Trance legends Cosmic Gate aka Nic Chagall and Bossi have proved to be a matchless musical union. The last 20 Years set them on the course to becoming Germany’s most enduring successful electronic music duo. Smashing the biggest festivals and road-blocking clubs worldwide, got them highest climber on DJ Mag’s Top 100 chart and racked up plentiful other awards & nominations along the way. Numerous Singles like ‘am2pm’, ‘Fall Into You’ and ‘Falling Back’, countless Remixes and 9 Artist Albums, including scene-defining classics like ‘Be Your Sound’, ‘Fire Wire’ and ‘Exploration of Space’, their star on dance music’s walk of fame has long since been laid.
1. Hello guys, how are you? We are glad to have you here.
We are good, thank you so much for having us for this interview!
2. For starters, can you guys tell us the story behind Cosmic Gate? How and when did you first meet and how did you come up with the idea of forming a duo?
If we might, most importantly what we should mention here at first, in regards to the second part of your question, at the beginning there was never an idea to start a DJ duo, Cosmic Gate was just another project for us, at first, and us DJing together and everything happening after, we actually ended up in the studio happened by total chance.
So how did this all go? To make a long story short, we were both part of the German Techno scene in the area of Duesseldorf/Cologne in the early and midd 90s, both had resident DJ jobs in two big room clubs, and after a while we started to release music on the same label. Thats roughly the story how we met, same scene, same acquaintances…
And then one day, as we said, totally by chance, we somehow landed in a studio together, jammed some music, created a fun track, which we, at first, totally forgot about for quite a while.
This track then still somehow landed in the hands of an A&R with EMI records in Germany. Michael, the A&R wanted to release it, and the two of us of course didn’t mind, great company to be at.
Still back then, we have seen it as yet another project and we needed a name. After some brainstorming we decided on Cosmic Gate, inspired from the series Star Gate, because of these spacey sounding, bleep noises in this demo. This track was „The Drums“, the very first single of Cosmic Gate. Back then we still had no clue it would change our lives, but now, 21 years later, it’s history…
3. You’ve been in the field of music industry for more than two decades now. How did the music trends in the industry change in the past 20 years?
Oh certainly, so many things changed in the industry since we have started. Let us point out maybe two things that made the biggest change. The first one for us, was the production side; when we started everything was analog, studios were filled with synths, mixers and drum computers, while now, most studios are full-on digital. For many years now, a good laptop
can literally do the job you would have needed and eventually would have had to rent out a full size studio for 20 years ago, the technological development has been just crazy.
The other huge difference is the marketing, which totally changed with social media taking over. Artists now have the option to release music on their own, simply as they are closely connected to their armada of fans connected through social media. Literally every release or any important artistic or personal news can be shared instantly with the fans, whilst way back when, artists had to do huge promo tours or book magazines for their advertisement, the difference in the marketing couldn’t be any bigger in this field to be quite honest.
4. For having such a vast experience and doing it for so long, how did the current world situation due to the COVID-19 pandemic affect your professional life?
What can we say! We were literally touring for 20 years non stop in our career, maybe took a few weeks off a year, that was it. Now with Corona, we all know it, there is no shows, no festivals, no travelling. So you guys maybe can imagine what a deep impact the pandemic had and has on our professional lives, on maybe every travelling and performinng artists lives to be precise. Like everyone else thought, we have to adapt and make the best out of the situation, and we think we are doing pretty well, but we miss what we were doing big time, and hope that things go back to normal, the so called „new normal“ is nothing we would want to deal with any longer than anyhow necessary
5. Have you found yourselves locked in your studio producing music during this period? And what is your workflow in the studio?
Covid times or not, creativity only flows at times, so sometimes it means spending 12 hours in the studio non stop, while other times, its not going and working at all, because, well, it won’t feel right at the moment, not every day or week is the right time to be creative, it simply doesn’t feel like studio time at times! Although we have new music in the making, new songs and remixes that will come out in the nearer future!
6. In October, you’re going to host a two-part digital series. Where does it take place and how long have you prepared for it?
Indeed, on October 3rd and 17th, we will broadcast two digital Cosmic Gate in concert shows from The Temple House in Miami. The Temple House is famed for its 360 degree visual projection mapping, it literally surrounds the DJ with visuals, it looks and while doing it feels really spectacular, it was so much fun.
7. Can you tell us the story behind the visuals?
Well, the story actually sounds pretty simple, but it was quite intense and work intensive to prepare for the show. In the end, every song, every track we played, we wanted to be supported by individual custom-made visuals, specially made, designed and programmed for this event. We tried to come up with visuals that support the feel and the meaning of a track, help to underline not only a musical, but also a visual storyline in our sets – and for that idea, we feel the Temple House and its set up was simply the perfect venue for it, it literally made our digital dreams come true. We hope everyone takes the time to tune into the experience, its really different than all the streams we have seen so far, we think we are bringing a real fun experience to your guys living rooms for two evenings, or for when ever you decide to watch the show after release to watch whenever it suits you.
8. As the show will have two parts, what should we expect from you?
Part 1 is called the „For Your Mind“ concert and literally reflects our current sound. Pretty much what we would play on a club show, well, if there were any… expect todays clubs finest,
our latest single releases „Your Mind“ and „Universal Love“ and the brand new single „The Launch“ with Andrew Bayer, plus some of our all time favourites and a world premier of a new remix, all this coming together!
Concert 2 will be a full on nostalgic classic set, taking everyone on a journey through time and trance styles. From our favourite personal classics to our own like „Exploration of Space“ (brace yourself we are going to drop the original mix from1999) or our remix for Tiesto’s „Urban Train“. Its going from progressive and melodic trance to hard trance and back, this will be a must-see for everyone that enjoys trance since the late 90s, or wants to get a hint of it, maybe find some unknown gems for future playlists, we can’t wait to share this experience!
9. How do you see the live music scene evolve in the future after this whole situation with the pandemic ends?
Honestly, if things somehow would go back to how they were, people enjoying clubs, festivals, indoors and outdoors, without restrictions, this is all we hope and wish for! This is because an artist is nothing without the interaction with his audience, there is no energy flow without a crowd,
and DJing alone is cool, but with our fans its just so much better, no comparison.
10. What advice would you give to an upcoming music producer? How should they keep themselves motivated to accomplish their dreams?
When loving what you do, motivation is never an issue, so we guess everyone is into being producers and DJs because they love it, and not for fame or money, this would be the wrong dreams in our eyes. In general, artists need to be unique, try to create something unique, do not copy others, try to be the trend instead of chasing it, this is maybe most important, but eventually hardest to achieve goal when being an artist! Good luck everyone .)
11. How would you describe music in your own words?
Good music sure is partly responsible for some of the best feelings, memories that we all have, living without music would be impossible or definitely way less enjoyable, this is how important we think music is, but most importantly, words can never describe what good heartfelt music means to us, which maybe says it the best…
12. Thanks for your time. It was a pleasure talking with you.
Thank you very much, likewise, till next time!
Fore more info about Cosmic Gate’s two-part digital concert click here.
