1- Are you more likely to get sudden inspiration out of nowhere, or are you the kind of person that sits and says: ok time to produce some music?
I guess it’s a mixture of both… most of the time we – Nic Chagall the second part of Cosmic Gate and I - go to the studio and just start playing with a sound (it can be a bass sound, a melody, sometimes a short sequence…), and when we found something we like, than we start building sounds and grooves around this little piece that fit well in our eyes… While doing this we (hopefully) get kind of a “vision” which way the track will sound like at the end, and from that moment on its getting kind of easy… but sometimes its just the other way round, and than we start with a certain idea what kind of track we want to produce in this case sometimes we end up on something totally different, because we keep on hanging on a sound that we like, which has nothing to do with the first idea that we had, but that doesn´t matter, this only makes working in a studio so interesting…
2- Which DJ do you currently admire? And why?
Actually there is no DJ I really admire, which has a simple reason, I just have no chance to follow many sets of other DJ´s regularly… This doesn´t mean that I don´t have biggest respect for what many DJ´s do, but I feel better in giving respect to producers (also often DJs)…
For example Gabriel and Dresden who did just great tracks and remixes the last years, Sander van Doorn who is a very nice guy and a really big time talented producer. I also love what Erik Prydz is doing on his Pryda label in the last years, its always funky but also has some trancy influences… For me his Switch Remix of “a bit patchy” was one of the biggest tunes in the year 2006…
3- What makes a DJ good or bad?
Good interaction with the crowd… He has to play for the crowds pleasure, not his own… Technical skills … Positive charisma…
4- Do you think that a DJ should stick to one kind of music or on the contrary evolve and experiment new tunes (sounds)?
This always depends on what crowd you have… Some crowds are really “open minded” and open for new things (tracks, or even styles), others are not that “open” or like some DJs call it “well musically educated”, and in this case it might be better to play a set containing more hits and sure shot trax, but in general this is also a fact that makes a good DJ: always surprise the people, but in a positive way!
5- What other type of music do you listen to besides electronic music?
There is not too much music I listen to besides the electronic sector, but if, most of the time its chill out / lounge stuff. I do not like too much of the chart music we have these days, that’s why the normal radio is not too appealing to me…
6- If you weren’t a DJ would you have been working in the: Business sector, the science sector or the art sector? Other?
Before I started to work as professional DJ / producer I studied business economics, and I guess if I would not have made my hobby my profession, I would be sitting in a big company now, wearing suits and ties and think about the next marketing idea for the product that Im responsible for…
7- After your crossover success do you ever feel under pressure to come up with new releases?
Not anymore… We had this pressure back in the old days, while we were still with the german Major Label EMI, and of course they wanted us to produce more tracks that had the chance to go to top 10 sales charts positions. This was also the main reason that we left EMI, cause we had totally different opinions about how a new Cosmic Gate track should sound like. The new album “earth mover” we produced without any thought about charts or something, we just did what we like, and I guess it shows.
8- Favourite place to spin?
As I have not been in the Lebanon yet, I still can say Australia, right…
9- What kind of changes have you seen in the scene throughout the years?
This is a question we could talk about for ages I guess, cause anyone has his own opinion about this. I guess that if I have learned one thing in all these years that I’m in the music business now, it is that anything is running in circles. At the moment everybody is talking about House Music (specially electro and minimal) and Trance isn’t that big refelected by the media at the moment. Believe me, in the near future house will go down again, the records will start getting faster, and also the press and radio will start to follow this more trance orientated stuff again… all goes in circles.
10- How would you describe your sound?
We always prefer other people to do that, music is a feeling and always hard to put into words, specially when its an own production. But if I have to, I would describe it with the words “progressive trance” at the moment. But come and listen, to find out. ;0)
11- Do you plan out your sets or do you play to the crowd’s reaction? Or a bit of both?
Again it’s a mix of both, cause sometimes a set turns out to be different than you expected… of course you have kind of a plan b4 you start your set, (hows the vibe, what did the dj play b4, how long is your set etc.) but sometimes it does not work out like you expect, and this moment shows if you are a good dj, cause a good dj can react on nearly anything happening during a set…
12- What was your first big breakthrough as a DJ or a producer?
For sure the big breakthrough was the first Cosmic Gate release “the drums”. Before that, I also had several success with my Bossi solo singles or other projects that ended up on high Dance Chart and even lower Sales Charts positions, but this track was the first one to get really high interest form nearly everywhere around the world…
13- How do you feel about coming to spinning in Lebanon?
I have to say that Im looking forward to the gig, as I only heard very positive things about parties in the Lebanon… see you all on the 29 th, we will have a good party Im sure!!!
