‘Markus Leppelt aka Gobo Dee-Jay’ is one of Germany’s leading ‘Cosmic’ DJ’s and is responsible for the excellent cosmicmusic.com website.
Markus has been creating cosmic music and events since 1991, playing and managing small parties, clubs and discos in and around Munich also making new connections to famous Italian DJ’s, producers, labels and record dealers.
Here’s what he told us about his passion for ‘Cosmic’ music:
‘Cosmic’ music is a little known genre, which, similar to today’s hip-hop and electronic dance music, is focused on the DJ and his manipulation of vinyl. However, the “Cosmic” records played by the DJ’s do not fall into any narrowly defined categories with an essential set of idioms or motifs.
The genius of cosmic is that it can be absolutely any type of music. What defines it as such is the DJ. As long as the record has the right vibe and the proper dancey yet downtempo groove. From New-Wave to Reggae to Disco, each and every genre can be appropriated in order to create an explosively original sound, which characterizes the events we showcase.
The resulting hyper eclecticism demands that the listeners come open-minded and prepared to hear the unexpected. The chaos is heightened with the addition of live musicians who play on top of the DJ pulling the music further away from ordinary clichés. With cosmic music, the usual formulas of the familiar and predictable are replaced by the obscure and unlikely but carefully and strategically situated (And often purposefully played at the incorrect speed; 45′s as 33, and vice versa) in order to create a de-centering experience beyond any notion of rigid genre category. The end result is a powerful and atmospheric, dubbed out, heady mix of breaking and repetitive rhythms, which are at once evocative of Tribal, Ethnic and Folk music as well as a more contemporary, gritty, Urban Funk.
Cosmic music, a great variety of sounds, ranging from world music elements like African traditional, tribal rhythms and Bulgarian choirs to funky music, Samba, Ragga, Reggae, Bhangra, Oriental and electronic music to today’s house and trance beats, may feed your brain with a great experience and make your feet move with some comfortable 100-120 bpm…… if mixed properly.
Gobo was first introduced to his music through the German parties of the renowned Austrian Afro/Cosmic DJ – Stefan Egger. (Now friend and partner on various work) One special thing that is famous on Stefan’s music and collections of tunes is his ability to mix and match apparently seamlessly, a vast range of musical styles, and end up with a collection that after first listen has you scurrying around trying to find out what else this genius has put together on CD.
With the growth of the house music scene in Italy, Gobo was inspired to produce yet another CD mix series called ‘Uno, Due, Tre, Quattro’ and in 2000 Gobo took his sounds from Italy back to Germany.
Below is a couple of exclusive Gobo DeeJay mixes for Cosmic Disco readers. If Markus’s style is something you’d like to find more about then you can hit up his personal webpages – Gobo DeeJay
