Shine announce Carl Cox for ChSq
Northern Ireland's Underground Dance Music institution Shine, team up with CHSq to host the biggest ever Shine event in the 22 year history of the brand.
For this monumental outdoor show in the heart of Belfast City Centre, Shine have secured the long awaited return of the 'King' of Underground Dance Music, Carl Cox for Bank Holiday Sunday 27th August.
A musical ambassador and a veteran of acid house, a champion of techno, a dance music pioneer, label owner, King of Ibiza – you name it, Carl’s been there and done it, never losing sight of his passions – playing music, breaking tunes and celebrating life.
Alongside Carl will be very special guest, HOT SINCE 82 – the Yorkshire based star DJ & Producer who makes a welcome return to Belfast following his sell out Shine appearance in 2015. Shine residents and local electronic exponents Phil Kieran & Schmutz complete the lineup for what will be an unmissable day for Electronic music fans!
It was at the age of 15 that Carl bought a set of turntables and began working as a mobile DJ. Disco was the first music that captivated him but by the early 80s Cox had moved on to playing the same music as other young London DJs – rare groove, New York hip-hop and electro. He was perfectly placed to hear Chicago house music in its earliest forms, and when the epic 'Acid Trax' by Phuture (a.k.a. DJ Pierre) came out in early '87. “It was then that I thought, 'This is it,’ says Carl. “I would do my parties, and I'd play old rare groove and hip hop and soul and I would say 'Right you've got to hear this Phuture track’ and people would just stop and listen.”
As a founder of the sound, Carl rode the exploding British rave scene. He played the opening night of Danny Rampling's legendary Shoom, co-promoted The Project with Paul Oakenfold, held a residency at the Zap Club in Brighton and at the Sunrise rave in 1988, hooked up a third turntable for his dawn-breaking set, got 15,000 people back on their feet, and established a personal rep for three-deck wizardry.
The next step was to make music, and Carl's 1991 debut single for Paul Oakenfold's Perfecto label, 'I Want You,' gave him a top 30 hit and a Top of the Pops appearance. Two more singles also made the charts. But Carl was a reluctant pop star and as the masses moved onto fluffy house and trance, and the hardcore created jungle, Cox retreated into the club world that had nurtured him, and instead embraced the underground sounds of techno. "Techno drives home somewhere," he says of his core music. "It takes you to an element of surprise, not knowing where you're going. It's scary but wonderful at the same time."