Get To Know: Stef Caers (born 5 July 1980), known professionally as Gustaph, is a Belgian singer-songwriter, producer and vocal coach
Early Life
Gustaph was born in Leuven, Flemish Braban, Belgium. Ever since he was a child, Gustaph has been obsessed with Eurovision. He first began making music at the age of 13, and signed his first record contract at 17.
Musical Career
At the beginning of his professional music career Gustaph also studied at the Royal Conservatory of Ghent, where he completed both bachelor and masters degrees. While he was there he released his debut single ‘Gonna Lose You’ in 2000 under the name Steffen, which peaked atnumber 22 on the Flemish music charts.
Listen to Gustaph’s first single “Gonna Lose You”:
Gustaph subsequently released a second single, titled “Sweetest Thing”. Following these releases, he began focusing more on songwriting and producing. He also became active as a backing vocalist, providing backing vocals for, among others, Lady Linn and Willy Sommers.
When he was 28, Gustaph adopted the name he now performs under, while he began to explore the electronic house scene. In the early 2010s, he joined as one of the lead vocalists, the band Hercules and Love Affair, which is a dance music project created by American DJ and singer Andy Butler. Gustaph was the lead vocalist on several of the band’s track, and remained part of the group for seven years.
During Gustaph’s tenure with the Hercules and Love Affair, he also produced and released two solo singles in 2011, namely ‘Same Thing’ and ‘Jaded’. Subsequently, in 2014, he collaborated as a featured artist on Blende’s ‘Running’.
Previous Eurovision experience
Gustaph’s initial involvement with Eurovision occurred prior to the 2016 competition, when he was approached by the Flemish Eurovision broadcaster VRT to participate in their national final. However, he declined the offer, citing the difficulty of simultaneously preparing for the competition while on tour with Hercules and Love Affair. Ultimately, Belgium was represented by Laura Tesoro and her song ‘What’s the Pressure’, which achieved an admirable tenth place in the Eurovision Final.
Subsequently, Gustaph participated in Eurovision twice as a backing vocalist, on both occasions supporting Belgian entries organized by VRT. In 2018, he lent his vocal talents to Sennek’s ‘A Matter of Time’, which unfortunately failed to qualify after placing 12th in the first semi-final.
Gustaph made a return to Eurovision in 2021, providing backing vocals for Hooverphonic’s ‘The Wrong Place’, which successfully qualified for the Eurovision Final and ultimately secured 19th place.
These experiences as a backing vocalist inspired him to make it “personal vendetta” to become a main performer on the Eurovision stage. What particularly appealed to him to take part was the fact that everyone in the audience knew all the songs performing and that the atomsphere was very inclusive.
Eurosong 2023
On November 8 last year Gustaph was announced as one of the seven acts chosen by VRT that would vie to represent Belgium at Eurovision 2023. One of the other duos, The Starlings, included Tom Dice who had previously represented Belgium at Eurovision 2010 with ‘Me and My Guitar’ and finished sixth.
The seven acts took part in heats called Songclub from 9 to 13 January, where they each performed two songs and chose which one to perform in the final based off the advice from their fellow contestants. Gustaph performed ‘Because of You’ on January 12 and ‘The Nail’ on January 13, before opting to choose the former.
On the 8th of November 2022, Gustaph was officially announced as one of the seven selected acts by VRT to compete for the opportunity to represent Belgium at the Eurovision 2023.
The seven acts then participated in heats called Songclub, which took place from the 9th to the 13th of January. During this event, each act performed two songs and received advice from their fellow contestants before deciding which one to perform in the final. Gustaph performed “Because of You” on the 12th of January and “The Nail” on the 13th, ultimately deciding to choose the former song for the final performance.
Listen to Gustaph’s Eurovision 2023 song:
More facts about Gustaph
Gustaph is also a music teacher and has been imparting his expertise in various music courses at Hogeschool Gent and Hogeschool PXL. Beyond his teaching role, he is also a voice coach, and not for the least. For example, he accompanied Geike Arnaert from Hooverphonic during the Eurovision Song Contest in Rotterdam, where he also played a crucial role.
His favourite Eurovision act is “Where Are You” by Imaan, who represented United Kingdom in 1998 and finished second.
Gustaph’s Eurovision song was written by himself in collaboration with Jaouad Alloul.
Gustaph “Because of You” Lyrics
And when the world got me going crazy
I’ll carry on
And it’s all because of you
Because of you
Remember when they told us
“You’re not good enough”
Then you came into my life
And you changed my world for good
You told me to love myself a bit harder than yesterday
‘Cause life is too short and we sure got to celebrate
And when the world got me going crazy
I’ll carry on
‘Cause I know I’m strong
And when the world got me going crazy
I’ll carry on
And it’s all because of you
Because of you
Remember when they tried to break us
But look at us now
You told me the right things at the right time
You got me feeling wild
See now I love myself much more than I did yesterday
‘Cause life is too short and we sure got to celebrate
And when the world got me going crazy
I’ll carry on
‘Cause I know I’m strong
When the world got me going crazy
I’ll carry on
And it’s all because of
I’ll carry on despite of the things they’ve said and done
They’ll never kill this fire
Your love will take me higher
It’s all because of you
Because of you
Well, because of you
Because of you I keep on going, baby, baby, for a brighter day
And when the world got me going crazy
I’ll carry on
See, I’ll carry on because of you
When the world got me going crazy
I’ll carry on
Say I’ll carry on
And when the world got me going crazy
See, I will carry on
And it’s all because of you
Because of you
Becаuѕe of you