So, as a little kid, Gus got to experience the pleasure of writing freely. I have all of his written work from the first grade, as well as his early writing from Pre-K and Kindergarten.  It is interesting to analyze Gus’s early written work with all his other writing to think about as well.  I see patterns in his writing.  From the moment he began writing, as a child, until the day he died, Gus mixed reality with make-believe to express his feelings whether they were playful or sad.

What stands out the most to me when I read Gus’s early stories is how so many of them are evocative in the same way that his lyrics are. 

Gus loved shoes.  He began to show an interest in “cool shoes” around fourth or fifth grade.  One of the first observable instances of Gus’s keen fascination with shoes was the moment he commented on his grandmother’s black Converse All-Stars.  They were high-tops.  He told her he liked them.  She gave them to him.  And so it began.

Some time in October of 2015, Gus realized he should or could start to sell t-shirts. He worked with a couple of people and decided to use the skeleton design, and the spooky the Lil Peep logo. Then he got permission to use the Schemaposse logo from JGrxxn. Gus was excited to be joining Schemaposse.

All Saints Day, also called The Day of the Dead in Spanish-speaking countries, was Gus’s actual birthday. Its happy skeleton images also interested and inspired Gus as he grew older. It was this image, the skeleton, that Gus chose as his first symbol when he began to call himself Lil Peep and make himself visible to his SoundCloud listeners.