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Carl Cox Global Tour 2003

Author: Julia Gumbleton
Wednesday, October 15, 2003
Tour dates are as follows:

Fri 5.12 Auckland St James
Sat 6.12 Melbourne QBH
Sun 7.12 Perth Belmont Racecourse
Thur 11.12 Adelaide Heaven II
Fri 12.12 Brisbane Family
Sat 13.12 Sydney Showgrounds at Sydney Olympic Park

One of the best things about being at the very top of your profession is that you get to call the shots. A powerhouse of a man with an encyclopaedic knowledge of dance music, seemingly limitless reserves of energy, and a passion for his craft that has never for a minute faded into cynicism, Carl Cox is indisputably one of the best-loved DJs in the world.

A big, genial man who makes his job seem easy because he does it with such passion, Carl Cox has more than paid his dues. He started off playing weddings and house parties in South London in the early 80s, then promoting his own events at a time when it was almost impossible for an unknown DJ - let alone a black DJ - to break into the small, elitist London club scene. Carl was there at the very start of the acid house revolution, providing the sound system that fired Paul Oakenfold's now-legendary after-hours parties at The Project in Streatham in 1987 and the first nights of Danny Rampling's Shoom club. But his skills as a DJ went largely unrecognised until the big illegal outdoor raves of 1989.

Few of the established DJ names wanted to play these events, and suddenly Carl had his chance to shine: he quickly became the rave DJ, the name every promoter wanted on their flyer, driving hundreds of miles across the UK to play several different events on the same night and keeping up a punishing schedule week after week that would have floored most of us in a night.

Since then, he's continued to push at the boundaries, to work hard and always to do it on his own terms: setting up his own label, and establishing his Ultimate Bass night, which ended after celebrating its fifth and final birthday this March. But most of all, he began swapping miles on the motorway for hours in the air as he travelled ever further to spread his musical message. His huge success has led to a string of awards - this year alone, the NME Brats Award for Best DJ, Outstanding Contribution to Dance Music at both The Diesel U: Music Awards and Dancestar Awards as well as Best DJ at The Dancestar Awards.

He's also found success on the radio and as a TV presenter. But for Carl, the main thing will always be the music, and he now wants to focus all of his considerable energies on it. "I want to give as much to it as possible."

Carl Cox runs his own small independent label, In-Tec (International Techno), a labour of love which refreshingly is more about showcasing new artists whose music he enjoys than about chasing commercial success. Carl is also currently writing and recording his third album as an artist, working on musical collaborations with the likes of Norman Cook, Josh Wink and Christian Smith, and moving into soundtracks (he's created the new theme music to the cult action cartoon series Dragonball Z ). But most of all, he's travelling the world doing what he loves best - taking the music to the people on the dancefloor.
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