The driving force behind the founding of Gotan Project was a French DJ by the name of Philippe Cohen-Solal. Born in 1962, Cohen-Solal began his career in the film world in the 90s, working as a music consultant for a number of leading film directors including Tavernier, Mikhalkov and Lars Von Trier. He also made something of a name for himself as a composer. In 1991 Cohen-Solal featured on one of the very first 'French Touch' compilations, "P.U.R". A few years later, in 1999, he went on to work with legendary French electro pioneer Pierre Henry, releasing a remix of Henry's classic "Psyché Rock" under the pseudonym Ken Abyss.

Meanwhile, Cohen-Solal's future associate, Christoph H. Müller, was busy forging his own reputation on the electro scene in Switzerland. Müller, who was born in Switzerland in 1968, was a veritable tech whizzkid, tinkering around on machines from his early teens. He went on to perform with a number of leading Swiss electro outfits such as Ten Mother Tongues.

1995: Ya Basta!

Müller eventually relocated to Paris and it was here that he met Cohen-Solal in 1995. The two musicians hit it off immediately, discovering they shared a mutual passion for electronica and Latin American music. Fusing the two together, they went on to set up the Ya Basta! label (named after a book by the Mexican revolutionary sub-commandant Marcos). Between 1996 and 2000, Ya Basta! produced a host of creative projects including Boys from Brazil, PCS Mind Food, Fruit of the Loop and Stereo Action Unlimited. These outfits' innovative mix of electro beats and Brazilian rhythms would prefigure Gotan Project's own electro-tango fusion.

The foundations for Gotan Project were laid in 1999 when Müller and Cohen-Solal met the Argentinean signer and guitarist Eduardo Makaroff. Born in 1955, Makaroff had relocated to Paris in 1990. Like Cohen-Solal, he had come from a cinematic background, composing music for films and television movies in Argentina. After moving to France, Makaroff made a name for himself as conductor of the "Club Tango" orchestra at fashionable Parisian brasserie La Coupole.

1999: Gotan Project

Müller, Cohen-Solal and Makaroff officially joined forces in 1999 to form Gotan Project, taking their name from the backwards slang word for 'tango'. The trio delved into the traditional music of Argentina, discovering in tango and other traditional genres such as milonga and chacarera, the same ingredients as electro. The percussive base of all these musical styles, they claim, can be traced back to the same African roots. Gotan Project's distinctive musical approach has also revolved around putting emotion back at the heart of electro, a music they deemed sounded too machine-like. Critics quickly dubbed the group's more human sound "electrauthentica."

The core trio at the heart of Gotan Project soon decided to enrich their sound and enlisted the services of a number of top-class international musicians to add a new dimension to the group. Argentinean musicians Gustavo Beytelmann, Nini Flores and Edi Tomassi were recruited on piano, bandoneon and percussion. Gotan Project also opened its arms to the Danish violinist Line Kruse and Catalan vocalist Cristina Vilallonga.

The group went on to release their début maxi single ("El capitalismo Foraneo/Vuelvo al sur") on Ya Basta! in January 2000. Things began on a small scale with only 1,000 copies of the maxi pressed. International distribution was handled by the French record company Discograph. Gotan Project followed this with a second maxi, "Triptico/Last Tango in Paris," released in June 2000. The maxis caused a veritable buzz on the club scene. And before long cult DJs such as Anglo-Swiss star Gilles Peterson and the specialist music press were raving about the group's work.

2001: The Gotan buzz goes on

Cresting a rising wave of success, Gotan Project went on to release a third maxi single, "Santa Maria (del Buen Ayre)/Chunga’s revenge," in April 2001. But what fans and critics were eagerly waiting for was a début album from the group. "La Revancha del Tango" was finally released in October of that year and distributed in France on the major Barclay/Universal. The album was an instant and unmitigated hit. Critics in the European press showered "La Revancha del Tango" with rave reviews, praising its creators' musical elegance and erudition.

With two of the core trio in Gotan Project having come from a cinema background, it is hardly surprising that the group have sought to make a visual impact. Right from the beginning of their career, the threesome tailored their image, appearing on stage dressed Argentinean-style in dark suits and dapper hats. They frequently began their concerts as shadows behind a curtain, only revealing themselves to the audience bit by bit. Meanwhile, videos were projected behind the group throughout their set, vintage black-and-white images from Argentinean films and extracts of political speeches complementing their electro-tango fusion. As in the world of cinema, sound and vision went hand in hand.

2003: Crossing continents

Following their album success, Gotan Project found themselves in great demand on the European club scene and the festival circuit and they spent much of the ensuing years on the road. The group's popularity soon spread beyond the closed circle of electro aficionados and filtered over onto the mainstream, too. Music fans went particularly wild for Gotan's fusion in Italy and Portugal and the group went on to earn their first gold disc in Portugal where sales of the "La Revancha del Tango" went through the roof. The group embarked upon an intensive tour of Europe in the winter of 2001/2002, causing a sensation when they appeared at the Transmusicales festival in Rennes in December. Gotan Project also brought the house down when they performed at Le Bataclan, in Paris, on 8 February 2002.

In 2003, Gotan Project set off on an extensive international tour, performing dates across Canada, the U.S., Japan, Australia and Brazil. The only minor drawback to the tour was that the group did not manage to fulfil their dream of playing to fans back home in Argentina. Meanwhile, Gotan Project won critical recognition in the most prestigious quarters. In February 2003, the group triumphed at the BBC World Music Awards where they were hailed as "Best Newcomers." Even back in 2002, the British press had voted "La Revancha del tango" one of the best albums of the year. Hardly surprising then, that the UK label XL (home to international stars such as The White Stripes and The Prodigy) snapped the trio up to sign a deal.

In September 2004, as sales of "La Revancha del Tango" topped the 850,000 mark, Philippe Cohen-Solal released a compilation/DJ set in Europe. The album "Inspiracion-Espiracion", designed to help listeners gain a deeper understanding of the Gotan universe, featured an eclectic mix of tango, hip hop and techno and featured previously unreleased material by the group as well as some unexpected guest contributions including Calexico's 'alternative country sound.' Cohen-Solal also gave his own remix skills a whirl on the Chet Baker classic "Round around Midnight." In October 2004, Cohen-Solal headed out to Germany to play three solo sets.

Given the phenomenal success of their debut album (whose sales had almost topped the 1 million mark), Gotan Project were faced with follow-up album syndrome – with all its accompanying dangers of repetition. The group decided not to radically their sound on their second album, but delve even deeper into tango’s roots. They had intended to invite one of their long-time music idols, the legendary Argentinian percussionist Domingo Cura, to guest on their follow-up album, but unfortunately the latter died unexpectedly in December 2004.

2006: "Lunático"

Ironically, after having launched a vogue for electro-tango all the way to Buenos Aires and back, Gotan Project ventured beyond what could strictly be termed the electro sphere on their second album. But they remained true to the principles of this art in the way they deconstructed their sound and then built it up again using sampling and musical collage techniques. The end result was an album that Philippe Cohen-Solal summed up as “the same but different!” "Lunático", released in April 2006, was named after a racehorse owned by Carlos Gardel and paid tribute to the Argentinian tango legend, even including a sample of the late great singer's voice on the title track.

Gotan Project ended up working with a number of guest stars whose strong personalities marked the album, adding an ultra-contemporary edge to tango. The group Calexico guested on "Amor porteño", Juan Carlos Caceres (a personal hero of Eduardo's) paid homage to tango's African heritage on "Notas" and Buenos Aires rappers Koxmoz hip-hopped on "Mi confesion." The black Argentinian star Jimi Santos paid tribute to Domingo Cura on "Domingo" and Cristina Villalonga (who sang on the group's debut album) also appeared. "Lunático" also included a superb cover of the theme tune to the Wim Wenders film "Paris Texas." The first single release from the album, "Diferente", marked the group's desire to stamp their second album as different.

April 2006