Carl Cox. Photo Credit: Dan Reid.<\/p>\n
Veteran electronic musician and British trance star Carl Cox chatted his upcoming show in Brooklyn, New York, and his music and songwriting inspirations.<\/p>\n
Cox opened up about being a part of the digital age, and he shared his thoughts on AI on the future of the music business.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe important thing in life is not victory but combat; it is not to have vanquished but to have fought well,\u201d said Pierre de Coubertin, French Educator who was primarily responsible for the revival of the Olympic Games in 1894. This quote applies to Carl Cox.<\/p>\n
Brooklyn show<\/p>\n
On March 21st, Cox will be performing his \u201cTeksupport\u201d show at Brooklyn Storehouse in New York.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m always excited to come to New York. It\u2019s always a challenge,\u201d he admitted. \u201cThey say that when \u2018you break New York, you break America.\u2019 The last time I played New York was at Avant Gardner, but I also played Central Park when I did the live show.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIt will be nothing like either of those shows,\u201d Cox said with a sweet laugh. \u201cBeyond itself. I\u2019ve come prepared to change the game once again. So, get your dancing shoes on because the level of what I did last time is another level today.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ultra Music Festival in Miami, Florida<\/p>\n
At the end of the month, Cox will be performing at Ultra Music Festival in Miami, Florida, which has become an annual tradition for the electronic music trailblazer.<\/p>\n
\u201cLast year, I did my biggest live show at Ultra Music Festival. This year, it\u2019s their 25-year anniversary of Ultra, and I\u2019ve been there for at least 24 of them,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Music and songwriting inspirations<\/p>\n
On his music and songwriting inspirations, Cox shared, \u201cI have a whole library of music. Sometimes, I just go in there, and I pull out a few tracks that I\u2019ve completely forgotten about.\u201d <\/p>\n
\u201cThen, I play them and I go \u2018Wow, now that\u2019s what I\u2019m talking about.\u2019 Then, I get inspired by what I\u2019m experiencing or something I haven\u2019t heard much of, and I utilize that in what I do next with making music,\u201d he elaborated.<\/p>\n
\u201cMost of it comes from my brain into my heart, and then, into my hands. Sometimes, I just need a little bit of help and inspiration because this is my sound library,\u201d he noted.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis music goes all the way back from my collection from 1964, which was started off in my dad\u2019s collection. So, you can imagine how much of my sound library I have to be inspired by. It\u2019s a lot,\u201d he admitted.<\/p>\n
\u201cA lot of my inspiration comes from Jean-Michel Jarre,\u201d Cox said. \u201cI love how he had all of equipment laid out and he just went to his analog and his sounds. He put together some new digital sounds and \u2018Oxygen\u2019 was made. It was very simple but very effective.\u201d<\/p>\n
The digital age<\/p>\n
On being an artist in the digital age, Cox said, \u201cI mean, the thing is now it has turned a corner. Now, you don\u2019t need to have a college band set-up with a friend that can play the bass, a guy that can play or a girl that can play the drums, or someone that can play the harp or the oboe, or someone that can basically play the triangle.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou open up your laptop, then you have the accessibility to have all these things, and then some. So, it was always going to happen. It was going to go from analog to digital,\u201d he observed.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe were already crossing those boundaries in the \u201980s with Gary Numan\u2019s \u2018Cars,\u2019 obviously Kraftwerk, Visage, and The Human League. We were already crossing those boundaries,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n
\u201cEven if you go back to golden years, listen to David Bowie. Herbie Hancock, for instance, was a purveyor of electronic music and Stevie Wonder was, of course, too,\u201d he noted.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo, it\u2019s not new or it\u2019s not surprising the way we\u2019ve gone digitally, but it has also made a lot of people very lazy,\u201d he said. \u201cRather than going to Berklee and music school, and learning how to play the piano, you don\u2019t have to do that anymore, especially now with AI.\u201d<\/p>\n
AI on the future of the industry<\/p>\n
\u201cYou have to use AI very, very carefully. It\u2019s a good tool to be inspired by\u2026 the things it comes up with is actually unbelievable. It comes back to you with things that you never really thought about. It can be incredible,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Especially now with AI, even though you have to use that AI very, very carefully, to be inspired by it is actually really unbelievable\u2026 when it comes back at you of things that you never really thought about. That\u2019s incredible.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe good thing is that something that you make with AI, you can\u2019t call it your own because it has been created digitally. I like the way it is being protected. You still have to basically own the idea of your original composition,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cAI can make you a techno record, and it can probably come back better than you ever thought, but you can\u2019t actually sit there and own that right to the idea of that,\u201d he acknowledged.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think that\u2019s still important at the end of the day based on who you are and your talent and the ideas of what you have to stand by your music,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n
DJ Mag recognition<\/p>\n
In 1996 and 1997, Cox was named \u201cBest DJ in the World\u201d in the DJ Magazine<\/a> Top 100 DJs poll.<\/p>\n Fast-forward to 2023, Cox was honored with the \u201cOutstanding Contribution Award\u201d at the DJ Mag<\/a> Top 100 DJs ceremony, where he was recognized for his 30-year career as a pioneering techno DJ, producer, and label owner. <\/p>\n A staple in the Top 100 poll, he was lauded for his enduring influence on rave culture and for continuing to innovate in the electronic dance music (EDM) landscape.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cOh my God. That has been incredible,\u201d he exclaimed. \u201cMy journey of being where I am still today has been an incredible one because if anyone asked me the question, \u2018How come you\u2019re still here doing what you\u2019re doing at a level that you\u2019re doing it at?\u2019 I think that I\u2019m probably the wrong person to answer that question.\u201d<\/p>\n Cox continued, \u201cYou\u2019ve got to speak to the people who still support my music, and still come to my events\u2026 You\u2019ve got to ask the people, \u2018Why do you still go to a Carl Cox show?\u2019 or \u2018Why do you go all the way to Ibiza, stand in a queue to go into a club called UNVRS, after Space, and still have a best time on a Sunday night with me playing my music all night long?’\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cSo, I feel like I still have something to give to the world based on my musical abilities, my professionalism to the game, my heart and soul, and passion for the music and how I basically portray myself as someone that\u2019s still enjoying the idea of sharing the love of music,\u201d he acknowledged.<\/p>\n Superpower <\/p>\n Cox feel that \u201csharing the love of music\u201d is his superpower. \u201cI think that\u2019s my superpower\u2026 no matter what the algorithms say, no matter how many followers I have on TikTok, Facebook or Instagram, it\u2019s all about sharing the love of music,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \u201cTo me, that\u2019s just the icing on the cake and what I always laid down as a foundation, and one of the reasons why I\u2019m still here,\u201d he admitted.<\/p>\n \u201cAs a forefather or a godfather or a groundskeeper to the music, I\u2019m still going to be doing exactly the same as I\u2019ve always done. Here\u2019s a great record. I\u2019ll put a needle to the record, or I\u2019ll put it in digitally, and I\u2019ll play it,\u201d he explained.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ve always been there for the music,\u201d he underscored.<\/p>\n Stage of his life<\/p>\n On the title of the current chapter of his life, Cox revealed, \u201cI\u2019m a more electronic live performer now.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cEspecially with my live shows, and what I\u2019ve been doing the last two years\u2026 I wanted to really show people that outside of DJing, I can actually create my own music,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n \u201cI can actually perform my own music from a live digital point of view and analog point of view while having all the machines that I would normally produce music in the studio, and present them on a stage with a stage presence, and that\u2019s what I have been doing and I have been really enjoying that,\u201d he explained.<\/p>\n \u201cThe embodiment of most of the music has already been made, but I do a lot of overdubs and overlaying and live performance on top of what I\u2019ve already created. So, that is a live electronic performance,\u201d he elaborated.<\/p>\n Carl Cox honors the legacy and influence of James Brown as part of Black History Month<\/p>\n Most recently, in honor of Black History Month, Cox paid homage to James Brown\u2019s musical legacy and influence with his new remix project titled \u201cI\u2019m Black And I\u2019m Proud \u2013 Say It Loud (Remixes),\u201d released via Universal Music Enterprises (UMe)<\/p>\n The James Brown and Carl Cox remix project is available on digital service providers by clicking here<\/a>.<\/p>\n To learn more about Carl Cox, follow him on Instagram<\/a>, Facebook<\/a>, and visit his official website<\/a>.<\/p>\n \t\t\t