Carl Cox Spins a Yarn

Carl Cox's name isn't a household word, but it's not for lack of accomplishment. The BBC thinks the British DJ/producer, who first broke onto the international dance scene in the late Eighties, is important enough to follow him for two live New Year's Eve broadcasts: one in Sydney, Australia, and another in Honolulu, Hawaii. The British filmmakers behind dance culture movie Human Traffic sought him out for the role of club promoter Pablo Hussein. And then there's South African President Nelson Mandela, who first made an effort to contact Cox three years ago to perform for his children's charity.

Cox recently completed his nine-stop jaunt on the Moonshine Over America Tour (it concluded in Seattle on Oct. 30), but you likely haven't read many pre-show interviews. Cox is known for keeping a mad pace in the DJ world, something akin to that of a trader on Wall Street. It's one of the reasons he is so respected. His down-to-earth love of music is the other.

"I just want to enjoy it. I can't be worrying about whether or not I'm famous," Cox says from his home outside London. "I basically built a reputation for giving people a good time. All I've done is create my own sound and my own thing, and that creates a demand."

Raised on a diet of Booker T & the MG's, Stevie Wonder and James Brown, Cox started DJing at an early age. Age eight, to be precise. He would soundtrack the evenings for his family at their home in London, though no one had any idea at the time that his shenanigans would lead to such a fruitful career.

"They're just totally and utterly gobsmacked," Cox says of his parents. "I had no help. My mom and dad always wanted me out of the house [and to] stop playing that music."

Mom and Dad may not have supported their son's deejaying endeavors, but Cox's career nonetheless developed into something more than just workaday turntablism. Three years ago, he started his own club night, the Ultimate B.A.S.E., as a forum where DJs could develop their own sound, no holds barred. Notably unpretentious for a regular London club event, the night has played host to funky house sets by the Basement Jaxx, tribal beats from Derrick May, and seen the house DJ elite pass through its doors. What's more, Cox divulges, is that the club is branching out.

"I'm looking to do an Ultimate B.A.S.E. special in Los Angeles," Cox begins. "This is something I want to give back to the West Coast."

A big fan of the sunny locale, Cox is enlisting DJ Dan and Mark Lewis to head up the club's West Coast residency and maintain the club's focus. He doesn't need to spread his wings, and it's pretty clear his plate is pretty full already, but Cox says he does these sorts of things because it satisfies him on a personal level.

"I still have so much to offer, so much to give and if I can give a little bit to someone and help them, I feel good about myself."

So it would seem. Carl Cox doesn't need a superclub residency every week -- or his face plastered on multiple magazines -- to make an impact. At this stage, he knows he's one of the best DJs in the world, and his satisfaction comes from helping others, whether it be through Ultimate B.A.S.E. or by spinning an unsigned artist's wicked new track during a radio broadcast or at an event like the Berlin Love Parade.

"It really is about me opening doors for other people to come through. If I get to play to 1.8 million people and everyone loves [the record] and goes crazy, that's power."

JOLIE LASH
(November 16, 1999)