I enjoy working on my own because I get to indulge my creative vision completely. However, I also enjoy working with other artists. It is a completely different dynamic. The focus is far more on your relationship. I find that he more open and relaxed you are about each other, the better the musical result. Also I get to learn new ideas and techniques. Making music is a never ending journey. One can never know everything about the subject as it so vast.
And yes, Mitch (DJ Kuma, the other half of Mumbo Jumbo) and I do play out as Mumbo Jumbo. Sometimes seperately as because the promoters donīt always have the budget for two airfares.
2. If you can, describe for us your creative approach in the studio. What gets your "creative juices" flowing?
Getting a nice kik, hats and loop grooving so it makes me feel like jumping around, is often a good start.
Also I am usually quite inspired up after playing a party. Often I get back the hotel in the morning and, while I am still in a party frame of mind, I boot up the laptop to get some ideas down before they disappear off into the ether.
And lately I have come up with the overall arrangement and concept before sitting at the sequencer which seems to be a good approach which gives a more integral result.
Other than that, other artistīs music inspires me. Junya from Eskimo is producing some great dance floor tunes lately.
3. Have you gotten any new & exciting studio gear lately? Or do you rely mostly on the PC, like many of today's artists?
Yes, these days I use mainly a PC with a couple of pieces of outboard. It is so much more convenient, and with some good software the possibilities are truly astounding. Unimaginable 5 years ago.
4. Do you play a lot of unreleased material during your live sets, any tracks you are feeling out for possible future release?
For live PAs, I play a mixture of past present and future Cosmosis tracks. Some of which are from the forthcoming Cosmosis album. I tend to play them out to see if they work on the dancefloor, both in terms of the arrangement and the mix. I find that it is sometimes difficult to gauge and feel the correct dancefloor dynamic in the studio when writing a track. Playing it out at a party, it becomes screamingly obvious if, for example, a section is 8 or 16 bars too long or short.
5. Looking back, how have your skills as a producer and performer evolved since you first began years ago?
As a producer, years of experience have honed my skills for sure, the main result being that I can get the sound that I want a lot faster. Having said that, I still consider that I still have an awful lot to learn and much space to evolve into.
6. Do you have any kind of background in anything that seriously influenced your music writing?
Well, I was a professional session guitarist for around 7 years before getting into dance music. I donīt know if that influences how I make trance music. It does pop out occasionally as I suppose that it must, as all music is grist to the mill for a composer.
For example, I always tend to think in a musical way. Light and shade, tension and release, climax and plateau. Althogh Trance music is completely different from more tradional music based around harmony and melody, there are basic musical principals which still definitely apply.
7. Can you name any all-time classics that could define your musical influences?
The first Trance music that I listened to and tried to emulate in my studio was early German trancers Hardfloor. I think. I say I think because I just had a few quite rare 3rd generation cassette tapes of all this new interesting and exciting music. Most of which my brother turned me on to.
Much later, when I got exposed to some of the early Man With No Name tracks like "Teleport" and "Superbooster" (which was the Infinity Project produced by MWNN) which really turned me on to the Goa sound.
My reaction was, "Wow! What is this music? And the tracks that I was making started to incorporate much more of that colourful, trippy and melodic influence, rather than just the 909 drums, 101 bassline and 303 palette which those early Trance records were about.
Also when "LSD" by Hallucinogen came out that also raised the bar in terms of production and composition. Those first Dragonfly Records releases were really the bulk of I was listening to.
8. For several years you have been with Transient records, a label that has opened the door to psytrance for many fans around the world. What can you tell us about the organization and why has this been such a fruitful partnership?
I have always had a great relationship with Transient Records. Russell who used to run it, is a mate of mine. And Cosmosis were the first act signed to his newly formed label Transient, back in those heady early Goa days when we thought Trance music was going to take over the world!
And Transient have always been really good with me, and very importantly, when one is living from producing music, have always paid up. And on time. Which is most definitely not the case for many friends of mine signed to other labels. Some producers I know never got paid for their work.
Though having said that it is high time I started my own label, so the next Cosmosis album will be released on my new label Holophonic Records.
9. Where have you played in the US? What do you think of the feel of trance parties in North America? How are they different/similar to events in other parts of the world?
The parties in NYC are perhaps the closest the parties elsewhere in the world, in terms of the vibe, though I was quite shocked at the attitude of the security. Having to hand in chewing gum, mobile phones with cameras at the door. Quite bizarre. LA has itīs own tinseltown glamour flavour. San Francisco is cool, laid back, looser and little less glam than LA. Overall it seem as though there are lots more rules which must be adhered to in the U.S.
10. Is there life after the "Contact" album? When can we be treated with more Cosmosis releases?
The next Cosmsosis album is due in early summer on Holophonic Records. I still have to finish two tracks and then it is ready to go.