Guestlist

March / April 2012

Monthly newspaper and online publication targeting 18 to 35 year olds. The ultimate guide to the hottest parties, going out and having fun. Music, fashion, film, travel, festivals, technology, comedy, and parties! London, Barcelona, Miami and Ibiza.

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14 THE GUESTLIST NETWORK www.guestlist.net Issue 37 / MAR-APR 2012 CARL COX We sat down with the legendary Carl Cox to talk about his achievements, ten hour sets and breaking down racial barriers. Oshi Oshi@guestlist.net Hi there, it's Oshi from The Guestlist Network. How are you doing? I'm doing good. How you doing? Good. Not too bad. Honoured to be speaking to the legend himself this morning. (Laughs) I remember going out when Carl Cox was on a flyer with Fabio, Grooverider and Slipmat. What about Carl Cox is he still the same? Ah man, I'm always smiling, I'm always jumping, I'm always moving and I'm always shaking. Nothing's changed. It's all about longevity with you. What 3 personality traits do you think give you, Carl Cox, the edge? I think a lot of it really is when the next generation of punters really want to know what Carl Cox is about, or who Carl Cox is. That's what pushes me and vibes me to play the way that I do, to push the envelope of what a party should be about. When I started to DJ, now going back 20 years, nobody knew who Carl Cox was. I had to prove myself on every single party that I ever did, above and beyond any party that I was ever booked to play. And that vibe and that energy and that burning desire for people to know who Carl Cox is is still there. And I think one of the reasons why I'm still here over so many is because of that burning desire, you know. I've never really been complacent about anything, I've never really felt that anything should be given to me, or handed to me on a plate. I think you have to work really hard for people to understand the reason why you do what you do. I mean I have a passion for what I do. I love the music and I love being in a position where I'm able to control the night to give you the very best party that I can possibly give you. Are you still proving yourself when you go out? Do you feel you have anything to prove? Yeah, for sure. I mean I'm nearly 50 years old now, you know. I've been doing this for nearly 25 years nonstop. Every weekend I've been out, making sure that what I do is representing me, myself, my family name and the reasons why I still do what I do. I just can't stop it. It's a burning desire for me to play well and to give people the passion and the energy of what I have to give. Nice. Do you ever get a chance to play to smaller crowds, to say 200-300 people? Yeah, I still do that. I still get right back to basics, man. I get it in a dirty, sweaty, small club, no air conditioning. You know what I mean (laughs)? I bring it right back to the beginning so people can see exactly what I'm doing and how I'm do- ing it, and I just love that. I enjoy doing a small club as much as I enjoy doing a bigger one. Nice. Now I heard you played '89 style vibes at Global Gathering a few years ago, some very, very hard music in Space in 2010, and then you were closing Space last year with all kinds of things, from Omni Trio to Julio Bash- more. How does anyone know what to expect what you're going to play? (Laughs) I think for many years I've always been a bit of a moving target, you know. Even some of the parties I've played this year, I went right back to playing some drum & bass, play- ing some new dubstep tracks that I'm always playing as well. I love being a moving target. I love the idea that I'm still there for the music and I've always been open-minded when it comes to music. I've never really just been on one element of sound and I'm moving with the times and I'm pushing the elements as well. It'd be nice for me to be able to say, "Right, '88-89 was my era and that's all I'm playing." But things do move on and things do change. Music gets harder and music gets softer. Music becomes more 2-step; music becomes jungle; mu- sic becomes more raga; music becomes more drum & bass. I mean the thing is, I love the sound of music anyway, but I've always been able to put it into some point of understanding of where I'm coming from at the time and at the mo- ment, and basically push that element that I'm playing at any one point. So you're still playing all different kinds of things, no one knows what to expect when you play. It's a good time for British music right now, people can mix it up a lot more in one set, don't you think? Yeah, the thing is, when I was playing house music before, I was playing more funk; I was playing disco; I was playing more R&B; I was playing hip hop, you know. And what you had to do as a DJ was put all that type of music together to make a party for the night. And with that you can't just play one style the whole time. I've always tried to break it up with some sort of breaks, with some sort of classic house music, with some good underground techno, some techno you'll know, maybe some you don't know, and all of that, really, is dif- ficult to do. But once you've achieved it and got to the end of the night…I mean when I played Space in Ibiza last year, I said to everyone I'm going to play 10 hours. I'm gonna play right from the be- ginning and I'm gonna finish right at the end. And that's what I did. I was able to play so much music within the time that I had. But I had as many people at the end of that 10-hour set as I had when I started. That only came about because of how I grew up playing this music, it was because I was so eclectic. I was so in tune with what the music was for me. That is the reason I still do what I do in such a way. A lot of DJs play one or two hours and they can play really well and maybe three hours, which is fantastic. But once you start playing four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten, you really have to dig deep into your record collection to keep the vibe rolling. And I suppose be- cause I've been doing this for so many years, I have the knowledge and the understanding of how to do that. And I love being put in that position. Do you think you'll still be doing those 10-hour sets, closing at 10am, with a zimmerframe? (Laughs) I'd probably have to say no. I'm not sure, Carl, I'm not sure (laughs). I just wondered: do you still encounter racism being a top king DJ? No, not really. The mad thing for me is that my door's always been open when it comes to this. Whether you're Chinese or Indian or black or white, I've always basically said, "Look. Even though I'm a black DJ, playing house music or techno music or whatever, my door is always open". This is quite a situation for me. I'm basically worldly now, a worldwide person, someone that's been to many places, to Romania, to Jerusalem, to Pakistan, all these different places.

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