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

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