Beppe Loda

"I'M NOT A “COSMIC DJ“ Cosmic Music doesn't actually exist! Personally, I think that this terminology is reductive and I don't like it because the movement which also included Cosmic was much wider and articulated and was more commonly known as 'Afro'."

When Beppe Loda started his career as a DJ in 1973 he was just sixteen years old. Gaining fame as "the DJ who plays strange music" a friend offered him to become resident of a new club. He would be involved in the planning, especially soundsystem and technics, the base of every succesful set. Loda acceded and from now on played in "Typhoon Club" every week. That was in 1980.

Seven years and a lot of unforgetable nights later the club was forced to close; not for drug related problems as it was kind of usual at that time, but for safety aspects. It was overcrowded: "The club was in the centre of Gambara, bordering private houses, there was no parking and could only facilitate some like 450-500 people. You just can imagine how it was when there were 3,000-4,000 people standing outside waiting to enter… and it was one in, one out."



However, seven years were enough to establish Beppe Loda as one (or even the one) pioneer of "Afro-Disco" (with Daniele Baldelli, Mozart and Cosmic Club other names are to be dropped). Due to Loda "Afro" means a "mix of different types of music coming mainly from Africa and which contain a high percentage of percussion music". It includes African Fusion, Jazz, Brazilian, Funk, Blaxploitation, Percussion etc.

The term "Cosmic" was related to Beppe Loda due to his early sets in Typhoon Club: a cross breeding of Electronic, Pop, Progressive and New-Wave. As it's becoming obvious from the quote above, "Cosmic" is only a little part of the movement "Afro" and wrongly applied to Loda.

Nowadays Loda is still travelling around the world, always in search of new music while he is pursuiting his maxim of being always alternative and off mainstream.

We, personally, have to to thank him for his set at Salon Des Amateurs and a holy night that probably noone will forget that easily.

Ballare, Beppe!


Beppe Loda Set at Typhoon Club 1982 part 1

Beppe Loda Set at Typhoon Club 1982 part 2