GOCOO are seven female and four male drummers who capture their audience with original grooves woven with Japanese drums, Taikos. On stage the 11 musicians from Tokyo create with almost 40 drums a music-spectacle beyond imagination. Music-wise GOCOO are one of the most sophisticated percussion groups of the present. The cosmic beats and uniquely complex poly-rhythms are of such primal nature that they reflect all known music styles and consequently unite people of all ages, ethnic and social origins and of any taste in music. No matter where GOCOO performs, at major World & Roots, Rock & Pop or alternative Music & Culture festivals, in live clubs, classic theatres and concert halls or at techno events, GOCOO takes all audiences on a mesmerizing trip between trance and ecstasy with their goose-bumps music.

GOCOO define themselves as a “Band” and while usual Taiko ensembles stoically pursue a traditional style, and while others seek new interpretations of traditional Japanese music, GOCOO's beat exhibits free-spirited Taiko music, rising freely between the East and the West, tradition and pop, rite and party and hence appealing directly to the heart of a broad range of audiences.

Although GOCOO’s music is often referred to as crossover or world music, or even new terms such as Techno- and Trance-Taiko are created to pay tribute to their unique rhythms, GOCOO successfully overcame any stereotyped concepts not only of Japanese drum music and reached their own, independent cult status. Free of ritual obligations, women, for example, have the majority among GOCOO’s members. Above all the charismatic female lead drummer Kaoly Asano. “The drummers show strengths of young Japanese musicians that are usually indicative of techno pioneers such as Ken Ichi: it’s a mix of Western culture and own cultural customs, moulded into new acoustic forms” says Michael Wenzel of Triggerfish. The sound of GOCOO’s music is so unique that not only the makers of the MATRIX movies discovered GOCOO’s tunes for their soundtracks. The band’s sound can be heard in many computer games and major Japanese companies, such as Hitachi or Nissan, also use GOCOO’s beats for their TV spots.

GOCOO was founded 1997 in Tokyo. They debuted the same year, remarkably unusual for a Taiko group, at the Techno Festival Rainbow 2000. Since then, GOCOO’s frequent live performances at Tokyo’s cult locations, such as Aoyama CAY and Shibuya On Air, are packed with young followers who usually tend to shy away from traditional music. But for them, GOCOO's trance-like, danceable sound is simply excellent rock- or pop music. GOCOO also appear side by side with other bands and DJs at rave parties or open air festivals such as the Fuji Rock Festival, Asagiri Jam, or the Hotaka Mountain Festival.

Yet, GOCOO are highly recognized among the circles of traditional Taiko: for instance GOCOO performed at the 35th Nihon no Taiko: Taiko ha Koeru (Japanese Taiko Drums Transcend) at the Japanese National Theatre in 2001 and they appeared together with the legendary, traditional Taiko ensemble Kodo at Tokyo’s Earthbeat Festival in June 2005. Furthermore, GOCOO took the chance to perform with several highly achieved artists such as Korea’s Kim Duk-soo of SamulNori, West-Africa’s djembe player Mamady Keita, and Seiichi Tanaka of the San Francisco Taiko Ensemble. GOCOO’s music reflects all these different aspects of musical diversity and interaction.

In 2000, GOCOO’s first solo album Healing Asia Vol.2 was released. It was sound engineered by Shinichi Tanaka and recorded with no over-dubbing. The result was an album of intricate rhythm overlays and powerful grooves rivalling GOCOO’s live performances. November of the same year marked another milestone for GOCOO with their first US tour.

At the beginning of 2002, GOCOO joined Juno Reactor (UK) for a recording session which resulted that same fall in the release of the maxi single Hotaka. In June 2002, Universal Music published GOCOO’s first live album Live’01.

In January 2003, GOCOO performed for the first time in Europe: at the opening party The Cutting Edge of Japanese Underground of Graz as the Culture Capital of Europe 2003 they entertained a five-thousand strong audience. They followed-up with a tour throughout Germany. Another highlight during that year marked the joined recordings Tea House and Tetsujin with Juno Reactor as they produced the soundtrack of the Hollywood blockbusters Matrix Reloaded and Matrix Revolutions. Successively, GOCOO released their first DVD Live’02. In December two new CDs with tracks performed by GOCOO were released: Juno Reactor’s Zwara EP and the Best of Healing Asia: Amatsuchi No Aida.

Prior to the summer tour 2004 including appearances in Germany, Austria, Switzerland and the Netherlands, German television 3sat broadcasted a feature on GOCOO produced in Tokyo. Additionally, GOCOO's second live album Lovebeat was released. A particular highlight of the tour was GOCOO's performance at the Swiss Gurtenfestival, broadcasted by Swiss television. While being on tour, GOCOO briefly eloped to a recording studio in Hamburg (Germany) to contribute to the soundtrack of the sequel of one of the most successful role-play computer games that was released in October 2006: Gothic III.

In autumn 2005 GOCOO performed 34 concerts during a two months long tour through Europe and Mexico. And in April 2006 GOCOO conquered for the first time Australia where they performed two memorable concerts at the internationally acclaimed East Coast International Blues & Roots Music Festival before the band returned in June to Europe for the fourth time. They performed in Germany, Czech, Serbia and Greece. The concert in Belgrade was recorded by Serbia’s national TV and later broadcasted.

The latest live album Earthbeat was released in Spring 2007 and the following summer GOCOO came to Europe for their so far most extensive and successful tour through Europe. They performed in 10 countries on the stages of the biggest music festivals like the Sziget or Italia Wave, entertaining audiences of up to 25.000.

2008 marked the next peak in GOCOO’s history. The Band was not only chosen to musically represent the entire Asian continent at the opening event of the UN Conference on Biological Diversity in Bonn (Germany), performing side by side with Bob Geldof and Daniela Mercury. GOCOO also performed in front of the so far largest crowd ever: 30.000 people listened to their beats at the Mawazine Festival Rabat (Maroc). And also for the first time ever, the band performed within one year a world tour including countries of all five continents.

In its edition of July 8, 2009, Newsweek Japan published in a special under the headline "100 Japanese people who overcame cultural barriers and shine in the world" a list pf Japan's top 100 challengers, pioneers, heroes and icons. Besides celebrities like actor, filmmaker and entertainer Takeshi Kitano or historical figures such as Ieyasu Tokugawa, the band GOCOO was also included into the list, as "their borderless sound, a mix of rock and ethnic music from around the world, is cherished by international audiences” Newsweek said.

Lead drummer, Kaoly Asano, attracts much attention as a female Taiko artist. Whenever not performing with GOCOO on stage, she teaches the art of playing the Taiko at her famous Taiko school in Tokyo.

GOCOO INTERVIEW 2011:

How many strength do you need for drumming (mainly for women)? How can you stand this hard work? Do you practise a lot?

Yes, we practice a lot. By playing the taiko-drums together and spending a lot of time
performing together, we are growing into an ensemble that matches perfectly. If we don’t
perform on weekends, we practice 8 hours a day.
However, the unique style of Gocoo means that we use our bodies like in dancing or martial
art. That means, relaxing is important: by letting go our strength, and not only beating the
drums with the strength of our arms, but through a flow of body movements. It is hard work,
but the secret that also women can play the drums in this way is the unique use of our bodies.

Where have you worked together till now? And what artists have you already worked with?

We already performed on all 5 Continents! We mainly performed in Europe, but also in the
USA, Mexico, Australia, Morocco, China and other countries. Altogether we had 155 shows
in 28 countries.
Of course everybody knows that we have worked with JUNO REACTOR. But that’s just one
wrtist we worked with. Other artist collaborations include Korea’s Kim Duk-soo of
SamulNori, West-Africa’s djembe player Mamady Keita or SeiichiTanaka of the San
Francisco Taiko Ensemble.

How did you get to the Matrix? In which memorable scene was your music used?

GOCOO and JUNO REACTOR performed at the same music festival in Japan a some years
ago. When Juno Reactor started to work on the soundtrack of MATRIX RELOADED they
asked Gocoo to contribute some pieces.
One of them is the title TEA HOUSE. The song is used in a scene, in which the main
character Neo fights against Seraph in a tea house before he is allowed to consult the oracle.
But we worked with JUNO REACTOR also on some other pieces.

Which tour places were the most important for you? And why?

There are a lot of shows that had a deep impression on us or were important to us. To choose
one of them is really difficult. But one very important show was held in Tokyo just recently
on EARTH DAY April 22.
In this time a lot of performances and events had been cancelled in Japan. But we decided to
continue to play the taiko to give strength to the Japanese people facing this painful situation,
to let them not forget love, and to keep hope alive. On this day, Gocoo’s prayers and the
prayers of the audience contributed to our performance. In the future, we want to continue to
play the drums all over Japan, also in the quake-hit areas.

How did you feel about Hungary and how did you see Hungary at the previous tour? What are your opinions about Europe, Hungary and the Hungarian audience?

Sziget was a great festival. I think that the Hungarian audience heard Gocoo’s music for the
first time back then, but even before the show started a lot of people awaited us in front of the
stage and we felt very welcome. Since Gocoo is not a band with guitar, base and drum-set, but
only uses the taiko, a traditional Japanese instrument, we are special as a band. However, the
Hungarian audience and the audiences in Europe seem not to be held back by different music
genres or countries, but approach us openly. Good music is good music for them. They like
what they like and accept our music. I also have the feeling that our audience understands that
we create new music while keeping the originality of our home country.

Can you summarize the point/the matter of your art and music?

Gocoo’s music is played by 10 to 12 members using only Japanese drums. It is very important
for us to create and perform tunes with rhythm and melody even though we are only
percussionists. The taiko is not a melodic instrument. However, if we percussionists elicit all
of its potential, it is possible to play melodies.
We want to create music that sends a message, and I think this is possible with the melody of
the taikos, even though we don’t have lyrics to express it.
Furthermore, originally the taiko is an instrument connecting the gods and the people. Even
though Gocoo creates new music with the drums, the taiko is still an instrument that was
made to connect us with the gods. When we play our instruments, we play them with our
whole body and soul. This is very important to GOCOO.