Cosmic Boogie from Liverpool is visiting us on Saturday at Nolla. So we decided to have small chat with him to hear his thoughts concerning the Nolla gig, the mersey side club scene and the future.

      

This is your first time in Finland and Helsinki. What is your expectation regarding your weekend here?

Well - firstly I guess I am expecting it to be cold. I mean it is cold here but looking at the weather it looks a bit crazy over there. However, when were in the club i guess I’m hoping for exactly the opposite. For whatever reason I have wanted to visit Helsinki for many years...I am sure a lot of people say things like this but I really mean it. I know the people over there like to party because every DJ i have mentioned it to says nothing other than great things about the city. I don’t know if I have any direct expectations, more the hope that it’s as cool as it sounds and the people are up for it.

You have said that you have considered moving to Finland without ever been here, what do you think makes Finland an attractive country to live in?

All my life I have been fascinated with cold northern countries, Scandinavian areas, etc. I am certain that one day I will visit Svaalbaard in the arctic circle...i’ve been to St Petersburg which I guess is near to Helsinki climate wise, and I love cold dark places, You couple that with the mentality of the people from the north and...I don’t know...something feels right about it. I also thought that I would love Warsaw before I went to play there and I did - every minute of it. So you know, it might not have an attraction for anyone else, but it does for me. Sami Hyppia might also have a lot to answer for.

Here in Finland we know that the football scene in Liverpool is amazing. How is the Disco scene? Is there any other big Liverpool based names except Greg Wilson?

 The scene in Liverpool is of course amazing - but not so much on the disco front. Yes things happen and nights are run in the city but they are never hugely attended. It’s odd because 50 miles away you have Manchester and that seems to adopt a culture linked much more towards disco and house music. Liverpool is very electronic. There are nights in the city like MuMu that I play at that are trying to introduce a disco element and a night called Discoteca Poca, and then other more established nights such as Circus that occasionally have the likes of PBR Streetgang etc. on...but since we stopped doing archive (our monthly night over the last few years) there is nothing really. As for big DJ's in the disco scene - I don’t think there is anyone else but Greg, but if you only going to have one person be from here who is a Disco pioneer, who better than him? 

If the disco scene is small in Liverpool what kind of music are people interested in?

Yeah, like I said, it’s not huge really. Other cities in the UK its much bigger. Im not knocking Liverpool though I love the place...I just find it hard to get anything off the ground here - whereas in other places i play its very often really busy these days. Liverpool has a vast alternative electronic music background, and of course its own brand of dance music in scouse house. Go and search for it on youtube, but make sure to have some dogs by your side so you can feed your ears to them, It’s not pretty.

     

 

 

You stopped DJ’ing for several years, how come?

I have a big problem with people who are dj’ing one kind of music and then one week later another kind completely because they want to just try and stay popular. Some people might suggest that I have done the same and they are of course entitled to that opinion but I know in my head how I did things. For many years I was a drum and bass DJ - I played soulful DNB...intelligent stuff...but I also collected original electro records (breakdance type stuff). At the end of 2002, or around that time... I realized that my love of dnb had faded. Basically there were just so many other forms of music I was buying and listening to. So i decided to stop playing out any more and I stopped DJing for many years why I just discovered music for what it’s really for again - being a listener and appreciating it.

At the same time in these years without playing out I got in touch with Greg Wilson, and a friend of mine Mark Webster gave me a book to read called Love Saves the Day which I am sure some people will heard of. Couple that with the record and CD collection i had been amazing...and i stepped back in and started putting mixes out as Cosmic Boogie. That was around the end of 2007 and now we’re in 2011 and things have moved on a lot as you can see. So yes, I don’t claim to have been a person who was into house and disco for the last 20 years, but I did it my own little way and took my time to learn and build up and understanding about a scene. I hope that gives me my own take on things, but I will let others judge that.

You are playing fairly low BPM, groovy and eclectic sets. From where have you got your inspiration? Any artists or DJ's that you have listened to, to find you inspiration?

I get asked this frequently. There are people who have influenced me for sure...Greg was and is a great help...but if I am really being honest I don’t take inspiration from one source. I listen to everyone and everything, and if I like something I like it. I have a vibe I like in every piece of music I play and that is a groove based- you won’t often hear me playing anything absolutely crazy (although that’s not to say what I do is boring I don’t think) - but I don’t have one source of inspiration. I take what I need from everything. I guess it’s a cliché, but it’s true.

What could we expect from your set at Nolla?

That depends on the crowd. The crowd can expect from my set whatever I can expect from them. I have an idea, but the idea is just an idea until I see people dancing...

 

 Can you name your three favorite tracks at the moment?

Ben Sun -Salty Tears
Age of the Jaguar - Toomy Disco
Hip Joint - Andy Ash

That doesnt mean that you will hear any of these at the weekend...they are just my three biggest tracks of the year.

 

Do you have any upcoming releases?

Yeah loads of stuff...

I have two remixes out at the moment one for Tal M Klein and one for Sleazy McQueen - I also have another remix for Frank Brooker that should be out after Christmas, along with a remix of a track called if you really want it that seems to be really popular and should be the biggest one to date. Next I have a remix of a deep space orchestra track I am working on and something for Solar Disco. In February i have another edit release on the Cosmic Boogie label by Sean P...along with a new label I am launching called boogie originals and that should kick off a very busy year. We also have a third baby coming along, if you can call that an upcoming release. What a year awaits...

 

 

We are really looking forward to see and listen to Stu aka Cosmic Boogie on Saturday