Style: “House and techno music.” Best known for: “Rocking to the beat worldwide for years.” Tune of 2012: “Laurent Garnier ‘Jacques In The Box’.” Breakthrough DJ/producer of 2012: “Maceo Plex.”
CARL Cox is as chatty and buzzing as ever when DJ Mag catches up with him: Not bad given his long service to electronic music and enduring place in the Top 100. So what’s his secret? Well, motorbikes, actually. Having been a two-wheeler in his youth, even having a bike crew at the age of 16, with age came a belief that bikes were too dangerous, until, that is, he moved to Melbourne five or so years ago and couldn’t turn down the opportunity to ride the wide open roads in relative safety (compared to the UK, at least).
As such, he decided to start an annual trek from the north of France right down to Ibiza (and back) ahead of his Space date with a crew of like-minded motor and techno heads. Growing ever more successful each and every year, Carl has now invested in a racing team, set up his own bike touring company and feels his
music is benefitting as a result. “Sometimes I just need space away from music,” he says. “To not think about drums and basslines. Riding allows you to be free from the music and I feel a lot better for it. “
Given his continued stewardship of Intec, busy touring schedule, steady stream of releases (and plenty of unreleased remixes he admits to using only in his own sets) and the fact that his globally syndicated radio show is about to hit its 50th installment, it’s no wonder Cox needs a break. But does he see an ultimate end in sight? “Once the DJing finishes I’ll be restoring bikes, I think. That won’t happen for a while, though, I’m still ringing off the chain. Every gig this year has been amazing, the Space closing was mental. How do you stop that?!” KRISTAN J CARYL
If you were a superhero, what would your superpower be? “Iron Man, because even though underneath he is always up to no good, he will always put things right in the end.” Should you play to the crowd or for yourself? “You should play both because the party people have paid for it.” What does EDM mean to you? “EDM means what it is, it’s been with us for years, is nothing new.” Should celebrities be DJs? “If they enjoy it and do it for the right reason, why not?” Have you ever been thrown off the decks? “Never, it’s not possible...” Are you a DJ if you don’t beat match? “You are a DJ if you can play records, it does not mean you need to beat match.” Where’s the next dance music capital? “BPM festival in Mexico 2013.”
NEW ENTRY
Style: “Electro house.” Best known for: “Backroom work for David Guetta and Armin van Buuren.” Tune of 2012: “‘Epic’ by Sandro Silva & Quintino.” Breakthrough DJ/producer of 2012: “Pixel Cheese/Tom Swoon and Otto Knows.”
TWIN sisters Miriam and Olivia Nervo are delighted when we get in touch to inform them that they’ve been voted into the DJ Mag Top 100 DJs list this year — and have come in as the Highest Female DJs in the chart. “This is one of the highlights of our year!” they say, excitedly. The twins are originally from Melbourne in Australia, and despite interest from modeling agencies they opted for music at the age of 18 when they signed a deal with Sony Music. They wrote songs for Rachel Stevens, Ke$ha, Sophie Ellis-Bextor and the Pussycat Dolls before co-penning ‘When Love Takes Over’, the global smash for ex-Destiny’s Child singer Kelly Rowland and DJ/producer David Guetta. Taken under Guetta’s wing, they began DJing as well, playing the Ultra Music festival in Miami as one of their first gigs. Continuing to write for pop people such as Kylie Minogue, Cheryl Cole and Britney Spears, the girls also co-wrote some stuff
for trance titan Armin van Buuren, and released their own singles such as ‘This Kind Of Love’ and ‘Irresistible’. In 2011, after DJing at Tomorrowland festival in Belgium, they wrote big room electro trancer ‘The Way We See The World (Tomorrowland)’ with Afrojack, and followed it quickly with ‘We’re All No-One’ featuring Afrojack and Steve Aoki. They played Guetta’s Fuck Me I’m Famous party in Ibiza, and wrote ‘Night Of Your Life’ for Guetta’s ‘Nothing But The Beat’ album that appeared with a vocal from Jennifer Hudson. “In the last 12 months we’ve played at so many of the major festivals — Tomorrowland, Electric Daisy Carnival, Wonderland, Creamfields in Brazil and in the UK,” they tell DJ Mag. “We’ve also had our Ushuaia residency in Ibiza, and the general love we’ve been getting back from our crazy-ass fans around the world has been amazing.” CARL LOBEN
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If you were a superhero, what would your superpower be? “To never need sleep.” Should you play to the crowd or for yourself? “A bit of both.” What does EDM mean to you? “A way of life; be free, enjoy.” Should celebrities be DJs? “Well, if someone becomes a ce- lebrity because of their DJing or the music they make, then yeah.” Have you ever been thrown off the decks? “Yeah many times — when we warm up for the big guys... And at lots of house parties too.” Are you a DJ if you don’t beat match? “We didn’t feel we were truly DJs until we learned to beat match... each to their own, though.” Where’s the next dance music capital? “It will always be Ibiza for us.”