DJ Stefan Egger - Sound Station EP

The Garda Lake in the early 80ies is possibly not be the first place which pops up, when it comes to pivotal moments for European dance & club culture. Whilst most of Europe was dancing to more and more commercialized disco music, a handful of north Italian DJs were trying to find an alternative form of dance music embracing a spiritual and natural sound. Forward thinking club residents like DJ Mozart, DJ Rubens, Daniele Baldelli, Ebreo, Pery and Beppe Loda fused African and Brazilian music, Reggae, Ragga and Bhangra with Kraut-Rock, space disco, US funk or British new wave b-sides with a carefree and partly odd approach into their so-called “Afro/Cosmic Sound”. Records were sped up or slowed down massively to create a slow- paced trancey journey somewhere between 90 and 110 beats per minute.

The first sound we consider as “Cosmic Music” was played at Baia degli Angeli in Gabicce Mare / Rimini by DJ Bob and DJ Tom from Philadelphia, who inspired DJ Morzart and Baldelli amongst others. In the following years clubs like Cosmic, “Typhoon“, “Melody Mecca” or “Chicago” became sacred places for a post-hippie movement, getting lost in the rhythms of western dance music blended with sounds from all around the globe. But the spirit of the “Afro-Wave“ did not only attract a strong and faithful local scene.

After roughly 10 years of djing Stefan Egger founded his own label “Sound Station Records“ and released his first Maxi CD in 1987. Until today the Sound Station catalogue counts more than 200 titles on CD and vinyl, most of them by Stefan Egger or his various projects like “Cosmic Project“, “African Project“ or “Yase“. Also tracks from his favourite Italian producers like Fabrizio Fattori, DJ Ebreo, Meo, Yano or Corrado found their way into the catalogue. Even though Sound Station never really aimed for commercial success, the label had built a solid fan base that remains active until these days. The label itself released music until 2016 and became quite sought-after within a circle of enthusiastic collectors.
With AP 001 we present four fully licensed and re-mastered tracks taken from DJ Stefan Egger’s early output on the Sound Station catalogue. While the A-Side contains two almost unknown mid-tempo bangers, the B-Side pays attention to Stefan’s more spiritual and world-inspired productions.