Interview: Cosmic Gate – Wake Your Mind Tour

Journalists NewsFebruary 8, 2013

www.zahira.coz.a

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I got the chance to chat to the guys Nic Chagall and Bossi, from German Trance duo Cosmic Gate, who are touring South Africa this weekend with their “Wake Your Mind” tour.

We chatted about their love for South Africa and where their music will take us in 2013.

Here’s the exclusive interview.

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Why the love for South Africa? [Not that we’re complaining.]

Thank you very much, it feels good to be back! As you said, we have a long history playing in South Africa, we even have a lot of friends in both Joburg and CT, that’s why every time we come back brings a smile to our faces! On top of that every show we play has a great vibe and energy, you guys simply like to party! On free days there is a lot of things to do and explore, so no wonder we even have spent our vacations in your beautiful country, and can’t wait for the 2 shows to start.

Having toured all over the world — do you feel the crowds differ a lot and do you have to change according to the country you are in?

Yes, and no! Sure crowds are not exactly the same, of course they differ from each other, but for our shows most people come because of our productions, and are pretty educated with the sound we play or specially come to hear it, so actually the sets and music we play are not so different worldwide. Sometimes of course a market is more like EDM house style, other markets like more trance or the harder styles, but influenced by our productions that are a majority of what we play, it evens out and two totally different sounds or styles in one of our shows won’t happen, it is always our Cosmic Gate sound, no matter if we’re in Asia, US or South Africa.

With NYE just behind us what was the experience like and which is your favorite venue to play a NYE event at?

We played a big indoor show in Seattle/USA for about 12 000 people on NYE, and had a fantastic time! 2013 was welcoming us with a hands in the air and a hard partying crowd. This is what we like for NYE in general, people have the highest expectations for this special night, and every venue with a crowd that is enjoying themselves in our eyes is a great place to start the new year and in great spirit.

What are the big plans for 2013? Where do you see your musical style moving to?

2013 will see a lot of Cosmic Gate “WakeYourMind” concerts and gigs around the world, new music, new collaborations with singers and djs as well as productions with colleagues we have worked together with already in the past. We are always curious to see where our sound will develop to when hitting the studio, we have no plans, we just go with the flow when writing and producing music. Lets talk in one year again and we’ll see. 🙂

How much time do you get to make music on tour? Is there any time?

It is pretty hard indeed to find a lot of time to write new music, but here and there is always a moment to let creativity flow again, new music from our side will be heard soon again…

Regarding new producers/dj’s on the scene – who are you impressed by?

Fortunately there is a lot of young guys up and coming for some years already, breaking down the boarders of house, trance and electro, not caring for genres and styles, people like Arty, Mat Zo or Porter Robinson for example, to just mention a few. Young guys with a lot of talent that help to bring Music to the next level, for a new generation of clubbers to explore the beauty of electronic music.

With the amount of bootlegs and remixes that come through not always commissioned – what is your stance on this?

There sure is some good bootlegs around, but to be honest in general most of them do not really make sense to us. A lot do not even fit in tone or style, it is not really something we see as a good development, as the attention span of people for music already is very short, and to mash-up two, or even three songs into one is not making things better. We think with mashing up tracks too much, music gets a bit of a commercial top 40 feel, and we actually prefer tracks with a good build, music that develops its beauty a bit more slow, we are no friends of pressing a track into 4 minutes if you know what we mean…

How important is social media to you to keep up with fans etc – is this something you constantly look at in terms of your brand and who you are?

Social media simply is very important these days, as it connects us direct with the fans! Who ever follows us on Twitter or Facebook gets information about our music and tours, where we are, how the gigs go, and on the other side we get input and reactions of what people think, no matter if its good or bad. That’s why it is really amazing and a super important tool for us, like for most other artists as well to promote our brand and keep in touch with our fan base.