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What do a DJ schooled in the NewYork disco and house uF'08'ur0:lrd and a virtuoso
experimentalguitaristwho pLayed with Captain Beeftreai: anl tru],re Sound 0f London have
in common? tn the case of WiLd Rumpus - DJ Cosmo anr,3 Gai L!,Eas - itt a love of dance
music and gtobal grooves, as their epic debut ahum attests-*"
Words: BEN MURPHY
084 dimag,com
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DJ Cosmo subseguently became known mostas a
dance DJ. and around this time she began to work with
Gary. Their paths had atready crossed when Gary had
been a guestseveraltimes on one ofCotleen's WNYU
shows, playing [ive, buttheir nextcoUaboration was topresage their future work together."I played on her programme a couple oftimes and
we stayed in touch," Gary reminisces. "Round about
the mid'90s, she contacted me and said,'Listen I've
become a fu[-btown dance DJ', When I was doing her
programme she wasn't playing much dance music,
it's something she became obsessed with, a tittLe bitlater on, and then threw hersetf fu [throttle into thescene. She reached outto me and said,'I'm doing
these midnight events atthis tittte space on the 14th
Street meat market, in Manhattan. In those days.
she commandeered a sma[[spacein the ctub, kind ofa chill-out room. She had turntables hooked up to a
PA, and itwas Colleen and a coup[e ofguys who called
themsetves the Departure Lounge group, one ofthemwas [sad[y departed infLuentiat D/producer] Adam
Goldstone. and his partnerwas a guy named Perry
Brandston. Theywere doing these nights with Coteen
and theyinvited me to come overwith a[L ofmy effects,
andjust plug into their board, I didn't even have an
amp. I was more or less improvising atong with therecords. it was very magical.."
Those sessions were to set the tone for Wi[d Rumpus,
when in 2001 they had a serendipitous meeting at
London's Royal FestivaI HaLt, where Gary was playing a
gig, and decided to gettogetherto make some music.
The project was born. Named after a phrase in suneaL
ptayfi.rt classic chi[dren's book Where The WiLd Things
Are, wherethe monsters and Max have a rave-up cated
a "witd rumpus", it's a fitting name to describe theirpassionate, teftfiel.d, party mentatity."Ifs about having fun, a rumpus to me sounds [ike not
tahng yourseLftoo seriously and being a bit crary on
that side ofthings, it's not pompous that's for sure,"
Co[[een smi[es.
For her, Wi[d Rumpus represented a chancetoreconcite her musicaI past and present - her tastes
in country, funk, dub, Americana, and everything
etse, with her career as a dance DJ, arguably what
she's best known fortoday, as wett as CtassicAhum
Sundays, her ahum listening events that have become
a wortdwide sensation - check here for more info:
classicahumsu ndays. com
"I remember doing some radio mixes, mixing otd rock
stuff. and this was in 2004, and then I started doingthe Wi Ld Rumpus project. That time in my life I went
backto my roots so to speak. I started putting these
things together. The thing with Witd Rumpus is when
I Listen to it I can hear aL[ these differentinfluences,
Santana. Harry Thumann, ManueL Gottsching, Giorgio
Moroder. then 'Lee Scratch' Perry. attthese types orartists and producers thatl [ove, butl do hope ifs not
too di$ointed."It does encapsulate a[tthese craly sounds that I Iketo puttogether. Wth me musicatly, peopte have a hard
time pinpointing me whether as a DJ or an artisf theremixes I do, it's not tike they'rejust one sound thatbrand gets put on. Ijust [isten to the song first and
then reflect on what I think should be done with itinmy crary head. with aLlthis different myriad ofmusicalinftuences. I hope there's a flow there's a musjcal
narrative."
There's certainty a cohesjon to the duo's work. which
they created over severa I studio sessions'in London,
Gary working on melodies and improvising over
gr0oves.
"0n a coupte ofthese trips I wentinto a studio with
Co[[een and her engineer partner," Garysays. "They
said, 'Youjust play us some ofyour meLodic ideas, riffideas'. We'd throw down some beats. and improvise.
0ften I had song ideas thatwere pretty much finished,
sometimes theyjust took fragments and looped them
086 djmag.com
to make something new. I did what I did. I woutd layer
a few guitars, some more rhythmic riffideas, then
I woutd do some wi[d improvisational. playing on a
second track orthird track. She woutd take it away and
do her magic."
WORI.D OT MUSIC'Musicat Blaze Up' is a nomadic odyssey across atl
musicaI reatms, Cotteen pachng the dancefloor nous
acquired atThe Loft and her own Lucky Ctoud parties,
Gary's guitar ptaying encapsulating his widescreen
approach and love ofsounds from aI corners oftheplanet. There's'Cloudhopping'. a sliver of psychotropic
techno reminiscent ofThe 0rb attheir heighf Lucas'
six-string forming a texturatsquat[thafs transportive
to saythe least;'Kazan'is Santana in disco mode. a
new !ingo'forThe Loft crew. 0rthere's'E[ Duende', a
Mexican Hacienda showdown. that begins menacing
and atmospheric, and etevates to a funlE, jaz4r lato
Schifrin/Ennio Morricone stand-off.'Tikkety-Boo'features KurtWagnerfrom a[t. country cats lambchop,
a spoken word stice of haunting weird Americana. the
meltow guitartinged with otherworldliness: David
Lynch wou[d be proud.
"I ptaythe basstine and the keys on'Kazan', itwas kind
oftike myversion ofCartos Santana going to Studio
54 on acidl" laughs Coteen. "Mixing itwith Harry
Thumann.'Underwater' is one of my favourite disco
tunes to play, it's atso a tittl.e bit like'Jingo',I puta[those things together and totd Gary whatl wanted
to do. With other ones like'E[ Duende'. itwasjust tikejamming, it was probab[y an idea he'd thought ofthathe hadn't used. and hp was tike, 'How'boutthis?'AndI kept tistening to itaird I was getting this spaghetti
western fee[. Quentin Tarantino. and Iwas playing
these hand percussion instruments, I think I had
sheUs. An Ennio Moriccone vibe. But Gary can ro[[ with
aL[ ofit, I guess I can too on the producer sjde."
The titte track, which features reggae toaster Brother
Cutture, reveals another side oftheteam's musicaI
taste. Both Gary and Colleen love reggae, so itwas a perfect opportunityto make something thatcetebrates the dubwisetradition. 0fcourse, this being
Witd Rumpus. there's something unexpected in tieretoo, thatofb[uegrass country guitar. But as Colleen
points out, the two genres aren'tquite as separate as
you mightthink.
"Ithoughtthat bluegrass would sound really good
with dub. itwas something I had to do, I don'tthinkI'm the first " Colleen says.'You [ookjnto a lot ofreggae artists, a lot ofthem cover country songs. [inthe '50s/'60s in Jamaical they were hearing the radio
stations from the Southern states, so you'd have theR&B, butyou'd also have the country stuff. beautiful
tyrics, it's homegrown music which is what reggae is,
it's folk music.""Whetherit's my own compositions orin tandem with
collaborators, I'm always trying to hit people overthe
head, tike'boing'l Did you everimagine hearing this,
castin this way? When I arrange something I always
tryto bring something fresh to it," enthuses Gary on
the exotic mixtures ofsounds on the record. "There's
not realty any genre ofmusic I [ike betterthan another.
I tike them al"l.. Even the stuffthat people might poke
fun at tike potka. I knowthatl do unite a lot ofthismusicin my playing, butit's never been a de[berate .
decision thatl catculated in advance. Itsortofcomesout of me. I feel ljke a vessel for a lot of differentvoices
in my head, thatarejustin the etherftoating around.
IfCot[een would put up a beat that suggested a Latin
groove, I'[[accept'it, man. It's allafterthefact, itjustcame out ofme, itfitted the mood thatwas setatthemoment of recording."
Beyond the Witd Rumpus project, Cotleen's other big
preoccupation is with her at[-encompassing Classic
Ahum Sundays brand and her continuing gigs forThe Loft, which she hetped bring to the UK but now
mostty ptays in NY- read more aboutthis on ourwebsite djmag.com. She also has her Lucky CLoud
parties a[ongside Tim Lawrence and Jeremy Gihert,11 years young whjch remajn an ongoing word-of-mouth sensation forreatdance music lovers, and her
production cottabos as Darkstarr and Cosmodetica with
Yam Who and Ashtey Beedle. Gary Lucas meanwhile
has tons ofahums on the go, with an ahum with
traditionaI Hungarian singer Eniko Szabo, and a
record reinterpreting thejazz musicfrom '30s cartoon
Betty Boop,justthe tip ofthe iceberg. There's talk ofpossibte live shows, but uttimatetyifs a constant quest
ofdiscovery, and the acquiring of knowledgethatmotivates both ofthem."It's a never-endingjourney,just tike musjc," Cotteen
signs off.