Learning Djembe Influenced His Production Approach

And by playing the djembe as a kid, he thinks it may have influenced his approach as a producer. "When you produce music, you just let yourself go into your own world," Kungs explains. "You just make stuff happen. And when I was a kid, it was the same thing. I play my djembe and guitar for fun."

And His Parents' Support Helped Him Achieve His Dreams

"I had some software [that] my parents gave me at Christmas when I was 13 years old," he says. "It wasn't really producing but more like mixing some stuff. [My parents] always knew I was really into music, and I was in a musical environment."

Google Translate Gave Kungs His Stage Name

"I started making music three years ago, and my name is Valentin Brunel," Kungs explains. "So it's a bit long and not beautiful. I was making remixes, and one of them was called 'Valentin Remix.' It was too long. So I had to find something else. I went on Google translate with my brother. We typed "gentleman" in every language. And in Latvian, it's 'Kungs.'"