Claus Terhoeven (aka Nic Chagall) and Stefan Bossems (aka DJ Bossi) met in 1997 and together formed the German trance duo, Cosmic Gate. In the 90’s, hard trance was just starting out in Germany, with artists like Scot Project and Alphazone leading the way. Cosmic Gate followed suit with their first hit, The Drums, and their career took off from there. Now, with 4 studios albums, 20 single EPs, and well over 40+ remixes under their belt, Cosmic Gate stand tall as one of the premier trance producers of all time. Their style has evolved over time, changing from a hard hitting, edgier sound to a more chill, progressive style. Don’t get me wrong, their beats still hit hard, but their sound has definitely matured and you can hear the growth of their production skills. Basslines sound tighter, melodies are more complex, and breakdowns are more charismatic. They aren’t afraid to use vocals, and have worked closely with some of the best in the business, including Tiff Lacey, Aruna, Jan Johnston, Emma Hewitt, and Kirsty Hawkshaw. Their DJ sets are also on par with their productions; I’ve seen them a few times, and every set flows as smoothly as one of their basslines. Since the Cosmic Gate library is so vast, Nic and Bossi mostly spin their own tracks during their sets, but they also throw in a handful of the latest popular songs. My all time favorite Cosmic Gate track is Exploration of Space, but I believe all their work deserves a lot of praise and their contribution to dance music is immeasureable. Check out their full discography here for a complete list of all their productions. They have so many great tracks, but I have just selected a handful of them to share with you.
Cosmic Gate – The Drums
This is the OG Cosmic Gate track, made at the end of 1998. Compare this to their work today and you would never know it’s from the same producers.
Cosmic Gate – Somewhere Over the Rainbow (Midnight Mix)
The sample is taken from the Wizard of Oz, first released at the start of this millenium.
Cosmic Gate – Firewire (Scot Project Remix)
Here is another one of their earlier tracks released in 2001, with fellow German Scot Project on the remix. Imagine what kind of tracks they would be producing if they stuck to this hi-energy style. P.O.W.E.R.F.U.L. synths in this one.
Cosmic Gate – The Truth (Ferry Corsten Remix)
Yet another track from the Cosmic Gate early years. On the flip side, Cosmic Gate did a remix of Ferry’s Punk the same year in 2002.
Cosmic Gate – Exploration of Space (Original Mix)
Instant classic in my opinion… they came out with an updated remix of it a few years ago which completely destroyed everything in its path. The original is still exudes awesomeness though.
4 Strings – Diving (Cosmic Gate Remix)
Here is the CG remix of the vocal hit by 4Strings in 2002. You can still hear their hard-trance influence in this one.
Cosmic Gate – Should’ve Known feat. Tiff Lacey (Wippenberg Remix)
This track was released in 2006, and I think this is when their style really started to change. Here is another German Wippenberg with the remix. I really like this one.
Cosmic Gate – Body of Conflict feat. Denise Rivera (Club Mix)
This is newage Cosmic Gate from 2007 with their more progressive sound.
Vincent de Moor – Fly Away (Cosmic Gate)
There were two great remixes for this track, and this is one of them. This is absolutely one of the greatest songs of 2007.
Tiesto – Everything feat. JES (Cosmic Gate Remix)
Here is the CG remix of a Tiesto track released on the Elements of Life: Remixed album. 2007 was a busy year for Cosmic Gate as they released over 10 new tracks/remixes.
OceanLab – Sirens of the Sea (Cosmic Gate Remix)
Wonderful remix for a great Oceanlab song. This was released on the Sirens of the Sea single. Gotta love the bassline in this one!
Armin van Buuren – Rain feat. Cathy Burton (Cosmic Gate Remix)
Released on Armin’s Imagine: The Remixes album, Cosmic Gate shows once again why they need to be on every single remix possible.
John O’Callaghan – Find Yourself feat. Sarah Howells (Cosmic Gate Remix)
Yet another great CG remix. These guys just don’t stop making songs better.
Cosmic Gate – Not Enough Time feat. Emma Hewitt (Sied van Riel Remix)
This was the first single released from their 4th studio album Sign of the Times. The original is nice, but I like this remix more. Truly filthy beat by Sied van Riel. Riel people know!
Cosmic Gate – F.A.V. (Hard Dub)
As if the original wasn’t hard enough, Cosmic Gate created an even harder dub for this track. The original is another track featured on their 4th album.
Cosmic Gate – Sign of the Times (Markus Schulz Remix)
There’s not much difference between this and the original, but you can hear sound coldharbour in it. This is the title track from their latest album.
Here is a clip from their set at Nocturnal Festival in Los Angeles 2008. In the video are their remixes of Carte Blanche and Exploration of Space.
2009 has also seen some more great remixes by Cosmic Gate, especially on Dakota’s Sin City, Fabio XB’s Inside of You, and Paul van Dyk’s Home. Their career has been a long journey, but Nic and Bossi have definitely picked up some steam in recent years. There is no end in sight for these two talented producers.
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