Carl Cox: “If you really want to p*ss off your neighbours play gabber”
“The energy of that sound is such a force”...
Carl Cox has revealed he thinks the recent return of gabber is "great" in a new interview with DJ Mag.
The sound has seen a resurgence on a wide scale with Berlin’s CTM Festival hosting a gabber rave at Berghain earlier this year and neo-gabber taking over clubs in Eastern Poland through crews like WIXAPOL.
“It's completely mad that sound,” Cox told DJ Mag. “In my early days there was not cut off point when it came to BPMs and I still love it because the energy of that sound is such a force.
“I'll never forget my hardcore days. I used to get booked to play in Utrecht, the home of gabber. When I pulled out the toughest record that I could start with – which was 165bpm – it sounded like garage.
“Can you imagine? My 165bpm record was too slow! I play 128-130bpm nowadays, and that's still considered fast compared to what other DJs are playing. I had to pick it up on my second record to 180bpm-190bpm. Now that's gabber!
“If you really want to piss your neighbours off, you don't play d&b or any of that sh*t, you play gabber. That would absolutely bring the police round your house.”
Cox announced that he will play three parties under the name One Night Stand in Ibiza this summer, including dates at Amnesia, Pacha and DC-10. The British icon also recently announced for three nights at Privilege Ibiza this summer.
Cox opened up about the current state of techno last month (April), saying the sound “should scare the sh*t out of people”. That was after he was voted No. 62 in DJ Mag’s Top 100 DJs poll last year.
Rob McCallum is DJ Mag’s deputy digital editor. Follow him on Twitter here.
