and promoters saying, “You realize what you did this weekend was something incredible?” I don’t take it for granted. I was proud, but very emotional.

DJ Times: Is it difficult to keep up this kind of full-on lifestyle?

Gou: People think I’m living the life, but I had problems last year, anxiety problems. I was going through a lot of stress. I couldn’t breathe very well. I lost friends because of money. There are bad sides. I don’t talk about it much, but there is a dark side. When you’re getting more attention, you are also getting more shit and people will more likely take advantage of you and want to use you and there are a lot of snakes around you. I am aware of that. Every day is a lesson and I try to be positive. In the end, I believe people deserve what they deserve.

DJ Times: Did you have anxiety before last year or was that the first time?

Gou: It was the stress and the pressure. It was happening for three months, but it’s gone now. I even went to the hospital and they gave me some medication to take when I’m feeling really anxious, but they said there was no cure. It’s something inside that needs to be fixed. Once I fixed it, it was gone. At the start of 2019, I was going through my new goals, and one of them was to listen to my body. This is very important and people try to ignore it. Your body send you signals, and sometimes, I don’t listen. But that is something I tell myself: “If I want to be in this business for a long time, I have to listen.” I can be a diva, but I’m also trying to keep my feet on the ground.

DJ Times: Are there people you listen to and whose advice you take?

Gou: I don’t have a manager because I don’t like people telling me what to do. People told me if I didn’t have a manager, there was going to be a glass ceiling I wouldn’t be able to break, that nobody would buy my records. I proved everyone wrong. I have a great team, but I did this on my own. I have mentors, but they don’t know they’re my mentors because I never told them. Mentors are people you can ask for advice whether you’re in a good or bad situation and, hopefully, you will listen to them.

Photos by Mok Jungwook

DJ Times: It may not have planned it this way, but you are the first Korean-born artist to accomplish many milestones in electronic dance music, not the least of which is playing Berghain. Do you feel a responsibility toward representing Korea and its people?

Gou: People knew China and Japan, but not Korea, until BTS. I don’t listen to their music, but sometimes I’ll get in a taxi and the driver will say, “You’re Korean? Do you know BTS? My daughter is crazy for them.” It makes me very proud to be Korean. But I don’t differentiate between Asian nationalities. I want to be a representative of all Asia. When I have a gig, there are a lot of Asians and they are very supportive. If I can have an effect on Asian producers or artists or the Asian scene, I would love to be a good influence and a good example.

DJ Times: How do you envision your goals in a way that makes them both attainable and so you can keep track and stay on track to reach them?

Gou: I put my goals on Post-its. And when I reach a goal, I take the Post-it off.

DJ Times: Is there one, or more, specific things to which you credit your success?

Gou: A lot of people think I’m successful. Success has a different meaning for everybody. I have a lot of things I want to do and a lot of things I want to achieve. Until I do that, I don’t think I’m successful. I always want to do more, create more, whether it’s music or clothes or art or anything. I was always telling myself to do what I love, but I was really focusing on not doing things I don’t love, which is the opposite, but ended up being the same thing. As long as you’re happy with what you’re doing and with people around you, that is also success. n