Goochems and the Gospel of Electronic Shoegaze

By Katie Li

June 26th 2025

If you’ve been wanting to take your relationship with your ADHD to the next level (<3), say hello to Goochems: musical moniker of Chicago-based musician and DJ, Sam Canfield. Initially known for his 1-minute “chronically online” hyperpop mini DJ sets on TikTok—where, in about the same amount of time it takes you to forget what you were doing, you get blasted with a bass sensory overload of indiscernible mashups and a sampler platter of all your favorite church electronic artists—Goochems has recently pivoted towards developing a unique sound he dubs ‘electronic shoegaze.’

There’s a kind of serendipitous irony in the unexpected merging of the two genres, in which one could not be more opposite to the other. One too many times have I been listening to the Jesus and Mary Chain to intentionally wallow, only for 100 gecs to interrupt the queue and take me right out of that depressive spiral. Even from a performance standpoint: shoegaze bands, who, yes, love gazing at their shoes and playing in a hypnotic, relative darkness, might just have a stroke witnessing 2hollis’ concert antics. Despite their obvious contrast, something seems to continually link the two together. Unfortunately for purists, shoegaze’s recent popularity has mirrored that of electronic and hyperpop: shaped into internet phenomena during the isolation of the pandemic. My personal theory? The two gained traction from the desire for noise amongst a complete seclusion and that, this noisiness is the characteristic that makes the two genres feel so harmonious, and why their audiences increasingly overlap.

Once fueling “hyperpop is dead” allegations in the past few years, OG hyperpop artists like Jane Remover (see Census Designated) and lor2mg (see daisies) had seemed to move on to making solely nugazey music. For Goochems, the ebb and flow between the two genres manifests differently. Rather than exploring both separately, Canfield manages to play with each genre’s conventions within individual songs. Across his 14-song discography so far, his love for both genres has been clear from the jump. His 2023 debut single “not who u wanna be” is arguably his most melancholic: whispering sentiments of self-loathing over slowcore instrumentals reminiscent of Duster. Released within the same year was “burgando,” a meme-worthy song borrowing from hyperpop’s more rap-heavy elements. But it’s Goochems’ 3 most recent singles that provide the clearest insight into the “electronic shoegaze” lane he’s carving.

Overtly self-referential and living up to its title, “shoegaze909” is a genre-bending standout, not only merging shoegaze and electronic, but also the subgenres within. It opens with 8 bars of the most classic house drum loop, before simultaneously dropping into jersey club ad libs and shoegaze-signature distorted guitar chords. A few bars later, a catchy vocal hook drifts in with the subtlety and soft presence of My Bloody Valentine—buried in the mix, functioning as a melodic shimmer rather than a narrative centerpiece. Sequel single “wait for uuu” takes a Mk.Gee-esque, heavily-sidechained guitar line with deliberate negative space and, introduced by a backspin riser, combines it with the growling 808s of electronic rage music. And closing the trilogy, “barrel of soil” released last month; its first two minutes evoke the digital landscape of 2-era 2hollis and Frailty-era Jane Remover. After a headbang-worthy, triple synth-layered instrumental climax (with its only vocals being a Snow Strippers-style adlib: “Goddamn Goochems”), it collapses into a beat switch: Duster-meets-Whirr shoegaze, still carrying the same vocal line but now glazed in new effects and an inevitably more distant, somber sound. 

There has always been a heated discourse surrounding genre, where [insert genre here]  absolutists feel duty-bound to gatekeep its boundaries. And though Goochems is no stranger to those judgmental commentaries (his comment sections are litter with “this isn’t hyperpop” or “hood shoegaze 🔥”), Goochems maintains his refreshing take: essentially building a new one that is undefined by a fixed sound. With his first-ever EP landing July 8th, now’s the time to hop on the wave—before those comment sections become insufferable.

Read on to find out all about Goochems in this exclusive profile below, interviewed by Veronica Alemu.

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How did you think to blend shoegaze and electronic together?

I got to college and I felt like I was just very unhappy with my music. And I was in a creative rut. I don't know, I was trying to spark that creativity. So I got, have you ever heard of the book Steal Like an Artist?

I don't think so.

Well, I was trying to get my inspiration back and I read the Amazon preview of that book: the deadass 10 pages that you get for free. And that sparked me to wear my influences on my sleeve a bit more. I tried to find the most important albums to me. And I was into a lot of electronic shit like 100 Gecs, Jane remover, 2hollis. And then, a little bit of Mk.Gee, My Bloody Valentine, and Quadeca. I was just trying to think: “if this is the music that's so important to me, how can I mix it into something that speaks to who I am?” And it just came down to experimentation with that. Really taking a little bit from each project that's so important to me.

Be like Goochems. Click here.

So you started making music in college?

I've been producing since, like, lowkey 7th grade.

Whoa. That's fucking crazy.

I should have started making music sooner. Like, I only started using my vocals in junior year, 2023. But yeah, I was selling beats on YouTube before.

Are there artists that you still produce for?

Nah. I’ve just been producing for myself. When I was making beats for YouTube, I was making J. Cole type beats; it wasn't anything close to what I'm doing now. But I just got to a point where that wasn't really fun to me. Like I was listening to shit that was different than I was making. So I don't know, I always wanted to be an artist. I was just scared to put myself out there, to be honest. But now that I've kind of developed a somewhat unique sound, I would love to produce for other artists. That's one of the goals I wanna work on for the rest of this year.

I know what you mean. By making stuff for other people, they tend to… I don't think the word is ruined, but they tend to kind of go their own direction with it, and that takes away what you envisioned. Do you see yourself kind of collabing with any artists or do you still want to continue this route of independence for a while?

I'm honestly kind of thinking about it still. I don't know. All my songs are solo. It's cool that, like, anyone even listens. But I do think that for this next project, I definitely want to do some collabs, for sure. I think that the community is so strong right now. So many people are making such cool music. So I really want, work with, like, talented people, I guess, and just build up together.

I feel like I listen to your music and I see it as kind of its own thing. It feels like there should be someone it reminds me of but, because of the originality of the two drastically different genres being blended together, I can’t place it. Who are the references and influences you listen to?

That was like, the best compliment I could get (laughs). One thing I value in music more than anything is originality or creativity. So that being portrayed in my music is such a compliment. 

But as far as inspiration goes, I just try to listen to as many albums as I can. And I kind of try to figure out which tracks mean the most or stick out the most to me. I told you earlier about my favorite five albums; those five are definitely my biggest inspiration. Like a lot of Quadeca, Jane two, Hollis, JPEG. JPEG, for sure, that's a huge one. A lot of my bloody Valentine too, just like shoegaze shit. But what I'll do also is I'll take other tracks from other albums I find that might not be as directly aligned with what I'm making, and try to look at them through the lens of this little compilation of genres I've created. 

I really like that your music taste is represented in your songs. Now that you've said that, I'm like, “Okay. I see how you drew inspiration from those artists in order to create your sound.” Speaking of your taste, have you been DJing recently?

I still have yet to do a live set. A little story about how I got into DJing is: it was the end of my senior year and my friend from high school was like: “yo, bro, you DJ?” And I was like: “No, but I can learn!” He's like, “You should DJ my grad party” (laughs). So I learned how in 30 days and DJed his grad party. That's like, the only real show with DJing I've done, which is kind of crazy, to be honest. But other than that, like, I've done a performance where I'm playing my own music. This summer, I definitely want to and I have some opportunities that I really want to take advantage of where I could be DJing. I want to do a good mix of DJing in live shows, for sure.

I feel like that's how everyone gets started with DJing. They do a birthday party or a grad party, and then, suddenly, they have a boiler room.

Yeah, like book me please.

(Laughs) I think that'll happen to you sooner than you think. 

Oh shit, bet, insider information or something?

I honestly feel like everyone I've seen in the boiler room, I'm like, I swear you were doing intimate parties a year ago and now you’re big. (laughs). What does your musical creative process look like?

It really probably depends on the day, to be honest. In a sense, part of my creative process is trying something new that I wouldn't usually do. I'll load up Logic Pro, and I can see my song ideas kind of clearly. I'll load 10 audio tracks and just sing into the microphone. Like the drums, I’ll beatbox that shit., I'll do the bass, whatever chords I'm hearing, maybe a vocal melody. And then I'll just go through like Serum and try to replicate it into something interesting. I’ve been trying to make my songs as quickly as possible lately. I try to finish it in one day and sit at the computer for five hours or maybe even longer. I find that that’s how I can get songs out, not even the quickest, but also the best. 

I also don't want to fall into every song sounding the same. I feel like I could have easily done that with shoegaze909 with the house beat and shoegaze guitar. like, It's a cool mix and I feel like that could be easily replicated. But I tried to do it in different ways, like how many angles could I take with this? I think that if there is a trademark 3 things, they'd be:

1. The electronica and shoegaze blend.

2. I try to get it very noisy. 

3. And I really focus on very catchy hooks. 

Totally. Your music is very catchy. With a pop song, you'll always know it's catchy, but it’s not always the same with electronic music. So being electronic and catchy at the same time, while not diverting into pop is really cool. You're from Chicago, right? 

Yeah.

Has that affected the way you produce or write music at all?

I wish I could say yes, but lowkey not at all. 

Interesting. You're the first person to say that.

Really? Oh shit, hopefully, Chicago doesn't kill me for that. Look, I'm 19, like, I'm still young. I've only had my independence for so long. Yeah, I feel like I haven't had time to explore the city on my own. I kind of have a skewed view, maybe, in a way. I'm just starting to do that this past year, and I also go to college in a different state. So it's not like I'm just around every single weekend. I am home for the summer, so I'm absolutely looking forward to going to a lot of shows, trying to find the community in Chicago, people that make similar music to me, which I've already, like, started to do, and met a lot of cool people. But maybe it's just me. I guess I just don't know what Chicago's unique twist on the electronic scene is compared to LA or New York, where it's like, oh yeah, y'all got it on lock. 

I totally understand that. I think you’re also the first person we're interviewing from Chicago. So, I was really curious to see if there is an underlying electronic scene that I don't know about. But I guess there isn't, and it kind of does lead back to LA, New York, maybe even Detroit. Do you have a goal of maybe leaving Chicago?

I think my ultimate goal would be to, even if it's not gonna be on an LA or New York level, to find other local artists who I like, connect with deeply, and have our own Chicago thing. I love Chicago. I don't really want to move and I love LA and New York too but, right now, I couldn’t see myself living there. I think Chicago is a little unique, and I think that when people hear that “oh, you’re from Chicago,” it's a really big connection. I feel like, maybe, it means a little more than in LA or New York, because there's such huge music scenes already. I would love to, like, create some sort of identity for Chicago and, you know, be part of whatever they can become.

I used to live in Chicago, so I know exactly what you're talking about. I feel like you can only really, truly understand the beauty of Chicago, the music scene, and the people, if you live there. A lot of people have a goal of moving to New York or LA or London or to get their name out there, so it’s awesome that you want to create your little community of electronic music in Chicago. Do you think that you are making it kind of prevalent that that is something you're trying to do? Have you been connecting with other artists there at all?

I've definitely been trying to and made some cool connections. I feel like what I'm not doing enough of, maybe. I'm a believer that you kind of need to give people a lot of time to adapt to who you are and who they are. Or to really understand someone. And I feel like I maybe need to do a little bit more of that, just hanging out with people and seeing what they're about personality wise and music wise to know what this community could be.

I think that as you get older and grow in Chicago with your music, and more people discover you, I think it's just gonna come to you. Those people are gonna naturally appear and be like, “hey, I do music, you do electronic music too, and would love to connect and like whatever, because I feel like a lot of the artists we've talked to, that's literally What happened to them. But they're all like, 26,  27, and when they were your age, people just kept discovering them in their hometowns, and then they just created a whole thing. 

That’s something that's so cool about the community right now. There's so many like groups or people that come up together in a way, and kind of build off of each other.

Yeah, it's very natural, it's really nice. It's not connected by any kind of label. It's just your community and what you're surrounded by.

My best friend, Davert, is a DJ and makes dubstep now, but used to make very similar music to me. Cool dude. He’s my G.O.A.T. He’s always listening to my songs and giving me feedback. And, him also building a music career is very helpful because I feel like we learn a lot from each other. There's also this dude, Marco, who’s a photographer and works on lighting for a venue, and, like, I built a really cool relationship with him. He's so attached to the scene and gives great feedback. And I think he's gonna do really cool things in the industry, for sure.

Are these people based in Chicago?

No, he is in San Francisco.

Bay Area. How did you get connected?

He was just taking photos for Snow Strippers and told me Graham was playing my song! I was like, “that can’t be right!”

No way. Shout out Snow Strippers. Is there anything soon we can expect from you music wise?

I’m dropping my first EP in June. I've been dropping singles every 6-8 ish weeks. The plan right now is just to continue doing that for a long time until it's time to move onto something bigger.

Is your EP something you’ve been working on for a long time? Is anyone else on the project?

Coming up on a year. This is almost 100% solo. But there is someone I met on some electronic Discord server. This was way before I was getting even a little traction on TikTok. We were just sharing stuff back and forth. Her name is Chloe; she wrote this guitar part that I thought was really cool, so I recorded over it and, then, kind of re-recorded it. But as far as collaborations, that’s the only one on the album. The rest is all me.