David Crow, better known as Ghastly, has weaved through the dance music industry with his thumping bass-kicks and innovative future house sound that has caught the attention of chart-topping labels such as OWSLA, Dim Mak, Mad Decent, and Buygore. But his road to success was anything but easy. Originally hailing from a goat farm in Arizona, Ghastly knew he needed to make his way to Los Angeles if he wanted to follow his dreams of solidifying his name in the music industry. After 3 years of living in Los Angeles, his attempt to make it in the music industry had completely failed. Fired from his job and left homeless, he was ultimately forced to move back home.

After months of diligently working his ass off and staying focused, Ghastly saved up enough money to move back to Los Angeles, where he claimed a position for himself as Bassrush Resident DJ at Exchange LA. As the young producer continues to push boundaries by blending house, hip-hop, and future bass, industry favorites such Skrillex, Borgore, Zomboy, Dillon Francis, Zeds Dead, and more have taken notice. With a slew of original tracks under his belt plus collaborations with Brillz, Mija, and Jauz, Ghastly is redefining dance music. I had the opportunity to have a quick chat with Ghastly before his set in Miami, and here is what he had to say…

SR: Before you became a producer, you were in a metal band. So what got you into dance music and made you transition?

Ghastly: I’ve always loved dance music deep down in my core, but I could never express that being in a metal band. I realized one day as I looked around that my band and I were falling apart. No one was committed in what we were trying to do. I’m an all or nothing type of person, so I told them that they needed to give me their all or I was out. I got so tired of it and decided to go straight towards something that I could be in full control of. You’ll see that a lot of producers that come from bands say the same thing. We love being in control and but also love having the ability to collaborate if we miss having that band type feeling.

SR: So were other guys in the band friends of yours or was this a random Craigslist find?

Ghastly: No, we were all really really close friends throughout grade school and high school.

SR: Did you want to have a career in music or did it just happen?

Ghastly: Everyone thinks that it’s implausible or unrealistic to ACTUALLY have a career in music. I thought just the opposite of that and kept going for it with the band. But soon after I gave them that ultimatum of giving me their all, they decided not to keep the band going.

SR: It’s all about motivation!

Ghastly: Yeah, exactly!

SR: How did you learn to produce?

Ghastly: That actually came from me messing around with sounds since I was 12. When I was 16, I started recording beats inside of computers. I would mess with the hard wires so I could record my keyboard into the microphone input. It was really really chopped and screwed. It was definitely an at home, do-it-yourself production. I had no idea how artists like Lady Gaga were making their music and didn’t know what the fuck was going on there. All I knew was that I could record sounds, layer them, and organize them. I would just continue to find newer and more in depth programs. I eventually came across Ableton and stuck to it.

SR: Did you use a lot of tutorials that taught you how to do certain things in Ableton?

Ghastly: A lot of me learning Ableton honestly came from nowhere. It’s something that I wish I could describe. It comes from a place deep, deep in my mind and is something in between discovering and witnessing. It’s right in between that. It’s really really fun and I prefer that over having to stress over relying other people.

SR: How would you describe your sound to someone who has never heard your music?

Ghastly: Umm….I couldn’t! I’ve done so many different styles and so many different genres of music. Some of songs are chill with a lot of melodic chords and slightly aggressive beats whereas others are full on, balls to the wall, heavy hitting songs.

SR: I mean, you can describe your music like that though!

Ghastly: Yeah I guess that in itself definitely describes my music. When it comes to describing what a song sounds like, it’s like trying to describe a Salvador Dalí painting to someone. You can’t ever really be given a full idea of what it’s like until they experience it themselves.

SR: You base your DJ name off your personality, do you still believe describing yourself as “ghastly” holds true?

Ghastly: I think it has definitely changed a little bit over the years. I was never trying to be a “ghastly” person. Given my upbringing, I was always surrounded by things of a “ghastly” nature. It also had to do with how I was making it in the music industry. It was hard knocks from the get-go and resonated with me. I just like the pronunciation of it. On top of that, the ravers started throwing the Pokémon thing in. Ravers love Pokémon, so I said ‘fuck it,’ you know?

SR: That’s what people were joking with me about when I said I was going to interview you…because some people call me ‘Ash,’ so they were like ‘Oh Ash Ketchum…and you’re going to interview GHASTLY.’

Ghastly: *laughs* That’s so stupid.

SR: The lame jokes were piling in. I was basically like “haha, that’s dumb but I guess clever.”

Ghastly: Just FYI, when I say “stupid” that means I think it’s funny.

SR: Oh yeah, I totally get you, I’m the same way.

Ghastly: Some people just get offended and I’m like “no, I think it’s funny!”

SR: Is there a meaning behind the Ghastly claw “pose” you do in pictures? It’s such a random question, but I’m just super curious how that came about…

Ghastly: Hmmm…*stares off dramatically into the distance*

Ghastly: Don’t worry about it; knowing will take away the mystery and novelty of it.

SR: But I have no idea what it could mean at all…what about the Ghastly emoticon (◕,,,◕)?

Ghastly: It could mean so many different things! I’ve had people tell me so many different things they think it is. One thing that is really odd, and kind of weird, is when I wear sunglasses and do the claw pose, it looks exactly like the emoticon. But those both flourished completely separately. They had nothing to do with each other in the beginning. Just one day I thought ‘that claw looks exactly like that emoticon.’ It tripped me out.

SR: What’s the coolest thing a fan has done for you? 

Ghastly: Oh man, that’s tough. I love the people. There are so many things that people have done, I wish I could remember all of them at once.

SR: Or a cool thing someone has done recently.

Ghastly: One of the cooler ones that I saw recently was…OH! For Halloween, a lot of people dress up like me which was really fucking weird (in a good way).

SR: Didn’t your nephew dress up as you too?

Ghastly: Yup, my nephew dressed up as me for Halloween too.

SR: I saw you post a picture and thought that was SO adorable!

Ghastly: He totally killed it. I wasn’t there for it but it was totally his idea to do it . That’s my nephew, so of course that’s awesome, but I was getting Snapchat after Snapchat saying ‘I’m you for Halloween!’ That was really trippy. That made me feel like I’m affecting people and it was super surreal for me.

SR: So I know you really love pizza…

Ghastly: *laughs*

SR: Hey I’m just sayin’

Ghastly: I dunnoooo

SR: What is your favorite topping on pizza and what is your least favorite topping on pizza?

Ghastly: Pepperoni is my favorite and no toppings is my least favorite.

Ghastly: *laughs* Pepperoni pizza forever. Pepperoni pizza is king . I will fuck with all of the supreme toppings too. I’m totally down. But the only pizza I’m not fond of a straight cheese.

SR: Cheese is plain, it’s pretty boring.

Ghastly: Cheese pizza is like having a canvas with a stick figure drawn on it. You could do so much more!

SR: Pretty basic. So will you put anything on pizza? What about anchovies?

Ghastly: Nooo, I’m not down.

SR: Pineapple?

Ghastly: No, I’m not down.

SR: People are freaked out about pineapple, I don’t know why. They get upset when I say I want pineapple on my pizza.

Ghastly: Ugh, because it’s so sweet!

SR: What project are you working on now? Any collaborations?

Ghastly: I’m working on collaborations with Jauz, Getter, and NGHTMRE. I just put one out with Brillz and have a couple more still in the works. I just made a bunch of remixes and did a fresh remix for Griz that will be coming out soon. Honestly, I’m really trying to focus on doing solo, original content. I’ve done a lot of collaborations and that’s the band aspect of me wanting him to work with other musicians. That’s ultimately what you will do in this industry.

SR: You learned so much working with other artists.

Ghastly: Oh yeah, I’ve learned so much! I’ve reached the point where I want to show people my artistry. I don’t want to continue to have bits and pieces of other people. Whether it be a remix or a collaboration, it’s still not fully you. That’s what I’m trying to do from this point into next year….just tons and tons of singles. I can’t say exactly who I’m signing with right now, but I’ll do 3 songs songs with that label then sign with another label and do another 3 songs with them. After that, I’ll just see what 2016 has in store for me. I think it’s going to be the biggest year for me and the most important one. In 2016 I’m going to take it to another level. I want to collaborate with people like Miley Cyrus and Drake. Someone will look at you when you say that and be all like ‘there’s no way!’ and I’m like ‘oh yeah, the same thing you said that there was no way I could make music into a living but I’m doing that…so just watch this!’

SR: You have to be determined and work your ass off and it’ll happen.

Ghastly: It’s all about the hard work. There’s a small percentage of people that don’t have to go through that and get really really lucky. I mean, good for them, I’d take it too! But for the rest of us, we work our asses off. If you’re not willing to work your ass off, you don’t deserve to achieve your goal.