Ghastly is household name in the dance music industry, playing shows all over the world under his main brand and now also with his more aggressive Ghengar project. Early success and the party-lifestyle almost threw him off course, but he dug deep to connect with his purpose and turn his life around, building a massive fan base and becoming one of the most in-demand DJs and artists in the scene.
Follow Ghastly here:
https://www.instagram.com/ghastly
https://www.tiktok.com/@ghastly
https://www.instagram.com/ghengar
And visit my site to join the mailing list, book a free coaching call or get in touch:
https://www.nikcherwink.com
Ghastly is household name in the dance music industry, playing shows all over the world under his main brand and now also with his more aggressive Ghengar project. Early success and the party-lifestyle almost threw him off course, but he dug deep to connect with his purpose and turn his life around, building a massive fan base and becoming one of the most in-demand DJs and artists in the scene.
Follow Ghastly here:
https://www.instagram.com/ghastly
https://www.tiktok.com/@ghastly
https://www.instagram.com/ghengar
And visit my site to join the mailing list, book a free coaching call or get in touch:
https://www.nikcherwink.com
a really big part of it is, what's your message? what is your reason for wanting it? It can't just be because I want to be a famous musician, in my opinion, it can't just be that. I genuinely believe that a huge part of it is like, what is your message? What are you trying to tell the world? What is your intention toward the world?
Nik:What's up everybody? Welcome to the Headliner Mindset podcast. Today's guest is a household name in the bass music scene coming from humble beginnings growing up on a dairy farm, he is now living the rockstar lifestyle, touring the world, and selling out shows almost every weekend. But despite his success, he is still one of the most humble, authentic, and inspiring artists in the industry. This is ghastly.
Ghastly:How's it going Nick? Thank you very much for having me today. I appreciate those kind words as well, my friend. Very, very cool of you.
Nik:Well, every one of them is absolutely true. I am so. Stoked and honored to be with you and have you on the show. You know, when I launched this, you're one of the very first people that I thought of because I remember having you come to iCONN Collective many, many years ago when I was working there, uh, as the industry advisor at iCONN Collective Music Production School, and you did a q and a with the students and you talked about your story, and I've never forgot that story. Like it fucking touched my heart and I was just like, damn, this guy is a badass motherfucker. And so I was like, I gotta get you on. We gotta talk about your story. And, I just know you're gonna have so much great stuff to share with everybody today. So thank you for being here.
Ghastly:Excellent man. It's a pleasure and a privilege. Happy to do it.
Nik:Yeah, man. Well, let's, let's start with that story, because. From what I remember, and I know your, your bio says that you, you grew up in Arizona on a dairy farm, which I think is so cool, and I wanna know a little bit about that. But the part about your story that I really remember was like, just when you came to LA and, you know, we're basically just like living outta your van, just trying to make the fucking dream happen. So tell me about that story, man. Tell me about, you know, growing up and then coming out to LA and,
Ghastly:Absolutely brother. So, um, if we start from ground zero of, uh, the birthing place, I mean Phoenix, Arizona was obviously a, uh, a great place for me to grow up personally. I think a massive influence on my upbringing was also the dairy farm life, and not just the dairy farm life, but also the fact that we were constantly having an influx of kids show up to my farm for field trips. So entertaining was always at the forefront of my mind because kids are coming to my house every day, you know, uh, just to be educated. I'm like, oh, well let me show you the secret spots. Let me show you this and this and this. So I was already getting into the mindset of like, you know, being a host, if you will. so I really liked that aspect of it. And also I started marketing to'em at a very young age. I would, uh, I would take like my toys that I didn't want and I would flip a laundry cart or a laundry crate upside down and, uh, set'em up on top of it and sell all my toys to the kids that were around.'cause I'm like, Hey, this is a marketplace. so,
Nik:entrepreneurial bug from the
Ghastly:precisely, precisely the entrepreneurial bug is a great way to put it. but to, uh, to digress and move forward onto, uh, the story of like moving to la uh. if I could say one thing on that, I have to give a massive shout out. Not only to my brother who is, who like got me into music when I was 12, but also my, uh, my Uncle John was the first person, and this is the power of words, this is the power of words, is my Uncle John was the very first person to say, David, you got it. You got that IT power. if you ever went to LA you would do so well there. I think that you could go so far if you went to la. And those words really resonated with me at like the age of like maybe 15 ish, 15 or 16. And it never left me ever since he said that. I'm like, I have the ability, like I, you think I if this man that I respect, who, you know,'cause Uncle John was like a superhero to me as a kid. and for him to say that he had faith that I could do well in Los Angeles, it really like sparked something in me. So. You know, I said, fuck it. And, and just took the resources that were available to me, which were not much. I took what I understood about the music industry as far as the death metal community was concerned, which I did for four years. and living in a van was nothing new to me because I had already done it with the metal band, you know, no showering, uh, living in parking lots and being, uh, looked down upon by most of society was nothing new to me at all. So, moving into a van and going to Los Angeles was actually a very, it was just the most, uh, logical next step. as far as, uh, human resources, I didn't really have any of those. There were no, uh, there wasn't like that one guy I knew out there. There wasn't that one guy who was gonna help me out in la. It was just ground zero of all right, here we go. In fact, I was, uh, I was talking to my girlfriend about it recently. How, uh, how when I first moved to LA in the first couple weeks. I was just on the Craigslist platonic sections, like just looking for a friend, just anyone who would hang out with me. most people would be nice until they found out I lived in a van. Then they'd be fearful for their life.
Nik:Yeah,
Ghastly:They'd be like, you drop me off.
Nik:yeah, yeah. So what was your mindset at that time? You obviously had a lot of drive and hunger just to say, fuck it, I'm gonna go for it. But like where, what was your mindset really then? Because it's not something that everybody's willing to do.
Ghastly:Absolutely, man. I totally feel you on that. I think a lot of it comes from, well, to be totally transparent. A lot of it first came from, uh, the law of attraction and believing that I can make this happen if I truly believe it. And whether that is some woo woo shit or just the, uh, consistency of the human spirit to consistently chisel at the same thing, eventually you'll create a sculpture. whether it's one or the other is irrelevant to the situation because the fact is, if you continue to try, you will continue to get closer regardless of what that thing may be. and my mindset, my mindset at that time genuinely was just like, it's going to happen. It wasn't. I hope and I pray and maybe because,'cause hope, hope walks up to the fire and kind of is ah, I bet I can get over. I think I can get over it, but faith is, faith leaps over the fire. Faith doesn't give a fuck. And I had faith. That I was going to make this work no matter what. and there was a tumultuous amount of obstacles that certainly got in my path to try and stop me from making it happen. and as will for anyone who tries to do anything worth their worth, their time or value anything in life,
Nik:The universe is gonna test you. It's part of the program. Right. It doesn't, we don't
Ghastly:that's part of the program. Yeah. Yeah, You don't, you can't get to the final boss without beating all these side quests, all these side missions. There's so many obstacles in order to get to that final victory. And it's, and even once you get that final victory, bro, you just started, you
Nik:Then you're,
Ghastly:just started.
Nik:at the next level and there's new, there's, it doesn't end. Right. It doesn't
Ghastly:It never ends.
Nik:you know, so I'm hearing that you had a lot of faith, a lot of conviction. Just belief and confidence. Right. And I, and I do believe that that is just step number one for just success in anything. But why do you think you had so much faith? Why did you believe in yourself so much? What gave you that conviction?
Ghastly:bro, I think I'm just a little bit fucking stupid. Honestly. Like, like there's no good, there was no good reason to think like, why me? Why would I, out of all the people that come here for this dream, why am I the one who's going? And it was just like, I don't know. It's just gonna happen. I didn't focus on all the others or how many ways it could go wrong. That was just outta my mind. all I was focused on was. Seeking and seeking and seeking, like, bro, I'll tell you right now, a lot of people don't realize this, but, uh, Craigslist is entirely why we're even conversing right now. It was because of fucking Craigslist. cause as, as I said earlier, previously that, I didn't know anyone in Los Angeles, so I just got on fucking Craigslist every day, man. I type in dj, producer, actor, background, actor, anything, model anything where I could just make some money, meet some people who were involved in the industry, whether that was the acting side, the music side, the art side, photography. Just because I, I figured to myself that, it was a bubble. And anything industry related in Los Angeles is a bubble. One person knows one person, another person knows this person. Oh, I know a guy in that department. I know a guy in that department. So I was always trying to meet more people. Who were involved in, different fields that might know someone who could help me. It was, it was a really long quest of just meeting random fucks on a regular basis. So like, like the most life changing email I ever sent out and was responded to was, uh, to Static Revenger, Dennis White, uh, he, he was, so, I, I was just randomly one day I was searching DJ producer and he's like, I need, uh, looking for a DJ or a producer to come and work at my studio. five days out of the week. Your pay is, I think it was$500 a week was my pay. or every two weeks. I can't remember. I can't remember. But it was, it was enough for me to be like, yeah, I'm gonna go do that. and when I showed up, you know, I had already released, uh, a track on sla, like in my very, very beginning. Like I just got so lucky. and he was like, oh, that's notoriety enough for me to bring you in and try you out. And it was yeah, absolutely. And it was a couple months after doing that that, brought in, uh, Keaton Sullivan King. and and that was the first guy I met where I was like, oh, you're, you're like doing the same thing as me. And and
Nik:funny is I, I got key in that job with static revenger. Yeah.
Ghastly:There it is. What? And so, if you hadn't done that, I wouldn't be here. Like, bro, the universe is so weird how every tiny little microcosmic situation leads to another bigger and larger unfolding circumstance. And it just always does this and, and it blows my mind on a regular basis.
Nik:infinite ripples in an infinite amount of direction, just affecting, you know, it's like the butterfly effect, right? Is what they remember that, that movie, I don't, it's like one, one, the tiniest little, you know, micro millimeter shift to the left can just change the entire course of the world.
Ghastly:100%. Man. So
Nik:But, what I love about your story though is also. There was a, there's a theme of just going for it and shooting your shot, like moving to LA is one thing, but like you were being proactive and being like, I'm gonna just hit up as many people as I can. I'm going to put energy out and then energy is gonna come back to me. Right. Which I think is such a powerful lesson.'cause a lot of us are kinda waiting. We're like, all right, I'm gonna
Ghastly:Yeah. Oh, you
Nik:to me. Rather than creating, like, you gotta create opportunities every now and then, some random shit might happen and you get lucky. But when you become the type of person that creates your opportunities and, and are unattached to the results and you just say, fuck it, I'm gonna shoot my shot. I'm gonna put myself out there as much as possible. That's when things start to really happen.
Ghastly:I really love the phrase unattached to the results. You have to be. You have to be, because most of them are gonna be disappointing, most of your re because nobody's like, oh man, just victories all day. It's like 99% of the time I win. It's like, hmm. Reality is, life is a lot like Elden ring. You go up to that boss, you're gonna lose, lose, lose, lose. And then finally you almost win. And then you lose less, lose lose, lose, lose, and then you win.
Nik:yeah, yeah. And most people are, are gonna lose five times and then say, you know what, I'm not meant for This this isn't my path. This isn't right. I've lost too many times. But it's the person that's down to lose 90 times, to get to that one opportunity that is gonna actually like, help them and change their life. You know? And you also never know. It's like even that small little opportunity of the making, you know,$500 every other week that then can snowball into the bigger opportunities and, and change the course of your life. So, what a cool story. And so, you know, this was probably where our paths intersected.'cause I remember the first time I met you, you were someone that, you were like the adopted stepchild of Icon Collective. Like you didn't go to Icon. But you were like, you were you were homies. you were just always there. You were just like the homie that was always there hanging out all the time. And we, like, we, I, I always felt like, yeah, I felt like we fucking adopted. You we're like, yeah. Like he's, he's, he's in, he's cool.
Ghastly:that's hilarious, bro. I, I, I appreciate those words coming from you because I always did feel adopted. I'm like, well, I mean, I don't have the money to pay for this place, but Keaton keeps bringing me in as a guest, and everyone was so welcoming and so cool. And, you know, I, I learned so much just. Being around people who were passionate about just being in the environment is so freaking important. Man, not even that long ago, fairly recently, I'd say like, uh, seven or eight months ago, I got into my head about like, oh, I wanna like seclude myself and just write everything I can and, and just hone in on my music entirely by myself. And the first couple weeks were actually pretty badass because, you know, writing music by yourself can be really fun and rewarding. But it got to a point where I started feeling stagnant about what I was doing, and I was just like, man, where, where's the passion? Where's the fire? And it's like, music is a community. It's a, it's a, it's a melting pot. And when you're surrounding yourself with other people who have other ingredients, and then it makes you, kind of change the perception of what you are putting into your ingredients. And it's incredible to be in that kind of environment. So. Thanks for adopting me. Appreciate it. Big time.
Nik:Hell yeah, man. Well, you know it, when you have good energy, it's welcomed right? What kind of energy are you bringing to the room? You know what I mean? There's other people that came through that I was like, I have no interest in this person being here or in developing a relationship with them. But when you're a good person, you bring cool energy to the room, people are gonna want to be around that. That's attractive. So it's like a lot. That's also all on you too, you know?
Ghastly:That's very real.
Nik:Making it in LA is not easy. Making it in the, in the music industry is not easy. Was there ever a time where you second guessed, you know, where maybe that faith started to waver and you're like, oh, I'm not really sure if, if I'm gonna make it or if I really want to do this? Did that ever come up for you?
Ghastly:Damn right. It did. Absolutely, man. I had some menial success, uh, in 2000. So I moved there in two th here in 2010. And in 2011, was when I actually like, wrote my first song that got on Alza. And I was like, oh my God, I'm set for life. Like, I I pretty much, I'm done. I'm done. Hands off the dags, we're done. We did it. and I thought that, like, that was it. and I got a couple shows I opened for Banga. I opened for Scream, I opened for a Zomm Boy, and I was like, oh my God. I, I win. But that's just not how it works. You have to develop a community. You have to develop a fan base that is so strong that you could disappear for a couple years and come back and they'll be waiting. And I didn't have a fan base. There wasn't a community of people that were like, oh yeah, he's awesome, or, I like his art or anything like this. I was just the guy who was opening. So, to fast forward and digress, I was at a point where I was just partying, partying, partying. I was celebrating this victory that I had, this smallish victory and a little bit too much, way too much actually. And uh, that's when I started, like I was doing way too much blow. I was drinking too much. I was smoking too much. And I got, and next thing I knew, I was fired from my job. So I had no money coming in. I was, and I'm reaching out to the manager I had and I was like, Hey, we got any shows? He's like, bro, you don't have any shows right now. Like, nobody wants to book you. You're not, you don't have the the fan base yet. You're not selling tickets right now, so you, you're still in the growing phase. I'm like, really? After all this, I still don't have a career. So I'm sleeping on my friend's couch, no job, no money. fucking hung over from Blow Can and alcohol. And I realized in that moment, I'm like, dude, I have to fucking start over. Like, I ran outta cash. I was at$0 and 0 cents. I'm like, all right, fuck it. So I called my dad on the phone. I'm like, Hey dad, uh uh, I'm kind of, I'm kind of shit on my luck here. Is it okay if I move back to the farm? And he is like, yeah, Mr. Lee, he, my dad calls me Mr. Lee'cause it's my middle name. He's like, yeah, Mr. Lee, come on down. And so I got as much of my stuff that I could and, but, and I, and I took it back with me to, to Phoenix and I was back on the farm. I was back where I started and I was just like, part of me in that moment definitely considered just throwing in the towel. Like, fuck man. Like I, at least I tried, you know? At least I gave it a shot, you know? But in that exact moment, something just set on fire in my brain. I was, I was just like, what are you fucking talking about? We went through all that for nothing. We're just gonna throw in the towel. Boohoo things are a little harder than normal. Two fucking, and I just had this. I am going to turn myself into a fireball. And I did. And I, and I, so I started working, working, working. I saved up my cash and I moved my ass right back out to LA to start again. And, uh, and when I got out here the second time, drugs off the table, partying off the table, anything that was not a step forward in the direction of me making, uh, music an actual dream come true, or, uh, a career that I could thrive and live off of and raise a family off of, it was off the table. so there I was, I was working as a, uh, writer for edm.com. I was, uh, selling tables at Exchange la. I was doing production work for Static Revenger again. and on top of it, a host at Morton Steakhouse, and I was a server at Daily Grill, so I had five jobs just nonstop. And on top of that, when I'm done with all these things, I still have to write music for ghastly.
Nik:Yeah.
Ghastly:So I was, I was just burning every single resource I had in the direction of that dream. and I don't want to claim Goggins esque because David Goggins is an entire other entity I don't even understand. But it was Goggins esque in that moment of me to just, pretty much, I burned the boats and I said, this is it all or nothing. One more shot. Let's do it the absolute best we possibly can. And slowly but surely. When you're in that mentality, let me put it this way, Nick, this is the best way I can put it. When you're in that zone, when you're in that mentality, it's like if I told you, if I asked you right now, how many red cars have you seen today, you probably would have no idea. But if I told you I'd give you a million dollars, if you told me how many red cars you saw today, you would know exactly how many you saw. When you are in the mindset of seeking opportunities and keeping an eye out for them, instead of blocking yourself off and saying, oh, it's not for me, I'm, I'm not worthy, or some type of imposter syndrome. When you open yourself up to that, you, there's opportunities in all directions. You can just sit down and write out ideas, things I could do to get me there, and if you just go down the list, which one of these is the most feasible? That's feasible, that's feasible. That's a little audacious. That's a little bit too ambitious. That's feasible and then do those things. it's literally as simple as that sometimes, and also as difficult as that.
Nik:Yeah. Well, fuck yeah man. I want to celebrate you. I have to celebrate you in this moment because you hit a fork in the road and your life could have gone a very different direction and something inside of you decided to create this reality for yourself. And man, if that's not the headline or mindset, I don't know what is grinding on five fucking jobs, not taking no for an answer. You know, not tucking your tail between your leg, your legs, but like having that burning desire to make your dream happen no matter what the cost, no matter how much time and energy you have to put in. And like you fucking, you've done it, man. And that's a really, really, really cool, inspiring story. You know,
Ghastly:I appreciate that brother Means
Nik:Didn't know. I didn't know that part. I didn't know that part of it, so I really appreciate you sharing that. I'm curious about like, when you went back home, you know, what was it that really flipped the switch?'cause it probably could have been easy just to been like, all right, man, I, I gave it my best shot. You know, I guess it wasn't for me, but you made a different decision about that, right? Like, what was it that flipped that switch for you?
Ghastly:I think it was a goat kicking me in the face and getting shit on my face. And I was like, is is this it, is this it is what I'm gonna do now. Huh?
Nik:Yeah, yeah.
Ghastly:said, fuck that.
Nik:Yeah. Dude, fuck yeah. Fuck
Ghastly:Uh, and, and don't get me wrong, like I love the farm life. In fact, I intend to own a farm one day and like, because I, I do love horticulture and farming and like animals. These are things that I really am passionate about, but. I didn't want that to be my money maker. I wanted that to be something that I did when I got home. and, and in that moment it, something about that, and also, this is gonna sound kind of like obscure ish, but it was the flies, man. The flies in Arizona around a goat farm are straight from hell. And I just, I couldn't be around the flies. I'm like, I'm saving all my money. I'm going back to California one more time.
Nik:You know, when we get to those deeper places of pain where like I'm literally covered in goat shit and there's flies all around me, like this sucks. I'm at like a fucking one out of 10 right now. That's often when we take action is when things get like bad and there's some sort of pain. The fucking danger zone though is when you're living at a five or you're living at a six and you're like, you know what? I'm actually, I'm good. I'm comfortable. Right? I'm not in, I'm not in any pain, but I'm also not living at my potential. I'm not living the life I really want to be living. I'm not really getting after that dream and creating that reality and those results that I want. Most people are living in that fucking lukewarm area where it's like, yeah, it's, it's good enough, but it's not bad enough that I'm gonna do anything else about it
Ghastly:Holy shit. You're so right. That is so true. I haven't even thought about that. That is absolutely correct. The danger zone is in the middle. Wow.'cause at the bottom, exactly like you just said, you hit rock bottom. That's why I try to tell people, whenever people are like, man, I'm at like one of the worst points of my life, and I usually catch'em off guard when I say congratulations. They'll be like, why are you congratulating me? I, I'm like, bro, that means that no matter what, you will not be the same person. That you were before this experience, you have only one option. You have to go up. Eventually what what goes down must come up. And what goes up must come down. But what stays in the middle, stays in the middle. Damn. That's crazy.
Nik:Always, man, every time somebody gets fired from a job or they go through a breakup, they go through avo, a divorce, same thing for me. I always say, congratulations, and it does throw them off. Or like, what do you mean you're, you're supposed to say, oh, I'm so sorry for you. And I'm like, no, I'm not sorry for you. Because I believe in divine orchestration, you were put in this situation for a reason. Because there's something for you to learn. And if your eyes are open and you're open to that lesson, this can potentially be the best fucking thing that's ever happened to you. But that's also your choice and your decision if you're gonna make it the best thing and the catalyst for the next level of your growth, or it's gonna be the thing that destroys you.
Ghastly:Absolutely. Damn, that's so real, bro. and during this time period, like I didn't have. You know, there was, there wasn't nearly as much of a resource of like, motivational content or anything like this. There wasn't David Goggin's eight hour, life is gonna change at the end of this video type shit. There was nothing like that. It was just, it was just seemed obvious. It just seemed obvious to me. Even then, like, I'm either gonna be a tattoo artist who lives on a goat farm and, you know, probably hits up one of his old high school girlfriends and makes babies and says, yeah, back in the day, I almost did this, or I'm gonna try one more time. And that's really it, man. I feel like a lot of people who, uh, who go after this kind of a, this kind of a goal, and it's not even, it doesn't even have to just be music, any kind. I feel like the headline or mindset. Is something that is also implemented in literally every vestige of life possible. I would even implement it as far as to say like, your love life. Like a lot of people will, they'll try to fall in love, try to fall in love, try to fall. This happened to me multiple times where it just did not work out and there was like, you know, it was messy. Things like this happen and you just keep trying. And now I'm happier than ever with my current girlfriend. And it's like, I just kept trying. So the headliner mindset isn't something that can only be applied to one, uh, industry. It can be applied to every aspect of you. And that's to say exactly what we're saying here is that like the damage you take only gets you closer to the repair that's gonna change your life.
Nik:Yeah. Yeah. And, and it's all, it's really all about your standards, right? What kind of standard do you want to have in your relationship, right? Or do you, are you okay with like a mediocre, half-assed relationship? Or do you want to have the best relationship possible? Are you willing to do the work and become the person that is capable of creating the best relationship possible? Do you wanna, you know, just get those opening slots and be like, yo, cool, like, I did it, man, I got that track out on that one label that one time, and I did that fucking, that one show that I did. Cool. Or do you want to be the fucking headliner and do you wanna actually really, be the best and tour? And, you know what, what is your standard for yourself in all areas of your life? And everything touches everything.
Ghastly:I wanted to piggyback off of what you just said right there. a massive part of it is not just, you know, never, never quit, never, never quit. A really big part of it is, what's your message? what is your reason for wanting it? It can't just be because I want to be a famous musician, that that can't be, in my opinion, it can't just be that. I'm sure it is for some people, and there are people who have made it with that kind of a mentality, but I genuinely believe that a huge part of it is like, what is your message? What are you trying to tell the world? What is your intention toward the world? And I'll, and now that I'm thinking about, I'm remembering that one of my biggest excitements about music. When I was first starting was the idea that at any given moment someone could be making a memory to something I created. And that was so exciting to me that it drove me, to continue and try harder There's people who are like making memories to my music. They might be fucking, they might be dancing, they might be chilling, they might be crying, they might, whatever it is. they might be partying, they might do be doing all kinds of things, but it, I'm a element in their life in that moment. And to know that I'm affecting someone from a distance through the creations that I've come up with, with my brain is just, it's an honor and a privilege. And so to be able to do that, that was a huge driving factor. and I also, simultaneously, I wanted to show people like. If I can, then they can. And I I like to instill hope in the world. This is something that I've done since the be day one of my project. This isn't like something that I put on a show for or anything like that. This is just who I am. I've always wanted to instill hope and faith in people that they can become the best versions of themselves. and I try to do that by practicing what I, what I preach. Not to say that I'm perfect at it.'cause I fuck up, I fuck up a lot. I am definitely not perfect, but I keep fucking trying and I keep fucking practicing. And I'm gonna keep preaching it too, because I love seeing, you know, fans reach out and they'll be like, like at Lost Lands. When I, uh, I, I, at the end of my set, I was telling people about discipline at the end of my set and the amount of people who have come up to me since that and just been like, bro, I changed my whole life after that. Like when you said that. I was just in the just right mindset. I've, I went sober. I'm, I'm in the gym. I, I got a promotion at my job and now I'm going for like an even bigger goal of mine. And I've heard this multiple times. Like, and this goes back to what I was saying earlier about my Uncle John giving me that little bit of encouragement. He said, you've got it. That little tiny bit of encouragement can change someone's life dramatically. And that's, that's what I try to do whenever I have a microphone in my hand and the set's over, it's like, Hey, by the way, you know.
Nik:Yeah. Well, that's a perfect segue because. I can tell you exactly what you said in that moment because I wrote it down as a quote, because I wanted to bring this up. I wanted to talk about your glow up because there was a moment where I saw you on Instagram one day and you're like, lifting fucking weights and out there, like getting jacked and getting shredded and taking care of your body, and like posting shit. That was super inspiring. I'm like, oh yeah, I see you. I see you, motherfucker. You're, doing it right? And, and then I saw, and then I saw this, um, I saw you post the clip of you doing that speech. This is what you said. You said, you pointed to your head and you said, this is your controller in this video game. Learn how to use it, fall in love with discipline and change your fucking life. As a life coach and somebody who like eats and breathes and, and, and lives this stuff, uh, I got so excited to see that because of the impact that you have, because of the influence that you have, how many people are watching you? I mean, when you're on stage and there's literally thousands of people out there, you have an opportunity to change lives and you have enough courage to take advantage of that opportunity, right? It's very clear that you are driven by purpose. It also sounds like at one point you kind of like you, you lost sight of that a little bit when you know you were just having fun and partying and you're like getting caught up of like, cool, this is all about me having a good time. Whereas really taking advantage of, you know, what we say is with leadership comes great responsibility. Like you are leaning into actually, taking advantage of that responsibility, being responsible with that impact and that influence that you have, and you're out here changing fucking lives, bro. So it's incredible, man.
Ghastly:Thank you, brother. I appreciate that. It means a lot coming from you, especially like I've respected you since day one, man, like you've always been such a, a humble and quality individual and I really appreciate those words.
Nik:Same with you, man. You know, and I even said that like in your intros, like, you know, obviously you've gone on to, become really successful and do really, really well. Uh, but you've also maintained your humility through all of it as well. Was there ever a moment where you feel like you, you kind of like lost yourself at all? Like, did you ever notice your ego start kind of creeping in of like, I'm the cool fucking badass DJ making all this money now. you, that little monster ever come out at one point.
Ghastly:no, because it already came out early on in my life and I found out that I wasn't shit early on. Uh, back when I was in my, my death metal band, the Irish front. so I was 16 when we woke up one day and we had a hundred thousand friend requests because one of our songs went viral before viral was a thing, I
Nik:Like MySpace days.
Ghastly:yeah, MySpace stays. We had a song called, uh, boom Snap Clap where we woke up one day and our, our band page suddenly had a hundred thousand friend requests. We're like, what the fuck happened? This is insane. People are, you know, really excited about our music. So, at the age of 16, then 17. And, and I went on tour for the first time at the age of 18. So at 18 I was in a touring metal band I created it with my friend Cameron, and then put it together as a team. Uh, and I'm like, so I got really in my head about like, or more my head up my ass about how cool I was and like, oh yeah, man, I'm the fucking shit. You know? Like, yeah, fucking screaming a microphone about pooping vaginas and now I'm the fucking shit. And don't get me wrong at high school, oh, I was one cocky little shit, man. I was so cocky because I was, you know, I went from being picked on every day by these, this select group of douche bags to, oh, David, you're so, oh, your band is awesome. Can I come to your show? And blah, blah, blah. And suddenly these people who were picking on me were coming to my show. And so. I really inflated my ego and I got real big headed about it. And, uh, I was definitely an asshole for a while. Definitely pissed people off. Was no longer a super nice guy. And then, you know, as fate would have it, the band just crumbles, just falls apart. practices weren't happening. Uh, opportunities were slipping through our fingers. Like at one point we were about to, uh, we had a, we had a new manager and we were gonna go on tour with Bless the fall. we got a Hurley sponsorship everything was like there. We were gonna go on Warp Tour, we had everything set, and then our manager dies. Uh, he has a heart attack. and then, we go on a, uh, our next tour. Nobody's coming to the shows anymore. Boom. Snap clap is old news. Everyone's over it. You haven't written a new hit single since then. And then, uh, we crash the van. it breaks down and then just all this shit storm started happening and it's, the band started costing more than it was making. You're splitting death core money amongst five people off of a C tier band. It's
Nik:when you were like, I'm gonna, I think I'm gonna be a DJ instead.
Ghastly:close. Kind of, kind of. So I was, I was 17 when I found the rave scene and I became obsessed with it. At about 18. So I'm, even though I went on that tour, I come back and I'm like, bro, I fucking love this shit. Like, what the hell is, because I thought, I thought I was just gonna go, do drugs and party with hot chicks. That's genuinely where my brain was at that time.'cause I was a very egotistical little shit. And then I get there and I realize like it's, I was expecting like, I like big butts and I cannot,'cause I knew nothing about DJing. I didn't understand the culture of like, making really, really deeply unique music out of the dance, music, platform. So when I started hearing Hard Style, my brain just exploded.'cause I'm like, this is almost more hardcore than the shit we're making. and I thought that we were like, as brutal as it could get. so that was, that really, really changed my mindset at that point. So, to. I digress in going back to the point of the topic, yes, I was a fucking asshole for a little while, but when the band fell apart, it humbled me dearly, bro. It humbled me dearly and I realized as quickly as you can gain it is as quickly as you can lose it. And at that point I kind of had like a bit of a downturn on my life. And then I was in this relationship with this girl who was a drug addict, and we were drug addicts together and life got really dark for a while. My best friend was a heroin dealer, uh, and then when he died of heroin. And my ex had beaten, me enough times.'cause she would pumble me. She would beat the shit outta me. And because of my mentality of like, I'm a guy, I can't hit back, I would just let her. And so she would just beat the shit outta me on a regular basis. So I'd beat one day. I'm like, my lips bleeding. I have a black eye. My best friend just died of a heroin overdose. And I'm like, something's gotta fucking change.
Nik:yeah,
Ghastly:that was a big spark for me to say, all right, fuck the ego. Fuck all this shit. Fuck all of you. I'm moving to LA and I'm going to, I'm gonna prove that I have what it takes to make something of myself on my own. So that was a big spark.
Nik:you know, and that's something that I love about you, is how open and real and raw and vulnerable you are, right? Like, when you show up online, just the way that you engage with your audience and the type of stuff that you post, like you're, you're, you're very real. Not everybody is that way, you know? I think it's a beautiful thing. I think authenticity and vulnerability are two of the most, you know, powerful traits. I think a lot of people are kind of scared to lean on into that on their platform, though, really, like openly and publicly. So
Ghastly:Hmm.
Nik:what makes you so open?
Ghastly:Oh, because the sun's gonna explode. Oh, well, you're gonna tell, oh, you're gonna pick on me about like, the shit that actually happened to me. That's very real. That happens to everyone, or a lot of people in different ways. Okay, cool. Well, one day the sun will explode and your opinion of me will go with it. So I just don't care.
Nik:yeah, yeah. Back to that non-attachment,
Ghastly:Yes, exactly.
Nik:everything is temporary. Fuck it. We're just here for a little blink of an eye.
Ghastly:you know what? El Snick, because why would I care what other people think of me when most people don't even like themselves? If you like, why, why would I give a fuck? You know? The only time I care if people like me is if I'm trying to tell a good joke, and if I blow it, I'm like, fuck. That's about it.
Nik:man. I saw that you had started another project along the way. your more aggressive gang ganger, uh, side project with the fucking mask and everything. Super, super cool. Now you've got two projects going on. you've got a relationship, you've got a lot of music to make, you've got touring. Uh, it sounds like life is very full for you. How do you balance and how do you do it all?
Ghastly:Oh, let me tell you, man, a lot of it is, you know, just kind of writing lists, lists are very, very helpful when you write down like four main things that you can get done in one day, and then you are able to cross those off. It gives you momentum. You're like, okay, I can handle this. Because if you look at the whole spectrum of everything you have to do, it will weigh you down. You're like, oh my God, how will I ever get it done? It's like, just stop. Just start with the list. Just start here. and having, having a very, very supportive partner, Jessica is just the most supportive, most calm patient. She, if, if you think I'm stoic, this girl is absolutely stoic. So happy having a partner can be extremely beneficial. That's not something that everyone needs, but it's something that's been wonderful for me in my recent, uh, in my last like three months with her. and, uh, outside of that. I think I nailed it with like, the lists. Lists are huge because, you know, if I, if I were to sit here and list all the things I have to do with Ghastly and with Gang Gar, I'll even tell you, we have, so I wrote a, uh, I wrote an entire album of music for a third project,
Nik:Oh shit.
Ghastly:back in 2020 and 2021. And we just finalized the album like two days ago.
Nik:Yeah.
Ghastly:So we're gonna, we're gonna put that, but that's, it's not EDM, it's not, it's not EDM. It's just something that I, I really wanted to express where, uh, I'm singing and playing guitar and piano and, uh, I just really want to put that because a lot of my music is, the closest you'll get to my voice is me doing like a Yeah, yeah. Like some crazy metal vocals, on like a gang guard track. or doing like a, Hey yo, what's up? Or, you know, little vocal chops for house music. This project actually allows me to like sing lyrics, meanings messages, And, it's more indie electronic if I were to give it a uh, genre.
Nik:and I'll let everybody know he's not that bad because I caught him playing his guitar and singing before we started, before we started recording. I popped into our little, uh, our little virtual meeting room right here, and he was jamming out. So, uh, it's sounding good, man.
Ghastly:Thank you, brother. I
Nik:it, it, seems like you are in a really good creative flow. You're making, you know, music for three different projects. It doesn't seem like there's any kind of blockages whatsoever in terms of your creativity coming out. What kind of advice and words of wisdom do you have for other artists and music producers out there that maybe might be struggling with creative blocks and really wanting to get into that zone of just getting that much music out?
Ghastly:totally. Man, there's so many ways to do this. That's the exciting part is a lot of people are like, I'm stuck. I can't get out of this. It's like, well, there's so many remedies. There's an infinite list and everyone's is different. But I'll just list off a few that really work for me. being barefoot in nature, that, and just letting go of all of the, uh, anxiety of feeling like you have to make something. Just let it go for a little bit. Sometimes distancing yourself from music can. Bring you back to it in a more fond way. being in creative environments around other people who are very passionate about this stuff. Like I've been renting a studio out of, uh, Joy Ride has this like big studio warehouse with all these different, uh, studios inside of it. And just being there and being around him and alert and, uh, night punk and, uh, so many other great artists has just, it's made me be like, wow. Like, and then hearing their taste and hearing things that like, not even just their music or their productions, but their taste and being like, I've never heard this before. And then. and then seeing their process of writing, like, now I cannot write music without having some kind of visual behind it. And it, and it really, it makes it so much more exciting because like, instead of just staring at the project box and it's like, that's all I can see the box, but I can, if I. want to, I can just avert my eyes upward. And now I see like, uh, an eagle flying through some like beautiful canyon. And for just a moment it is like, well that's, and then it makes you think something new and now you're going in a whole new route.'cause the brain is like, uh, it's this very autonomous, amorphous kind of like creature that if you guide it the right way, sometimes you don't even know what direction that is. But if you just kind of tap it in one direction, it'll go, ah, and then it'll give you a, a eureka. I'll give you one more, one more. This one's slightly more controversial just because people are stupid and go, well, how could you, how dare you recommend that? Because anything can be done safely. If it's done responsibly, I'll microdose mushrooms, or sometimes I'll even take like a, a fair amount, like maybe two or three grams in a very controlled environment like my home. and I'll create a playlist of music I want to hear that inspires me or that I haven't heard, and hopefully will. And, uh, also I'll listen to like, uh, Rick Rubin on audio as an audio audiobook listening to Rick Rubin. Talk about music. while you're on Mushrooms will change the way you look at music. It, it will,
Nik:So you're not necessarily producing during those sessions, but you're just more like kind of listening and absorbing the music and Rick
Ghastly:if. Yeah, if I get inspired enough, then sure, I'll, I'll open up Ableton and, you know, dick around a little bit and try to like, you know, even, even if it's just pulling up a, a synth and, and writing in some midi something simple or just a drumbeat or something, it usually just starting with something as simple as a drumbeat is like the best way for me personally to just get something going, get some drums in there, side chain, whatever. And then side chain, the channel and, and whatever you put on there, it's gonna mix fairly well into it. So just keep on, you know, throwing all those things in. I'll do that on mushrooms sometimes, but, you know, trying to keep an eye on the cursor is really hard when it's got like fucking six tracers.
Nik:but you know, the, the mushrooms seem to be serving you well. You seem to handle them well, because I did see that when Electric Zoo was canceled, you went on like a, a little Oh. Like, instead of like a pub crawl, you went on like, almost like a mushroom crawl around New York. You playing like five or six different shows and just like eating
Ghastly:Yeah.
Nik:of
Ghastly:Bro. It, I gotta tell you, man, that was, that was one of the most ridiculous experiences of my life. I've never, I've never experienced anything quite like that. It was, it was so tremendously fun. But like each, because the whole thing was I was gonna take another mushroom at each stop, so and so by the fourth or the fifth stop, which is where the bigger shows were, that's when I started just losing my mind and on all my, all my homies. Like, Hey, so I hear your own mushrooms, and I'm,
Nik:Like, oh, did you, did you hold it all together though? You pulled
Ghastly:yeah, yeah. Oh, I at no, at no point did I ever have any kind of a freak out. It was a good vibe the entire time. I was entire, and it's all about. It's all, yeah. I, I am a pro at this point, so, you know, when I tell some, when I'm recommending mushrooms, I'm saying, uh, microdose first. Microdose first. If you're gonna do a bigger dose, have a sober sitter have, make sure your house is clean. That's a big one. Make sure every
Nik:Set and setting
Ghastly:huge. Clean the house and cleanse it.
Nik:yes, everyone, please do not go out there and just start taking
Ghastly:Yeah. You're not
Nik:David, David is a professional. He has done this many times. All right, you need to work your way up to that, to that level. Start with
Ghastly:one more thing. I gotta add one more thing while we're on this topic, is because I've, the reason I'm so adamant about being cautious and responsible with it is'cause I've done the opposite multiple times. And man, It can be rough.
Nik:That's a same here, man. Slippery slope, dude.
Ghastly:Yeah, it can you think like, oh, I'm gonna hack the matrix with this one. And, uh, no, the matrix hacks. You,
Nik:Yeah.
Ghastly:gotta be careful. so you wanna make sure your, your h your home is clean, the environment is cleansed. you're in a high vibrational state with an open heart and an open mind, and you've got your playlist. You've got your, uh, information that you want to absorb all of it together, and then slowly progress yourself up. And this can be meditative and beautiful and change people's lives. I mean, mushrooms are such an incredible thing in this world. Let me just add one more thing while we're on this note and we can move on. But my mom, she was, she was going through some hardships not too long ago and, uh, and I recommended to her maybe, you know, if nothing else is working, because she loves wine. And while wine can help solve the issue in the moment, it doesn't solve the issue permanently, as we all know. That's alcohol doesn't. It's, it's, it's a muddy bandaid if that. and so I recommended to my mom, Hey mom, let's just try. Psilocybin just, here you go. I'm gonna give you this chocolate bar. Take one or two pieces maximum since this is your first time in a long time since like the seventies doing mushrooms. And she's like, okay, all right. And I left her with it. I didn't put any pressure on her. I just told her a lot of what I just told you. Like, you know, set, setting, cleansing, blah, blah, blah. And. A, a couple days later I call her and I'm like, Hey, mom, so how, how was your trip? How, how were the mushrooms? And she was like, David, for the first time in years, I feel like I love myself again. And to hear my mom say that and to know that it came from something that is illegal is just so, uh, so crazy. It's like, yeah, she could have easily gone and got like Zoloft, which by the way, gives you suicidal tendencies, violent thoughts, and
Nik:Well, and it's, it's not even, it's not even illegal really. Now, it's being at least decriminalized in so many places. There's, you know, there are schedule two or three clinical trials that are being done where, you know, there is so much, so much research and so much therapy, you know, um, psilocybin assisted therapy, I think they're really focusing on, they're, they're really testing it with cancer patients or just anyone that's terminally ill that basically is being faced with death and they're doing these trials with them and, you know, these people that are, you know, facing a very, very tough challenge in their life, but they're finding peace and they're finding happiness and they're basically finding, you know, to be like not scared of, death and allowing them to like live their life in a much more, uh, you know, happy place. So there, I mean, there's so much amazing research being done. I don't think it will be very long before it's, you know, it's, it's fully legalized, which will be interesting to see because then of course, like the medical system is going to, you know, the pharmaceutical system is probably gonna get involved with it and it's gonna be really interesting to how to navigate that. But, you know, it is a great alternative to a lot of these other kind of fucked up drugs that they're putting people on. So,
Ghastly:Damn right, man. Damn right. I mean, it's absolutely phenomenal and I'm happy to hear all this. I'm so glad that we're getting into that point because, you know, it, it's just like marijuana. Marijuana went from like, you know, you had to meet some guy behind seven 11 and fucking, it was all suss. Now you can just, you can literally just walk into almost any store and buy it. Now it's, it feels like, you know, not any store, but it's getting to that point
Nik:Well, not, not in Texas. Not in Texas. You still gotta go. People still have like weed dealers out here. Yeah. It's, it's wild. I'm like, oh. I'm like, oh, you can't just, you know,'cause I'm born and raised Northern California, where literally like, everybody grows weed up there, you know, and it's like, oh, you can't just get it from a store now. Like, anyways, it's a different, uh, little different game out here that they're all
Ghastly:Yeah.
Nik:you know, we'll see.
Ghastly:Texas has always been its own place.
Nik:yeah. Yeah. But,
Ghastly:I don't really vibe with what everyone else is doing.
Nik:For sure. Yeah. They, they definitely make up their own rules out here. Um,
Ghastly:I'm saying.
Nik:but you know, love that we're talking about finding happiness, and I love that your, you know, your mom has been able to find happiness and, and, and love for herself.
Ghastly:To love yourself. Yeah.
Nik:you know, I, I wanna talk about gratitude because I, I also saw you make a post, uh, about really being thankful for the journey, and not only for all of the success, but also for the challenges. And I was hoping you could just speak into that a little bit, because I do feel like gratitude is one of the most important things that we really can practice, you know? Um, what role does gratitude play in your life?
Ghastly:Oh man. It plays, it plays a fundamental role. One that cannot be understated, that's for sure. even in my darkest moments, I remember that my biggest problems are other people's dreams. And this is just one of those realities about life that, and I've blessed enough to have traveled as much as I have and seen, the, the types of living conditions that exist in other countries, and. Knowing that that's happening right now in this exact moment. and it brings me so much gratitude to be able to say, like, if this is my biggest problem, if my biggest problem is X, y, and Z, then I'm blessed. And a lot of people have, challenged me on this idea because they say, well, it doesn't matter. Pain is pain. And, and I'm not saying that pain isn't pain. Uh, that was never my argument at all. And it's not even an argument, it's just an observation that, uh, pain is relative to what's happening to the person. But food could be the greatest gift for someone else. Whereas, you know, here in America, we're pissed off that our delivery didn't get here 30 minutes ago. and and it's, it's little things like this that can really quantify your anxiety down to a much smaller point because you realize what you're upset about is a gift at the end of the day. And, and this, it can be, but being grateful for everything all the way down. Like, uh, if, if you're around me a lot and I'm barefoot and I stub my toe, you'll hear me very commonly say, oh, that hurts so fucking much. I'm so glad that I have a foot that can feel pain. I'll just yell that shit. And when I yell that shit, the pain just boop, it goes away just like that. And, and I don't think that's a coincidence. I think that, you know, it's a lot of mind over matter. So when you're grateful for all of the things, even that which harms you, you know, like. I'm very grateful for this really tumultuous task that's been put in front of me. Or, you know, like, I'm very grateful that I at least have a car that I have to take to the, to the shop. You know, little things like that. All of it laces into your overall life experience. And I've been learning that a lot of, a lot of my patients, I've been learning from my girlfriend lately about like being non-reactive, learning how to have some really annoying shit happen to you and just go, that's fine. I'm glad that I even have the ability to hear about this problem. You know,
Nik:Yeah, yeah.
Ghastly:little things like that.
Nik:all of it is a practice, right? Like I'm really big on. Putting in the reps. You know, like if you are practicing patients on a regular basis, it doesn't mean that it just comes easily and naturally. Right? There's always gonna be challenges. We're always gonna stub our toe. There's always gonna be shit that happens. Pain is inevitable, but suffering is an option. Suffering is when we
Ghastly:Hmm.
Nik:to complain and we continue to make ourselves a victim. We continue to, you know, feed our energy into the things that we don't like, rather than feeding our energy into what we do have and what we can be grateful for. And what I mean by that is when it actually becomes your default state. Like I just, I go to gratitude because I've put in the reps so many times that I'm literally practicing gratitude. Even practicing gratitude in those moments where things do suck and maybe they're not turning out the way that I want to, you know? So it's, it, it sounds like you've definitely been. Putting in your reps, you know, with that. And, um, yeah, having a partner is always a, a, a, a great, uh, mirror and container to practice patience and to practice, you know, gratitude as well. so I'm so happy that, you know, you found somebody that can help you with that. And I am personally just so grateful that we've been able to, uh, spend this time together today. I, I really thank you so much for, you know, taking the time outta your busy schedule. It's been a long time since we've talked. It's just so awesome to reconnect with you and man, I'm, just blown away with just who you are and what you're doing as an as, as an artist and, and as a person. Yeah. Thank you brother. You're the man.
Ghastly:Absolutely.