PEGGY GOU: ON THE RECORD

Peggy Gou covers the new issue of 10 Magazine Australia: CREATIVITY, FREEDOM, CHANGE - wearing Chanel, on newsstands Friday March 20th. Read the full story below:

It’s Peggy Gou’s world and we are loving it. The South Korean by-way-of London DJ, producer, songwriter and fashion aficionado is on the set of our shoot, moving to the music. She knows what she wants and she delivers. As one of the music industry’s most exciting creatives, we spent a day with Peggy from studio to a sold-out DJ set, following her into the night where she did what she does best, putting on a show.

Since growing up in South Korea, Gou (real name Kim Min-ji) has become a world-renowned DJ and producer. Music came into her life when she began playing piano at the age of eight. “I was also one of those kids who wanted to learn how to dance as well,” she says. Gou’s parents sent her to study in London at the age of 15, before a short return to South Korea at 18 where she met her “first love”, a DJ who introduced her to the art. It was then when she began to practice beat-matching from CD to CD. “That was the first experience I had, and then I started to practice a bit more when I was in London,” she says. Gou went back to the UK to study at the London College of Fashion where she completed a BA (Hons) in Fashion Styling and Production. During this time, she discovered house music. “Coming back to London when I was a university student, that’s when I discovered deep house and other different genres… I started to go clubbing and that’s when I began listening to more EDM and club music."

Gou then moved to Berlin to take music more seriously, where she immersed herself in more underground techno genres. She released her first self-produced and written debut album I Hear You in 2024 after years of hit singles. “I learned so much from that [release],” she says. “I still think that doing an album as an artist [requires] a completely different level of an artist as opposed to one who just releases singles. I didn’t have a manager – I still don’t have a manager. It was not easy to deal with the label and promotion and PR by myself. But it was important for me to create an album that I still want to listen to in 20 years and still love. I’m hoping to release another album in a few years but I’m going to take my time… I really enjoyed the process. I learnt a lot.”

Gou’s writing process begins with finding distinct inspiration. For I Hear You, it was ’90s dance music. “I was born in 1990 so I don’t have the experience of going to all those crazy races back then, but I wanted to imagine it. As a producer, there’s a lot of music from then… there’s something beautiful about the night music that I love. It’s very simple, repetitive, but it doesn’t get boring.” At the beginning of Gou’s career, sampling was key to her exploration. Nowadays, she tries to sample less and, instead, innovate from scratch. “I still sample but the more I produce, I realise that less is more.” She still has a sampling ear and often subconsciously hears sounds to sample. Her rider at every show asks each promoter to get her a record from the country that she will be in so she can discover new music. “Whether it’s old or new artists, every time I go home, I always bring the new vinyl with me. Even if you listen to music every single day, 24 hours a day until you die, you will never discover all the music that exists in the world. It’s a new way to discover new music and artists.”

Gou is a leader in the house music scene, but she has a sharp ear for other genres. While she says she won’t change her genre completely as she wants to keep her identity, she likes the idea of doing something unexpected, though “it still needs to make sense”. Right now, she’s “a little obsessed with Bad Bunny. But who isn’t?” she says with a laugh. This recent trip to Australia has inspired her. She played a headlining set at the Australian Open in Melbourne the day after our shoot. “I find a lot of inspiration on tour. Every different city inspires me. Watching the tennis excited me. It’s a completely different field, but just watching athletes and players doing what they do best… There’s so much heart that goes into that sport. I have a job that I don’t have to ‘win’ at but it’s completely different watching an athlete do what they love and what they’re good at.” For this interview, she’s calling in from Bali, the next stop on her Australasian tour. The night before, she has been at famed resort Desa Potato Head. “DJ Harvey, who is still my hero, just opened a club called Klymax. He’s an incredible DJ.” She still enjoys going to shows and thinks it’s important to listen to the younger generation. “If there’s an interesting artist or someone I love playing, I always go. I’m always trying to find inspiration from other people whether it’s a movie or art or another sound. I never like to get comfortable.”

Fashion has been an important pillar in her world-building and Gou universe. She has her own merch line, aptly titled Peggy Goods, and is well known and followed (by 4.5 million people on Instagram) for her eclectic, electric and simply fabulous style. For this cover story, Gou is wearing Matthieu Blazy’s first Chanel collection. “How did Chanel come into my world? That is a question I ask myself, too!” she says. “I’ve always been a huge fan of Matthieu and when he went to Chanel, I knew it was going to be amazing. All the clothes I was wearing on the shoot… just, wow. He surprises people. I was at the first show and I loved everything. Especially the bags and the shoes,” she says, grinning.

Known to love an accessory, Gou reflects on her fashion and music beginnings. “Coming from the fashion world, I thought it would be a weakness,” she says of her beginning as a DJ. “I thought people wouldn’t take me seriously. I remember just wearing black or white T-shirts at the beginning just to prove myself. I wanted to look serious, but I realised it wasn’t me. And I thought, you know what? I love dressing up. Why not? I actually love seeing artists that look good. It depends on where I go or where I play, what time I play, who I play with… My style can change. I just know what looks good on me.” Being based in Berlin, has she felt the full matrix pull? She laughs. “I don’t think I was ever full Berghain. That was never my thing. When everyone wants to wear black, I go full colour. I should not change my taste because of where I am or what other people are wearing.” She works it on the 10 set in very colourful new Chanel, dancing, kicking, moving to the music. “Chanel makes me feel like… what’s the word?” Like you’re part of a club? “Yeah. If other brands are a festival, Chanel seems more like a membership club, perhaps” she says, with a laugh.

Gou is grateful for the life she’s built and acknowledges the privilege in playing music for people around the world as her job. “I’m not saying this because I’m doing this interview but I feel that [gratitude] in every show I do. I am someone who still gets nervous, which I love, and I never want to lose the butterflies in my stomach that happen before I play in every country I go to. It doesn’t matter what kind of show I’m doing, I am grateful for everything, every day. I’m doing what I love and you make your own luck. I worked hard for this.” For now, Gou is continuing to “chase summer all the time”. With a string of (Northern Hemisphere) summertime hits, including the major 2024 hit (It Goes Like) Nanana and the 2022 track Starry Nights, Gou is working on a new “summer song… I’m not going to go into too much detail but there’s definitely something coming up. I feel like that’s my thing now, a summer song,” she says, with a smile.

Photographer ROB TENNENT
Fashion Editor SARAH STARKEY
Text ROXY LOLA
Hair SOPHIE ROBERTS at The Artist Group using SISLEY
Make-up VICTORIA BARON at MAP Ltd using CHANEL Denim Makeup Collection
Fashion assistant JOSHUA WILLIAMS
Photographer’s assistants DARYL ORILLAZA, CONRAD WAINWRIGHT and FERGUS LOCKE
Production R D PRODUCTIONS
Shot at LUNAR STUDIOS
Clothing, shoes and bags throughout CHANEL