About Us

Kosmic Sound - 40 Iconic Years

Kosmic Sound is a multi-award winning progressive musical instrument store based in Perth, Western Australia. Founded by the legendary John Goldsmith in 1969, with humble beginnings in a Hamilton Hill shed. Never one to sit still for very long, JG (as he is fondly called by people in the biz) did not take long to outgrow the shed, and before long moved from repairing bands broken down gear to replacing it with new stuff.

JG was always one to spot an opportunity, and early on began looking into importing brand gear from the USA. He was first to import Peavey and the fabled Acoustic amp range, which was the hip amp to own in the 70's! The 'unpack' the truck ceremony when the Acoustics arrived being still talked about today! Also imported were SWR amps, Ken Smith basses, Schecter guitars, and quite a few others.

Alongside all this, Kosmic was also making a name for itself as a concert production company, particularly during the 70's, which ventured also into PA manufacture, with just about every band that had a pulse using Kosmic's 4560 enclosures, Jands J600 power amps and all the other huge boxes many a roadie had to endure. At this time, the store was based in Bentley, with the factory and service dept out back.

As the 80's rolled on, the retail side began to grow quickly, with dealerships in Fender, Marshall, Yamaha, Ibanez and heaps more adding to the product mix. At this point the focus started also leading away from concert production and more towards retail. In the late 80's the new Osborne Park store was opened, soon becoming the primary retail store, and sadly Bentley was closed in 1990. (Later we return to Cannington!)

At this point, Kosmic was a hotbed of creativity, with many staff later moving on to achieve great things, in many respects thanks to John's mentoring. (For a list of great staff and where they are now see below...)

• Gary Dunn - Now state manager for CMI, distributors of ESP, Digitech, Washburn and more
• Sam Bertolini - State manager for Rolandcorp Australia and Jands Australia
• Paul Pisani - State manager for Pro Music Australia and multi winner of Rep Of The Year at AMAC!
• John Zaccariah - Legendary Music Link rep and now moving on to great, great things with the Strike A Chord For Cancer foundation
• Roy Adams - International jet setter also with Strike A Chord, and his own business working with manufactures like Native Instruments and many more, also famous for his work with Rolandcorp and Music Link Australia
  

Apologies to any we have missed but the lads listed above are particularly close to our hearts!

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ABOUT STRIKE A CHORD Strike a Chord for Cancer is a foundation that supports children who need inspiration and a distraction from their fight against cancer. Strike A Chord for Cancer offers the gift of music through donating instruments, professional tutoring, opportunities to perform in bands, record CD's and meet some of the worlds greatest rock stars. For the families, the foundation provides financial support whilst their children are undergoing treatment. Find out more at www.strikeachord.org.au.

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Events & Workshops

Through this period the business grew, later to lead the way in promotions and forward thinking ideas. Events like the Marshall Guitar Solo Championship set the scene for current events like Weekend Warriors, Miy Big Gig, Boardroom Blitz and a host of other initiatives we have either organized or partnered with.

Kosmic has also had many famous artists appear in store for meet and greets, like Steve Vai, Zakk Wylde, Peter Frampton, Mike Portnoy (Dream Theater), Will Adler (Lamb Of God), Yngwie Malmsteen, and clinics by Paul Gilbert, Billy Sheehan, John Petrucci, Stu Hamm, Steve Morse (Deep Purple) and a host of other great musicians. We hope to bring many more artists in store, and also clinics when they become available. We take our commitment to your musical development seriously!

That Was Then, This Is Now

In recent times, Kosmic has been nominated for Best Presented Store at the Australian Music Association awards four times, winning three times to enter the Hall Of Fame, and also Best Retailer Website 2008.

In 2007 our Cannington store was opened by legendary guitar hero Yngwie Malmsteen, marking a return to our roots, which was a popular move with many older Bentley customers, as well as a new wave of customers based in the southern Perth suburbs.

Future Moves

Kosmic Sound will soon be embarking on a new importing venture, bring in some exclusive products from overseas, largely in the Hitech arena, with great products like Charter Oaks and Equator monitors at the forefront, as well as our popular Seer PA speakers.






To Be Continued...