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After speaking with Carl Cox it's easy to understand how he´s gained his claim to fame and upheld his status as one of the world’s greatest DJs. He speaks about electronic music and clubbing as passionately as a newly converted dance-floor devotee and seems to lack the jaded mentality that many seasoned DJs possess.

A DJ for over 35 years now, his enthusiasm and ambition is relentless. The jovial Brit ravages his body with jet lag and spends countless, tedious hours of travel time to deliver his sets to bass-hungry crowds and seldom disappoints, sending out smiles to the audience as he’s dripping in sweat. He elevates dancers to dizzying heights and sets people free from their problems for a few hours while they jack their bodies to high-energy infused, Carl-concocted, potions of liberating bass and techno beats. Carl’s Global Radio show is in its third year now and is a testament to his popularity, rapidly expanding with figures reaching two million listeners. Global Radio was just added to Maxima FM so now Carl’s sets can be heard throughout Spain. And if you can’t afford the hefty costs of traveling to Ibiza, you can dance vicariously through Global’s broadcasts of Carl’s summer residency at Space.

If you’re among the throngs of 60,000 Dance Valley Festival attendees this summer and don’t get lost in the sea of tents and warm bodies, make your way over to Carl’s Intec Records hosted arena with DJs Ben Sims, Christian Smith, Preach & Darren Kay (back2back), Marco Bailey, Cave, Alexander Koning, and Jon Rundel. The Intec imprint is currently basking in the glow of releases from Cristian Varela, Sebastien Leger, and Pedro Delgardo. On July 24 the Warders of Our Own Prison EP hits the shelves with festival hits from Intec’s Slovenian star, Valentino Kanzyani. A new Smith and Selway release is also in the works; release date to be announced. 

Hello Carl. You must be excited about the upcoming season in Ibiza! 
Well the first thing about me going back to Ibiza to do my own Tuesday nights at Space, which is called Global is that it's now been running for five years. So for me that´s a celebration in itself knowing that we’ve been successful. And the format that I created, having different sounds in different rooms, having different DJs from all different countries, and representing the music, and pushing the music forward have been a staple diet for people who have gone to Ibiza and come to Tuesday nights and support my night every time I’ve played there. So I’m going into Ibiza this year now knowing we have something to celebrate knowing that the dance music force is apparent in a lot of people’s minds and hearts and they still want this music to continue. 

About two or three years ago a lot of people were saying that, "Ibiza is dying. House music, dance music, and techno music is finished. Everyone is moving on to something else, which is better and greater.” And I’d have to say “no.” There isn’t anything greater and better. There’s still a great time to be had and it’s [dance music] something people need and want in their lives. We’re opening the doors again this year and having not only DJ Vibe who’s been with us for the last five years but also Danny Tenaglia. Having great DJs like that on one night is absolutely amazing.
 

Yeah, that’s a great lineup! Who else will be playing on your Tuesday nights?
This year apart from Michel de Hey who has played with us every year, there’s Cristian Varela; we’ve got Laurent Garnier coming back, Josh Wink who rocked it last year coming back to play again; Francois Kevorkian is playing this year for the first time; Tim Deluxe and also Talvin Singh coming to play for the first time. Last year we had a drum and bass session for the late night sessions in the terrace where we had Roni Size and LTJ Bukem and both are coming back this year and to enhance that we’ve also asked DJ Marky to play also.  

So that’s just a few names to mention based on my nine nights in Ibiza, and this shows how eclectic the nights are going to be. We’ll have a breakbeat room as well by inviting Adam Freeland to play. We’ll have Norman Cook (Fat Boy Slim) play and he’s got a very different sound from most of the DJs that play at Space but I want to offer people the very best and Norman Cook is a very big draw for us. I’m really looking forward to opening the doors this year. 

Do you think it will be a good season this summer based on the opening party at Space?
Yeah, no doubt it’s going to be again, another great season from the opening party at Space on June 4 where we had over 15,000 people who just came to the island for that specific purpose. That is great testament to what can happen on this island. And people came from far and wide and could see that the place still has something unique and special about it. A lot of people are talking about my night and already bought their tickets and don’t want to miss out. There’s a really good feeling about it.  

I understand Radio 1 will be broadcasting one of your club nights at Space?
Yeah, basically Radio 1 is doing a week special of all the best clubs they want to represent and get behind and show the rest of the world what’s going on. They’ve chosen August 8 when we’ve got John Digweed playing for us. They really want to broadcast this session because John is a really big draw and when he plays without Sasha he really comes into his own and Radio 1 wants to capture that. We also have a company called Angels of Love and they have their own style and DJs called Pako S, Lele Sacchi, and DJ Simi and Masterkeys. So it’s quite a collective really. 

There are a lot of clubs to choose from in Ibiza. Why should people go to Space?
For start they spend millions making sure this club is the best place you can actually enjoy. You can go to chill out, party, hear different types of music, and meet people from all over the world. Without Space the island would be a very different place.

I think over 15 years this club has appealed to everyone who really enjoys clubbing. People will go to Privilege, Amnesia, El Divino, but without a shadow of a doubt they have to go to Space because Space is one of the clubs where people have the best time and still talk about the times they’ve had there over the years and want to go back and relive that. At Space you can enjoy all aspects of clubbing under one roof. There’s nowhere like Space anywhere else in the world and you have to go to Ibiza to experience it. 

Describe the sound system at Space.
Now they’ve got the best sound system in the world and the best sound system on the island and that’s not just me being biased. Funktion One is an amazing tried and tested company and they’ve got a showcase sound system at Space.

You’ll never hear the likes of it in any other club on the island or in most places in the world. When we played at the opening party on June 4 all these Funktion One technicians came down and installed the sound system.

It took over a week to install and EQ and make sure that every inch of the room had the correct sound. When we played there and people got to hear it they couldn’t believe the clarity and the definition of the sound system, which didn’t kill your ears. You could feel the energy and how warm and rich the sound is. It’s incredible really. You can go to Amnesia and hear a good sound system okay. You can go to Privilege and hear big sound okay. Pacha has got a great sound system, they have for many years, but it does sound a bit tired at the moment, they do need to upgrade it.  

You’ve DJed all over the world. What makes Ibiza such a special place and what’s your take on why people get so hyped up over it?
You can go to Cancun or Mykonos but the thing about this island is the spirit of the island that brings people back year after year for tranquility, family, having the best time of your life, experiencing new cultures, all on one island. Ibiza isn’t just a strip where you have all the hotels, clubs, bars, and the beach. It’s all of it, it’s all of what you want from a place of paradise or for clubbing heaven. It’s right there on this island and there really isn’t anywhere else like this. And people will try to say, “You know what, there is somewhere else you can go that’s much better than Ibiza,” and it doesn’t happen. They can go anywhere they like and they always end up in Ibiza one way or another. It changes people’s lives; it changes people’s perceptions. I think a lot of people go there to be changed. I’ve been going there myself since 1984 every single year. I went when there was clubbing but I couldn’t even afford to go to the clubs so I had to save my money up, a lot of it, to go to them. It (the island) organically created its appeal to people all over. Over the years it just got better and better.  

It became more commercial of course because a lot
more people went to the island. You’ve got one side of
commerciality or tourism as a reason why people go and you’ve got the underground side of the island where people truly want to find and experience new things. I could talk all day long about it because I’ve been going there for many years. But it’s what brings me back every year and now that I’m part of the entertainment side, of the tourism, and bringing people to the island because of my Tuesday nights, that also gives me more of a sense of purpose for being there every year. 

Do you have any favorite places to relax and unwind in Ibiza?
Outside of the clubs? Yeah, anywhere where there isn’t clubs (laughing). That’s my favorite part of the island. The north side of the island is absolutely beautiful. It’s like the Caribbean. It’s fantastic. But also when I want to escape it all I go to Formentera. It’s like a 45-minute boat journey outside of Ibiza. It’s a smaller island with some really great restaurants, lovely beach, and turquoise sea. It’s just an amazing place really.  

What are your current picks for getting the biggest audience reaction?
I’d have to say the track by Sebastien Leger called “Bad Clock” which is on my Intec record label. This record has got such a great hook that when I drop it everyone has their hands up in the air. I also play a track by John Digweed called “Warung Beach” which is on Bedrock but it’s not out yet. He gave me a copy of this a couple weeks before. It’s a very electronicy guitar based record, which is very unique in its sound, and this record really grabs people’s attention.  

Thank you so much for the interview!  I’ll see you at Space this summer.
All right, great stuff. Take care now. Thank you, bye!

-Summer lineup & win tickets below -

18/7/06	25/7/06	1/8/06	8/8/06
OPENING Inside Carl Cox Danny Tenaglia New terrace Carl and Danny (Back to Back) DJ Vibe Old terrace Angels of Love: Simi, Pako S & Sneaky Live Roof terrace: Elio Riso	Inside Carl Cox Laurent Garnier   New terrace Carl and Laurent (Back to Back) Stephane Pompougnac Old terrace Angels of Love: Simi, Pako S & Sneaky Live Roof terrace: Elio Riso	Inside Carl Cox Francois K New terrace Adam Freeland Evil 9 Old terrace Angels of Love: Carlo Carita & Pako S Roof terrace: Elio Riso	Inside Carl Cox John Digweed New terrace Angels of Love Roni Size Old terrace Angels of Love: Simi & Pako S  Roof terrace: Elio Riso
15/8/06	22/8/06	29/8/06	5/9/06
Inside Carl Cox Monika Kruse New terrace Angels of Love The Freestylers Old terrace Angels of Love: Carlo Carita &  Lele  Sacchi Roof terrace: Elio Riso	Inside Carl Cox Josh Wink New terrace LTJ Bukem (old school night 5 H) Old terrace Angels of Love: Carlo Carita & Pako S  Roof terrace: Elio Riso	Inside Carl Cox Fatboy Slim New terrace  DJ Marky  Ashley Beedle Old terrace Angels of Love: Fiore & Pako S  Roof terrace: Elio Riso	Inside Carl Cox Michel de Hey New terrace Talvin Singh Tim Deluxe Old terrace Angels of Love: JG Bros & Pako S Roof terrace: Elio Riso
12/9/06
CLOSING Inside Carl Cox Cristian Varela New terrace Angels of Love Yousef Old terrace Angels of Love: Simi, Pako S & Fiore Roof terrace: Elio Riso