Carl Cox

Carl Cox is a techno DJ and producer from Oldham, born in 1962 and raised in a family with Barbadian roots. He begins DJing at family gatherings at the age of eight, using his parents’ soul records, and buys his own records soon after. By 15, he owns his first turntables. He studies electrical engineering at college but leaves after six months, then works a series of jobs before becoming a full-time DJ.

Early career and club rise

Cox follows the development of disco, rare groove, hip-hop and then house in Britain, and he identifies house as the style that gives him a lasting direction. After moving to Brighton in 1986, he builds a reputation during the acid house period of 1988 and 1989. He plays at Shoom, Land of Oz and Spectrum, and at the Sunrise open-air event in 1989 he performs in front of a large crowd using three decks, a technique that becomes part of his style.

Records, labels and releases

In 1992 he signs a long-term production deal with Perfecto Records. His debut single, I Want You (Forever), reaches number 23 in the UK, and Does It Feel Good to You also enters the Top 40. He then sets up his own label, Worldwide Ultimatum, and an international DJ agency called Ultimate. He later releases the F.A.C.T.: Future Alliance of Communications and Tecknology mix series, which begins in 1995 and continues with further volumes. His first studio album is At the End of the Cliché in 1996, followed by the mix album The Sound of Ultimate B.A.S.E. in 1998, the studio album Phuture 2000 in 1999, Mixed Live recorded at Chicago’s Crobar in 2000, another Mixed Live edition two years later, and the mix CD Global. In 2004 he issues Pure Intec and an entry in the Back to Mine series, and in 2006 he releases Second Sign, which includes productions with collaborators such as Norman Cook and Kevin Saunderson.

Style and standing

Cox is associated with hard techno, but his sets also draw on breakbeat, Italian house, dance music and other club styles. He is noted for his mixing approach and for remaining popular across changing phases of British dance culture, from disco and house through the rave era and into the club scene of the new millennium. He is linked with the labels Intec Records and Worldwide Ultimatum Records, and with the acts Pox and Cowell and The Carl Cox Concept.