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Carl Cox Interview 4.25.2005
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| Kate Manus |
Came across this interview posted on a european board for hollandclubbing.com.. check it.. it is *such* a good read! :toocool:
Carl Cox- Exclusive Interview!
25/04/2005
“I was sitting down relaxing when I suddenly had these massive internal pains in my stomach and pressure on the heart. I got really short of breath and I was doubling up with the pain in my stomach, so a friend of mine took me to the hospital and as soon as I got there, the doctors said ‘You’re not going anywhere for the next week’ and I was put on a drip for four days. I was like: ‘Oh great, no food’ but I rapidly realized it was really serious.”
10 years after he was first hospitalized with heart complaints, superstar techno DJ Carl Cox suddenly found himself having a full on heart attack, as he took a two day break from a 3 month stint of relentless touring, partying and DJing.
I’d been in Ibiza and I came back to Palma, to take two days off and then get back onto playing on the circuit again. My friend had got married in Ibiza, I’d done the opening for Pete Tong’s party and hadn’t slept hardly at all, I’d also just done a tour of America just before that,” he explains.
“So I was constantly tired and my body system, from the point of view of my internal organs, couldn’t move fast enough for what I was putting into it. My heart was pumping twice as hard to try and compensate and in the end I had a mild heart attack. I also found out in hospital that I had an ulcer and a liver complaint and now I’ve ended up with an irregular heartbeat, because I’ve also thinned out my blood. That means I’ve had to consciously slow my lifestyle down, for my heart to be able to continue working in the right way, within its normal parameters. And forever more it’s declining.”
12 months on, he declares himself ‘100%’ fit and (almost) 100% teetotal, in marked contrast to his previous habits.
“I’ll still have several glasses of red wine here and there but that’s it whereas I used to go out on a night and have a bottle of vodka, champagne, beers and (tequila) slammers because I was enjoying myself. But those were all the things that were killing me at the same time as well, so it’s no longer possible now,” he admits.
“I see everything in a much different light today, I see everyone else drunk and off their heads in clubs, and I think ‘OK, good for you’ but it doesn’t work for me,” Carl continues.
“Eventually the partying catches up with everyone but meanwhile, I’m having a great time being straight and being normal. If I’m feeling tired, I go to bed; as soon as I feel like I need to go to sleep then I get some rest. My life’s been a journey beyond belief and I’m still around party-heads all the time, but these days I wake up in the morning and go: ‘Right I’m off for a walk’,” he chuckles.
Equally importantly, he’s restructured his work schedule and entire lifestyle, cutting back on relentless globetrotting with its jetlag and time-zone crossing related problems as well as the five star cuisine and luxury living he came to take for granted.
“I’ve changed my entire diet and switched from eating red meat to chicken and fish. I’ve got a personal trainer and I train three times a week. I’m not turning into Arnold Schwarzenegger – I’m just building up my own inner strength now, and mentally where I’m at with my own body, which has been great,” he says.
“I feel like I have been given a second chance to come back and go: ‘OK, now do it all again, but in a way that I think you should and you can’. I’ve been given that opportunity to respect myself, so nearly a year later I’m able to finish my album, perform my album, do my Carl Cox and Friends parties, my radio shows and to change my life a little bit, because I bought a house in Australia and I’ve been living there for the last three months, even though I’m now back in Europe. So many great things have happened since I’ve stopped drinking and partying so hard that I have actually been able to do more. I’ve been able to get up and see the day to be able to do all this stuff. I just feel so much better for it. It means when I DJ now, I feels like I am unstoppable, whereas before I was like: ‘Oh not another party, not another gig, not another late night’.”
In fact, he’s booked up again for a busy schedule of gigs, parties and late nights far into the future, including two of his Carl Cox & Friends parties, his new key project for 2005. Working in collaboration with Dutch organization HollandClubbing.com, Carl brings the event to the UK this weekend with parties in both London and Glasgow.
Skrufff (Jonty Skrufff): What’s the whole vision for Carl Cox and Friends, are you doing an 8 hour set in one room with your friends playing simultaneously in extra rooms?
Carl Cox: “No, no, it’s all on one floor. The project started in Holland and the idea is that I’m standing on stage in front of 10,000 people with a massive stage-show and with all the turntables set up in different areas around the stage, then as we go through the night, I gradually introduce live elements to my DJing. So, for example, I’m playing away as a DJ, then I’ll bring on somebody like Saffron (Republica’s vocalist) and then also people who are involved in the album, such as Josh Wink and maybe Josh and I will do a back to back DJ session somewhere on the other side of the stage. The concept of it is part theatre- part concert- part rave- part music live. There’s always something going on, on stage rather than just one DJ standing there with a couple of turntables and two CD players – going ‘whey hey it’s all good’. There’s an element of theatre to the whole thing, as well as it being a dance party. With that all I’m doing is being the compere or basically in charge of all the music that happens from the beginning to the end of the whole thing. So I’m there for the whole time, rather than I’m playing for two hours, thank you very much, it’s my event. The idea really is to show musically what I want people to truly listen to right now.”
Skrufff:You’ve hooked up with HollandClubbing.com for the London event, where does the Dutch connection come in?
Carl Cox: “At the moment all eyes are looking at the whole Dutch scene at the moment, just purely because of DJs like Tiesto and Marco V, there’s a lot of strength of music and artists coming from Holland. There always has been really, the Dutch have always been a massive creative source for me. Nowadays they’ve got an amazing festival called The Dance Valley, which is their flagship party. I’ve always been interested in the Dutch scene for many years. The first time I got to play in Holland was at the legendary Roxy, me and Sacha was playing at the time, it was for DJ magazine, I think, 1991, I think. Ever since then I made my name as Carl Cox.”
Dance Valley started and for me that was the pinnacle of what was to happen next, because that started off with 8,000 people, and I saw that grow from 8,000 people to 90,000 people, in the end I was thinking ‘My God, this is incredible; Crikey they’re having such a good time here, they’ve kind of surpassed anything we’ve had in England’. That’s one of the reasons there’s been so many Dutch DJs coming through because there’s been so many great parties in Holland. It’s not surprising Tiesto is where he is at the moment because not only does he have his own following from his own fans from his own backyard, there’s been so many parties that he is able to become his own powerhouse really, based on who he is as an individual.”
In Holland you’re still able to do really, really good parties there, so when it came to me doing Carl Carl and Friends it was only natural to go to Rotterdam and do my party based on what I wanted to create and what I wanted to show people. The first Carl Cox and Friends was this time last year so I was able to fine-tune the show from last year for this year. So now I’ve got it to where I really want it and I’m ready to do the rest of the world.”
SkrufffJs like Sven Vath are started dabbling more and more with electro, whereas you’re still most associated with techno . . .
Carl Cox: “I think it’s great, to be honest and what’s even better for me, is that everyone else had decided to jump off the ship of techno music, which to me is still the best form of music out there, that pushes all your buttons.. Within techno music, it can be techno house, techno Italian, techno Latin, techno funk, it could be anything; and as we’ve seen as the scene’s developed, techno’s for anyone- not just gringy ravers. And that’s the whole point of the Carl Cox and Friends parties because even though it seems a techno party, within the music you’re hearing breaks, house, progressive, techno, all types of music really. There’s techno in everything so I don’t want to rule out a load of people by saying we’re only going to be playing electro or that this is the coolest music to get into, because my doors are open to everyone, just to walk through and still enjoy all aspects of music. For my show you’ll hear drum and bass, breaks, songs and house tracks- everything. The night doesn’t start off at 140 bpm and end up at 160bpm, it starts at about 98 bpm and moves wherever it needs to go in the sense of moving the crowd.
I think what Sven was trying to alienate everyone that was synonymous of techno music and create his own initial vibe based on what he was doing. Which is cool, but when you’re a DJ, you DJ for everyone, and the DJ is there to make everyone happy and not turn this into a core elite club of certain people who would just be into a certain sound of music, because then that basically starts to close everything down to a point where if you’re name’s not down you’re not coming in. I don’t really want that. If you’re name is down you are coming in.”
Skrufff: Are you going to vote in the UK election?
Carl Cox: “I haven’t voted in 15 years. I don’t know, to be honest, I really don’t know. I don’t know, stick with the devil you know, I suppose. When (Margaret) Thatcher got into power she just wanted to shut everything down. It just got crazy (pausing). I don’t know. I should have an opinion but my opinion is based on what I do. I say we should have a right to party, we are the people that move things forward in our own lives. We are also the ones that are suffering all these high taxes and having to pay all this initial money based on what the government are saying, to bring up the economy in England and everything else like that. But I think our votes fall on deaf ears. I try and leave it up to everyone else to decide, I think, for me I’m just one voice. I tried to get involved in the political aspect of changing things before, I got into a thing called Rock The Vote; Me and Eddie Izzard were involved, and a few other people. I spent a year doing this Rock The Vote, and it didn’t do anything, it made things worse actually.”
Skrufff: Do you ever feel uncomfortable about getting paid huge amounts for DJing?
Carl Cox: “If I’m going to do a gig for £5,000 pounds for a two or three hour set, the promoters will say ‘right, no problem, there you go, Coxy, because my club will be rammed, I’m gonna’ have the kudos, I’m gonna’ have a full house and you’re worth the money’. If the club gets bigger – £10,000 pounds, if it’s a festival – £20, 000 pounds. If it’s New Years Eve on Bondai Beach, Australia – £60, 000 pounds. The fee can go up and up and up and up, as long as whoever wants to pay you thinks you’re genuinely worth the money, then no matter what happens I’m gonna’ get it, one way or another. I believe my talent has enabled me to command the fees that I get. Not only that, I work with people rather than against them.”
Skrufffo you ever do special cheap rates?
Carl Cox: “If I know that that a club can’t afford it, but they’re doing their night for the right reasons, then I will happily halve my rates and still enjoy it for the right reason, because I know that I can come back again and do it again and again. There’s no point trying to take £10,000 pounds out of a club which only holds 500 people because you’ll only it that once, which defeats the object. I’ve always been a person that understands how much I get paid based on what I actually do. I haven’t had one complaint from one person based on that. I’ve never had anyone say: ‘ing Hell Carl Cox charged me all this money, I hated it, and I’ve still paid it’. Instead I’ve ended up being a DJ that’s actually ended up with repeat sales, and that’s because – A- I think I’m value for money, and – B- I think I’ve earned the right to earn money after being involved in the music and doing what I do for so many years. In fact, for the first 20 years of my life I earned nothing, I ended up being broken into, being burgled and even locked up for playing at illegal parties.”
Skrufff: When were you locked up?
Carl Cox: “This was in 1989 for doing a party in Kent, strangely enough one that was set up by the police.They were trying to catch all the drug dealers and all the drug dealing DJs by setting up a party, though they didn’t actually catch anyone because before they opened the doors, they busted everyone. I ended up being banged up (locked up- slang ed) for the whole weekend, while the police analysed all my equipment.”
Skrufff: What were they going to charge you with?
Carl Cox: “Noise pollution. This is what I was held under. Those times weren’t easy, so if someone wants to pay me to do a job now, I will quite gladly take the money based on the fact it’s entertainment, it’s a business, and I can create that business. I want people to have a win, win, win, situation, and I want the customer to walk away happy. When I started being a self employed DJ I actively started with this idea of trying to make everyone happy, , not just by my DJing, but also by the way I represented myself, making sure I was always worth the money I was being paid. In fact, if I wasn’t worth the money I get, there’s no way I would be getting paid that much In fact they probably wouldn’t even wart to book me at all- they’d book someone else.
I’ve basically turned what I do into my own entity. I know I can go to that club and look at the crowd and go - two records – I’ve got them and for the whole time they are going to have something which they haven’t had before based on who I am and what I can create. I do that in every single venue I play in. I have to always represent myself, because there’s still a lot of non believers out there, who still don’t believe I can do what I do after so many years. I still get people who stand there with their arms folded going three decks ‘eh lets see it’. I go right, there’s four decks and a ing sampler, the crowds going mad anyway, look behind you at everyone dancing going mad and you’re the only one standing there’. It’s not easy for me, for where I am now, because people still expect so much from where I’m at, that it becomes problematic to a point, but my life has always been about winning people over, and that’s what you have to do – you have to always win people over.”
Skrufff: how do you specifically do that?
Carl Cox: “I always treat any party as if it’s my first, and walk in there with that attitude and try to create something unique and special so people walk away going ‘Right, OK, I’ve got it; he’s still there, still doing what he‘s getting paid for, I didn’t know he was going to play that record even’. That’s what the whole Carl Cox and Friends is about; it’s part show, part theatre, part concert, and I’m doing it because I still want to show people what I’m doing. I’m not looking for everyone to like what I’m doing, but I want to be in a position where I am able to represent myself by what I want to do to move things forward.”
HollandClubbing.com presents Carl Cox & Friends at London’s Heaven club on Friday April 29, followed by Carl Cox & Friends at Glasgow’s Barrowlands On Saturday April 30.
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ViciousTechno @ Tall Trees, Yarm - England - 1st May 2005 9 till 4am
Main Room
Chris Liebing
Umek
Valentino Kanzyani
Chunkos
I especially like THIS part:
"SkrufffJs like Sven Vath are started dabbling more and more with electro, whereas you’re still most associated with techno . . .
Carl Cox: “I think it’s great, to be honest and what’s even better for me, is that everyone else had decided to jump off the ship of techno music, which to me is still the best form of music out there, that pushes all your buttons.. Within techno music, it can be techno house, techno Italian, techno Latin, techno funk, it could be anything; and as we’ve seen as the scene’s developed, techno’s for anyone- not just gringy ravers. "
;)
July 2003 - 2 year DROUGHT!! :whip:
Carl for Cream if nothing else! *prays*
-- it was also kind of nice of him to make that comment about a 500 person club.. it was a miracle he was booked for surface before he had to cancel 3 weeks of gigs!! would have been an AWESOME night in such a small venue. |
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| alec |
| quote: | [b]Originally posted by Kate Manus [/b
10 years after he was first hospitalized with heart complaints, superstar techno DJ Carl Cox suddenly found himself having a full on heart attack, as he took a two day break from a 3 month stint of relentless touring, partying and DJing.
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That's cuz this mother ****** is just too fat
However, I give props to Cox , because he was the first techno dj I saw in 2002 at AREA 2 (yes the now famous Area2 t-shirt) and I hated the music back then, but I loved his set, so energetic he got me into it so bad! |
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| iLLnaDa |
The MAN WAS SWEATIN' like a craaaaaaaaazy MOFO @ DECADENCE...umm thats right u heard me!!!
p.s he's a great DJ sorry to hear about the MTL 2 year drought! Better luck next time
:D
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