IN CONVERSATION WITH PEGASSI

interview by TIMI LETONJA

Born in Antwerp, Belgium, Pegassi is the creative alter ego of DJ and producer Sam Huybrecht. After first gaining attention through SoundCloud and his remix of No Type he has developed a genre-blurring sound that moves between trance, techno, eurodance, house and hip-hop, quickly becoming one of the most distinctive new names in European electronic music.

Your music blends trance, techno, eurodance and rave with a very strong sense of personality. In a moment where electronic music can feel trend-driven, how important is it for you to create a recognizable identity?
I think it’s really important. Trends in electronic music move so fast, so if you chase them too much you can lose your own identity. For me, it’s about making music that still feels like me, even when I’m blending trance, techno and eurodance. I think that’s what really creates a long term connection with people.

The bells in your tracks have become almost synonymous with Pegassi. Did you consciously build that signature, or did it evolve naturally over time?
It actually happened by accident, I was working on ‘yoyoyo’. Originally the sound was supposed to be much harder, but then I accidentally clicked the wrong preset and it suddenly turned into that bell sound. The moment I heard it, something just clicked instantly. I never really planned for it to become a signature part of my music, it just happened naturally over time.

You grew up heavily influenced by hip-hop culture. How does that background still shape the way you approach electronic production today?

I think hip hop still influences the way I approach music a lot, especially when it comes to energy and emotion. Even though I make electronic music, I still think it's very melody driven and I always want tracks to have a personality. Growing up on hip hop also made me really appreciate memorable vocals and catchy moments that stay in your head after the song ends.

You’ve gone from underground club support to massive festival stages very quickly. Has your relationship with success changed the way you make music, or are you trying to protect the same instincts you had in the beginning?

I think I definitely try to protect the same instincts I had in the beginning, because that’s what got me here in the first place. Of course when things grow, there’s naturally more pressure and more eyes on what you’re doing, but I still try to make music from feeling first instead of overthinking everything too much. I think the moment you lose that instinct, the music can start losing personality as well.

Your sets move through different energies and genres very fluidly. What makes a Pegassi set feel complete to you emotionally?

A set feels complete when I can really see the crowd connecting with the music and reacting to the tracks I’m playing. I pay a lot of attention to the crowd during my sets, because you can instantly feel what people are enjoying and what they’re not fully connecting with. A lot of it comes from body language and movement. When you see people completely losing themselves in the moment, that’s usually when the set feels special to me.

With Sweet Nothing, you’re building more than just a label – it feels like a creative universe. What kind of culture or community do you want to create around it?

With Sweet Nothing, I really wanted to create more than just a label. From early on, I had this vision of building a world around the music where artists and fans could feel genuinely connected. When I first started out, I saw how difficult it was for a lot of emerging artists to get real opportunities or visibility, so creating something that could also help other people grow became really important to me. The events are a big part of that as well, because they make everything feel much more personal. You’re not just putting music out online, you’re creating real moments and experiences together, and I think that shared energy is what makes a community special.

You’re entering a phase with global touring, Olympic collaborations and increasingly ambitious releases. What do you think people still misunderstand about Pegassi at this point in your career?

I think people sometimes only see the touring and the shows, but something really important to me is having a normal life away from all of that. From Monday to Thursday especially, I really value my downtime. That’s when I focus on my family, my friends, my cats, and just being at home working on music and recharging mentally. I think having that balance is what keeps me grounded and lets me enjoy everything happening even more.

Tracks like “227kg” and “MOAA” feel huge and almost cinematic in scale. When you’re producing, are you thinking about the dancefloor first, or about creating an emotional world around the music?

It really depends on the track. ‘227kg’ actually started from a remix idea of a Lil Tecca song that I was experimenting with in the studio, but it ended up turning into something really special and naturally grew into the track it is now. With other tracks, I definitely think more about the dancefloor and the summer ahead, and how the music is going to resonate with crowds and create moments during the sets.

What is your favorite Awakenings memory? You performed Upclose 2 weeks ago and went b2b with Anetha. What was your Upclose highlight?

One thing that really stuck with me from Awakenings Upclose was the weather honestly. The rain was so bad and the ground turned completely muddy, it was all over people’s clothes and shoes, but nobody cared. The crowd still fully committed and kept going the entire set, and I think that energy was really special to witness. And of course, playing b2b with Anetha was a huge highlight for me as well.

Fittingly, your latest release is actually called “Upclose”. Tell me more about this release, and how it fits into the evolution of your sound?

‘Upclose’ felt like the perfect name for the track, especially after the whole experience. It still has the energy people know me for, but there’s also a deeper and more atmospheric side to it. Lately I’ve been trying to make tracks that feel bigger and more immersive while still fully working on the dancefloor, and I think “Upclose” really sits in that space.

You’ve just announced and sold out your ADE show – an All Day Long takeover of Hemkade with your Sweet Nothing imprint on October 23rd. What can fans expect from 8 hours of Pegassi?

I think people can expect a much deeper dive into my world and the whole Sweet Nothing atmosphere. Doing an All Day Long set gives me the chance to really explore different energies and sounds in a way you can’t always do during a shorter festival slot. Across 8 hours, I want it to feel like a real journey where people can completely lose themselves in the music, the visuals and the energy in the room. That’s what makes those long sets so special to me.