When we arrived at X2 on Friday night, it was almost midnight already, Darshan and James Sullivan from Front Media told us to go near the DJ booth, and soon after they came in together with Nic and Bossi. Some people took photos and had their stuff signed by the duo, and 5 minutes later Darshan and James led the way for us to have the interview with Cosmic Gate in the Pier9 Restaurant. The interview last about 15 minutes in German, and here it is for you to read.

Courtesy of Front Media and X2 Club.

Hey Nic, hey Bossi, how are you? Thanks for your time. We're from indonesiaclubbing.com, a clubbing portal and nightlife guide in Indonesia.

Nic and Bossi : Hello!

So, let's just start right away coz you don't have that much time before the set.

Bossi : Ah well we're not in a hurry tho. I'll still have a cold beer first.

Okay, that's cool. Well, first of all about the gig. This is the first time for both of the Cosmic Gate duo to play in Indonesia, but not Nic's. Do you go separate ways more often or do you actually rather stick together everywhere? Do you each have a different style when it comes to DJing or do you share the same goût-de-l'acte all the time? What would make the Cosmic Gate single set (Nic only or Bossi only) different than the combo duo set?

Nic : Yes I was here... let me see... in May 2007. Makes exactly one year now. But that wasn't in X2. And yes this is the first time we both come here.
Bossi : This is my first time in Indonesia.
Nic : And to answer your question about sticking together or going separate ways, well we're a duo, and that's not for nothing.
Bossi : We mostly play together and that's what we prefer, too.
Nic : About the style of playing, the thing is we've never listened us playing solo. I've never been on a gig where Bossi plays alone and neither has he been on a gig where I do the set on my own.
Bossi : But we would say that single set or duo set don't really have any big differences. We're Cosmic Gate, afterall.

Since you are from Krefeld in West Germany, do you consider the "West German Trance" as something different than "East German Trance" as cited by German trance DJs coming from ex-DDR such as Paul van Dyk, or do you consider it, as Germany after Unification, as the exact same thing? How do you see the German trance genre developing? What are your opinions about today’s German trance scene?

Bossi : Well I won't say there's any difference between trance genre from BRD and DDR, but every DJ has a different style. You could have pure trance, hard trance, progressive trance, and so on. It's not about countries, it's about personal style.
Nic : About the German trance scene, a lot of people say that it's over, it's not as good as it used to be, but it's not true. Actually German trance scene still develops, more slowly, perhaps, but more sure. And today there are so many new DJs rising in the business.

You are DJs, producers and remixers. How do you choose songs to remix? Are they chosen based on relations – personal and professional – you have with the artist/fellow DJ or must these songs have some certain criteria, or are they chosen purely on random basis?

Nic : Not really, we just remix what we like. We listen a lot to records people send us, in fact we spend most of our time listening to records when we're home. And then whenever there's something we like a lot, we remix it.
Bossi : If we do remixes, it means we do like the tracks very much. We can remix anything that we like, so it's not based on anything.

You have been in the business for so long, what changes have you seen and felt today? What qualities do you think people should have to be able to survive against time, politics and more and more commercial rivals?

Bossi : About that, I can talk with you for hours. But I'm gonna make it short. Now, there are more and more DJs, but most of them only make, say, one record, one hit song and after that they're gone. To be able to stay longer in the business you have to possess something special, something unique that can't be found in just everyone. Quality of music, your own personal style, your own character, your own image. Build your own DJ personality.
Nic : And don't try to imitate others. Don't try to make something similar just like what everybody else has done. Then if you're you, you're unique, you can survive against natural selection in the tough bizness world.
Bossi : And today popularity of something can be achieved instantly. For example, a couple of weeks ago we put a new song online to be downloaded. And just one week after, we were in Singapore, and the DJ was already playing that new track of ours! It's amazing how people can multiply the fame just by internet. It used to take months, even years before to make your songs go round the world like that.
Nic : And that's not bad! But once again, quality and personality.

Who are your influences? Do you always focus on trance, and trance only, in all its perspectives, or have you ever tried other genres? What made you choose trance?

Bossi : A lot, actually. We have to say in the 1980s there weren't so many DJs playing trance, but we listened a lot to new wave bands. That was the beginning of the electronic era.
Nic : And yes we've always tried trance. If you ask me why did we choose trance, I can't really tell you why. It just comes along with time. You kind of try to find your personality and you end up with trance. Although in our newest album we also play progressive trance now, not only hard trance like we used to.
Bossi : But we always put something that people can dance on. Trance is the genre that makes people dance a lot. For instance you can't make a rave party with house music or other genres, you have to have trance. We like dynamic tracks that can make people move.

Do you do Live Acts?

Bossi : Nah... We only do mix sets.

Do you each have a favorite song from your albums and from old times?

Nic : From the old times, there are too many to mention. And I like all songs from our albums.
Bossi : Yes we can't say which track we prefer from all our albums, because we made them all so we love them all. It's like when you have three kids, you can't say which one you prefer because that would be unfair.

What advice can you give to debutant DJs daydreaming to arrive at the high point where you belong now?

Nic : Be unique, try to be yourself, find your own character.
Bossi : And no matter what genre you choose, make sure you really like it and you're taking it seriously.

Thanks a lot you guys, can't wait for your set!

Nic : My pleasure!
Bossi : You're welcome!