A 10 minute interview really flies when it’s Carl Cox on the other end of the line. After nearly 25 years as a DJ, his enthusiasm for dance music remains undimmed – and he doesn’t mind a chat, either. This summer sees the honorary Melbournian return to Australia to present the Carl Cox & Friends stage at Stereosonic for a second year running, so we had plenty to quiz the big man about. Here’s everything we could fit into our fly-by chat.

Where in the world have we caught up with you?
I’m in Spain at the moment, taking a couple of days off before heading over to Amsterdam for the ADE. We’re doing a big showcase there for Intec Digital and also for the USB release of the album.

This year was phenomenal really. We had a great start at Ultra Music Festival in Miami and we had this amazing mega-structure tent with maybe 15,000 people in it. We had Laurent Garnier doing his five hour L.B.S. set and also Afrojack and Steve Aoki. I’m always in Australia up until March when I do my rejuvenation in some ways, then I get back here and it’s like, Wham, here I am.

I was able to do some really cool festivals this year, headlining the Dance Area at Glastonbury with Fatboy Slim, ‘cause I ended up staying all weekend and enjoying the mud actually. It was definitely a part of what Glastonbury is all about. I got my wellies on and trudged around seeing all the bands.

And then moving on to Space Ibiza, with it being my tenth year there as a resident DJ, it was just phenomenal. I did 10 hours at the opening and within each hour I was playing the big records that made the club what it is musically.

I had Richie Hawtin play for us for the first time, and people were just climbing over the fences to see him. Usually he’s a Cocoon DJ playing on a Monday night for Sven Vath, but him coming to play for us was definitely a moment as I’ve always respected Richie as an artist. We had a really good time in Ibiza this year; it’s been positive for sure, and I’m going to bring all of that energy back to Australia.

It also seems like you were able to play a range of different sets aside from the big rooms…
Yes, there was a house set in Tel Aviv, I got to play a lot more funk and soul by demand. I played a lot of that at a place called Sands in Ibiza. A lot of people don’t get to see me play Luther Vandross or KC & The Sunshine Band; all the stuff I grew up with. These are the records that basically got me where I am today and I’m still playing them after 25 years. They still sound brilliant.