Carl Cox to headline Wembley this September

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  • This is "probably going to be the best thing I'm going to do in my whole life," the artist says.
  • Carl Cox to headline Wembley this September image
  • Carl Cox will headline London's Wembley OVO Arena on September 17th to perform a hybrid live set of his new album, Electronic Generations, for the very first time. This is "probably going to be the best thing I'm going to do in my whole life," the artist tells Resident Advisor, adding that he hopes audiences will enjoy his foray outside of DJing. The live experience of this album is raw, energetic and creative, he continues. "By the end of it, I didn't realise I'd made an album by just jamming—I ended up with material I would never have thought of making." This approach to production, according to him, is reminiscent of the way rave, drum & bass and jungle was made "back in the day when it was created with a punk 'I don't give a fuck' mentality." Cox, who will be on stage from 3 AM until 5 AM, has a live sound kit that is comprised of—but not limited to: Ableton Live, Ableton Push, a Pioneer V10 mixer, a TC303, Minimoog modules, a Moog Subharmonicon, FX peddles, a Roland TR-08 drum machine and a DFAM (Drummer From Another Mother) machine. Electronic Generations, consisting of 17 tracks, is his fifth release but the first in ten years. Parts of the album features music made while performing a live jam for RA from his Melbourne studio during lockdown in February 2021. Listeners will have to compare the album with this recorded live stream to determine which tracks made the final cut. Following his previous LP in 2010, All Roads Lead to the Dance Floor, he promised himself that he'd never make another recorded album. At that time, he felt he was "trying to fit a narrative of what a DJ/producer should sound like." He believes there has to be a deeper reason for making music beyond furthering one's career. This time around, he's focusing on the purpose of raving. New generations of producers making 126 BPM tech house "with a slightly commercial edge" to generate acceptance for radio, he said, "is not raving as we know it." "Raving as we know it is high tempo, powerful energy, something you experience," he said. "You have no idea what it is when you hear it, but you know it's good and it could be played at the filthiest of warehouses." However, there's a growing culture of champagne and expensive shirts, which people "don't want to sweat in," that defines the antithesis to this. But he isn't making music for that crowd. If that was the case, "then I've already lost," he said. "So when I made the new album, I put all this equipment together and I just went, 'sod it.' This is where I'm at right now, bang, 132 BPM, let's go." Kraftwerk Wolfgang Flür is among the artists who have pre-remixes of tracks on a separate edition of Electronic Generations. These pre-remixes are more likely to be played on radio than the originals, according to Cox. "My music has no business being on daytime radio—it's more for raves, clubs and festivals," he said. Cox is more than excited about this new phase of his life and career than he's ever been. "I'm more rejuvenated about doing this performance at Wembley than I was in 1988-89 as the three deck wizard playing three turntables," he told RA. "So this is my three-deck wizard moment happening again, except it's in electronic music production."
RA