The three label founders came together as friends with a common interest in music. Mark worked as a DJ spinning various genres of music, funk, soul, hip-hop, house and rock. He continues to have an appreciation for DJs who present a multi-genre set. “Music’s become so narrow sighted with DJs spinning only one style of music. It tends to make for a monotonous evening.” he says. This appreciation for variety is evident in the many influences and inspirations that guide Cosmic Sofa. Elements of hip-hop, soul, funk, reggae and electronica all have a solid representation in the label’s repertoire. Inspiration for the music stems from everywhere, from “Quincy to Miles, to prog rock like YES and King Crimson, to punk, glam Bowie, through SalSoul and Blaze”, Quaison remarks. IN addition to diggin’ on a little Barrington Levy and Shuggie Otis, they have also caught the broken beat with a deep appreciation for genre-bending DJing styles of the West London Bugz in the Attic crew, and music from Alex and Stephane Attias, 4 Hero, Somatik, and Jazzanova.
Currently Mark, Quaison and Kyle are the principal artists on the label and they occasionally work with other singers and musicians to complete the creative circle. They work with all facets of music production from songwriting to production and engineering. They have released two full length CDs, “Air” and more recently, “Voyages”. Sound samples and information can be found on the label site, www.cosmicsofa.com.
