Carl Cox on Ibiza 2017: "I'm going in there to rip it up like I used to"

Having brought his incredibly popular residency at Space Ibiza to a close last year, Carl Cox's future on the White Isle was up in the air. With the club not renewing its lease and becoming another name in island folklore, Cox's spiritual home was gone.

But never one to let the party finish early (his final residency set at Space lasted 10 hours), the legendary DJ announced his Ibiza return last month with two dates at the world's biggest club Privilege. Bringing his Pure events that he has fashioned in Australia, Cox will be laying down what he calls "raw, unadulterated techno and house" in a stripped back setting that focuses on the music.

We sat down with the Ibiza king to discuss his new nights, the changing face of the island and how new club Hï would fair in Space's absence.

First things first, why are you going back to Ibiza to throw these parties?

For me, my spiritual home of the island has gone and I have to find a new spiritual home to continue me being back on the island. It was never a question of me leaving the island, it was always about what do I do next based on what I did myself to create a home for Carl Cox and my music.

I’m only playing Privilege two times, possibly three times this year so I’m not even doing a residency there as such.

Do you think that will continue for future years?

I’m going to see how this goes. I’m only putting my toes in the water to see how lukewarm it is, how warm it is or how hot it is. So if it looks like those two dates really work well and it looks like people are very happy for me to be in that club, I will probably look to maybe continue that into the future.

Why Privilege?

I think there really has not been a defined night driven by a DJ.

They tried to do a DJ-orientated night with Tiësto who lasted, I think, maybe two to three years maximum on his Monday night attempt, to the point that he doesn’t even go to the island anymore. He decided he wasn’t good enough and he’s gone to Vegas for a residency.

All we’re looking for is the amount of people who used to go to Space on a Tuesday night which is between 6-8000 people and we’re looking for 6-8000 people to go to my night when I go to play there. We’re not even looking to fill that club.

So what can those 6-8000 people expect from your Pure parties?

Here in Australia it’s a no-nonsense, stripped down ideal of what I believe a party should be about at the end of the day. When you go to an EDM party you do get all the fireworks, confetti. You get all the music, sound to light everything matching, all the colours matching. You get all the drops and all the risers in time with all the balloon drops and the CO2 and you get all of the hullaballoo and the most amazing LED light systems you’ve ever seen in your life and I’m saying you’re not going to get any of that. All I’m saying is you’re going to get a great soundsystem, music played by great DJs and all you’re going to get is a minimalistic ideal of what we used to do back in the day when we used to do warehouse parties. This is what I really, really want to get people to understand at the end of the day: that you don’t pull your phone out because there’s fireworks going off. You don’t pull your phone out because there are three DJs standing on top of the turntables or the CDJs or even their laptop and telling people to jump, jump, jump. We’re not doing any of that stuff. We’re stripping it down and getting people to hear raw unadulterated techno and house music. If you’re not into it, I would just say “don’t come down, don’t bother”.

You walk through the door and you’re gonna hear a bassline. You’re gonna hear DJs really playing from the heart and soul, they have to. It’s a big room, there’s no messing around at Privilege. You’ve got to give it to them. Go hard or go home. It’s no fancy night out.

Exactly the way it should be.

Well, I think we just lost sight of it. As soon as people go to any of these clubs, the first thing they want is to be like “where can we all sit?” What? Where can we all sit? No way, I don’t want anyone sitting down in my club, I want people up and on their toes and basically supporting the music and the scene and what we love. The thing is with Privilege is it’s a big room; it’s a big atmosphere. I mean, I’m a big DJ, I play big tunes, I smash the place. I’m not going in there to play 122bpm deep house music, I’m going in there to rip it up like I used to do, like I will do and continue to do soon to make that statement.

This is a new era now. We’re moving things forward. Ibiza is changing and it’s not changing for the bad, it’s changing for the good everyone is cleaning up their act. They want people in their clubs spending money. They want people walking away from Ibiza going “you know what? This place is still on the map and it still rocks.”

Is it going to feel strange playing in Ibiza but it not being at Space?

I think after not doing something for 20 years and going back to the island, it’s going to feel strange. I’m not walking through those hallowed doors of Space club anymore. It is over. So this is the whole new arena for me now. It’s like going back 20 years, walking through another club to do the whole thing all over again. Here I am at 54, nearly 55 years old, and I feel like a kid that’s just been given an opportunity to play in one of the coveted clubs in the world.

We can’t be complacent. “Oh yeah I’ve played Space 20 years I know what to do, I know what’s going to happen”, I have no clue what’s going to happen at this club! All I know is I have great DJs playing great music at this club and I’m supporting that.

What are your first impressions, if you have any, of Hï?

At the end of the day, you’re still running your club under the guise of what it used to be and I think that is going to be a little bit of a hurdle to get over until people get used to the idea that Space is there no longer and it is a new club. I would have rather they smashed the place to pieces and create something completely brand new. For me, that would have been better. To let it lie.

They’re going to have some amazing nights in there and I don’t blame any DJ for playing whatsoever. It just won’t be what it used to be. I wish them well, I’m sure they’re going to have a fantastic time when those doors open. People are going to be looking for something fresh, new and exciting [and] that could be it, who knows.

Do you have any advice to them if they want to live up to that legacy of Space?

The only advice I’d give to them is if there are any new nights, new DJs, new promoters going in with new ideas, support them. Don’t think that because it didn’t get the numbers the night’s not happening and then chuck them out because this does happen on the island quite a bit if things don’t go right. If you look at what happened with Richie Hawtin’s nights, which was a concept night which was pretty awesome on a Thursday night. One of the reasons he didn’t continue was the fact that he wasn’t financially able to do what he wanted to do. So they fell out and that was the end of Richie playing at Space after four years. He didn’t even make five years. I mean I’ve been there for 15 years and it was only five years before that but my night started off small and worked out to be one of the coveted nights on the island. Now Hï has gone in there, Richie Hawtin is going back. If he’s going back then support what he’s trying to do for their night and get behind the concept of what he believes should be happening on the island. It would be horrible to think that maybe Richie goes back in there and he’s only in there for two years.

For that to continue in this way it needs to form, it needs to grow, it needs to be supported. If they can do that, hopefully in ten years time they can be seen as a coveted club that got behind their promoters and DJs.

Louis Anderson-Rich is Mixmag's Digital Intern. Follow him on Twitter