For The Record: Cosmic Gate, "Acperience 1 is the best acid tune of all time"

German trance heroes Cosmic Gate (aka Claus Terhoeven and Stefan Bossems) have, over the course of two decades, become one of the most highly-regarded and hardest working electronic music duos in the world.

The Grammy-nominated (for their remix of Gabriel & Dresden’s ‘Only Road’) pair both grew up in Krefeld, close to Düsseldorf. But it was a chance meeting at a studio in Cologne in 1999 where the duo - also known as Nic Chagall and Bossi - first came together to work on a group project, eventually breaking away to work on their first single, 'The Drums'.

It was following their 2001 track 'Fire Wire' - which broke into the UK Top 10 - that Cosmic Gate really began carving out a name on the scene. They've since released ten albums, played at some of the world's biggest clubs and festivals, remixed for the likes of Armin van Buuren and Tiësto, and broken into the top twenty of DJ Mag's Top 100 DJ Chart.

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They say: “We started DJing over 20 years ago and celebrated this anniversary with our 2019 album Forwards Ever, Backwards Never. We’ve also just released our next Wake Your Mind 004 compilation with original tracks from ourselves, Tinlicker, Dosem and more for 2020. 

“Right now we’re staying in touch with our fans through the power of music, by bringing them live streams from the skylines of New York and Miami, and we hope that these picks might help you guys too. Stay safe!”

Is there a record you can't stop playing right now? 


“We’re really liking the new Camelphat and Artbat tune, ‘For a Feeling’, after hearing it for the first time in Ibiza last summer. Super nice tune that works both on the dance floor and at home.”

How many records do you personally own?


“Our vinyl collection must have been somewhere near 15 to 20 thousand, but when moving to the US about 10 years ago we had to give some up and it still hurts!”


What’s the weirdest record you own?

“Just by looks, has to be a vinyl we had in the late-90s in the shape of a sawtooth - no kidding! It wasn’t even about the music, just the look was so crazy and worth adding to the collection.”

If you could only play one record for the rest of your life, what would it be? 


“This might be impossible to answer. As we have to, let’s go for Hardfloor with ‘Acperience 1’ - one of the best acid tunes of all time which has given me some memorable dance floor moments.”

Give us your top 3 recent releases

“Camelphat & Artbat, ‘For a Feeling’; Stephan Bodzin, ‘Diamant’; Tale of Us, ‘Alone’.

Which new artist/band/DJ should we be listening to right now? 


“Check out German electronic band Gheist - very cool stuff from this Berlin-based band.
”

Do you have a musical guilty pleasure? 


“Just realised I know most Abba tunes and tend to sing along to them - guilty enough?”


If you could collaborate with any artist who would it be? 

“Definitely Depeche Mode! To have Dave Gahan sing on one of our tunes and Martin Gore involved in production would be awesome!”

Find upcoming Cosmic Gate events and tickets here.