The Gotan Project was formed in 1999 by a group of Swedish musicians, including Jean-Louis Schütz, Erik-Jan de Boer, and Gustaf Lindqvist, among others. The band's name, "Gotan," is a reference to the Swedish city of Gothenburg, where the project was born. Initially, the group focused on creating music for film and theater productions, but soon they began to develop their own distinctive sound, which blended traditional tango music with modern electronic and world music elements.