Safari studios is the creative collective and recording studio of Mickael Karkousse, Bert Libeert, David Martijn & Tom Coghe.
Although their common denominator is the award winning Belgian electro-rock band GOOSE, they all are active in different side projects as a musician, songwriter, producer or creative agency focusing on film, series, fashion, brands, games & design.
Located in an old car repair shop, Safari Studios forms the artistic nerve center where they write, record and produce music. The building offers a multifunctional event space and contains several recording studios with an analogue mixing desk, a collection of vintage gear and synthesizers.
The respected producer & musician Bert Libeert is best known as the drummer of the award winning Belgian electro rock band GOOSE. With his live techno project, - formerly known as B - he brings the raw emotions and spontaneity of live techno music back to clubs, armed with just two synths and two drum machines. His signature sound is to combine organic recordings with the rawness of EBM-influenced techno beats. The meditative vibes and the dark baselines with low pitched drums define what he stands for.
Throughout the years he made tracks as a producer, mixer, songwriter & film score composer. He produced and co-wrote Oscar and the Wolf’s hit song ‘Your Mine’ (ft. Raving George) and Billie’s track Give me The Knife. He also worked on Go Chic’s album together with Peaches and mixed Whispering Sons debut album. In 2018 he composed the soundtrack for the tv series Grenslanders.
Bert loves breaking boundaries in music. His collaborations with CHVE & Syndrome & remixes for Millionaire, Shit Japens, Phrenetic System (Bonzai) & Whispering Sons are proof of his versitality. Alongside, Bert also hosted B-NIGHTS. A series of parties held at unusual spots from fairgrounds to swimming pools and galleries.
Tom started singing in the local church choir as a small kid and was trained in classical guitar. When he discovered the raw energy and emotion of Nirvana’s music a new world opened. By joining a band he almost accidentally fell in love with the bass guitar but he soon discovered how the bass is the glue that holds everything together.
In GOOSE he learned how bass can be played on synthesizers as well. Even though the instrument is different, the role stays the same and performing on big and small stages around the world showed Tom the relentless power of the bass over a crowd.
Becoming intriguingly curious by the magic what defines a truly great song, Safari Studios with a vintage Trident console is the perfect lab for recordings, productions and mixes for other artists (Sherman, LXNGTN, Aping Friends). By combining old and new gear and using the right mics, his goal is to elevate the emotion that the artist puts in the music.
David Martijn spent most of his formative years bent over a pedalboard with a Flying V strapped around his waist before discovering a passion for synthesizers. In 2004 he was recruited by Soulwax for the world tour of their record “Any Minute Now”.
David discovered electronic soundscapes when he acquired his first analogue synth by the end of the millenium. He recorded early experiments on a four track recorder in his bedroom which he today describes as ‘whales playing Pink Floyd covers’. Throughout the years, David has become one of Belgium’s most renowned synth enthusiasts. The Arp 2600 is his weapon of choice.
The visual arts were always an important inspiration for David’s work. From the cinematic energy in his own musical creations, to his love for experimenting with analogue photography.. A shared love for vintage synthesizers & photography resulted in David creating soundscapes for the première of Carl De Keyzer’s exposition ‘Moments before the Flood (Aller Retour)’. These pieces were eventually reworked as the soundtrack for Jimmy Kets’ documentary on Carl’s work ‘OdysSea’.
In 2018 David's careeras a film score composer really took off when he was asked to write the score for the prestigious TV series ‘De Dag’. He composed, recorded, produced and mixed every song for this television drama.
Mickael Karkousse’s career is an ever evolving patchwork of design, art, music, fashion and film.
He spent his adolescence halfway between Paris & Ghent, pursuing a modelling career on runways in the French fashion capital & studying Visual Arts in Ghent. These experiences sparked the inspiration for a multimedia installation in which he combined this love for both art forms. This piece was shown in the gallery of Walter Vanbeirendonck, a member of Belgium’s most influential avant-garde fashion collective 'The Antwerp Six'.
Karkousse doesn’t make art. He tells stories. His music resembles an exploration of the visual archive in his mind. Every single one of his creations is a reference to scenes or events he created in his head as a form of escapism. He loses himself in his imagination & instead of images, he uses language, melodies and sounds to express an emotion.
GOOSE has become the cutting edge electronic act it is today. He carved out his own world into the bands musical endeavours by working on short films with Willy Vanderperre, making a documentary with Wouter Bouvyn, creating installations for the Biennale Interieur (IV & De/Reconstruction) & designing merchandise in collaboration with Fred Perry.
On the ground floor of the building there is an event space that can be rented for commercial & private events. The combination of an event space & the recording studios gives the building a unique, international & creative appearance.