Get all your news in one place.
100’s of premium titles.
One app.
Start reading
The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Lifestyle
Nick McGrath

Sunday with Carl Cox: ‘I’ll hit 250mph in five seconds’

Carl Cox in a black T-shirt with a black and white Hawaiian shirt on top, grey background
‘I’m not sure how good it is for me, but the thrill is intense’: Carl Cox. Photograph: Dan Reid

Lie in or early start? More often than not I’ll wake up in some hotel room on the other side of the world after a gig the night before. I still gig all the time. Often I have to delay my Sundays for 48 hours until Tuesday.

What’s on the stereo? Smooth FM all the way. The last thing I want to do on my day off is listen to techno. I’m done with it by then.

Childhood Sundays… Were spent meeting mates in the park and just hanging out. As I’m away travelling so much now, if I am back home, I still like to spend my Sundays catching up with friends and family.

A yellow drag racing car
‘It’s more exhilarating than DJ-ing at a massive event.’ Photograph: jtyler/Getty Images

What’s cooking? I love a roast, either at the pub or at home. Chicken is my speciality, but if I’m feeling particularly lazy I have been known to order a Sunday roast from Uber from my local pub.

A perfect Sunday? My big passion in life, apart from music, is drag racing. I run Carl Cox Motorsport. When I’m not working and if there’s a race on, I’ll get my helmet on, put my head down and hit speeds of up to 250mph in five or six seconds, before the parachutes do their job. It’s more exhilarating than DJ-ing at a massive event. At a gig, the scariest it gets is when a punter tries to put his pint glass on the decks. If I’m racing at Santa Pod [raceway], the G-force can reach anything between 4 and 5 Gs. I’m not sure how good it is for me, but the thrill is intense.

How do you wind down? It takes a while. I find the best way is to put my slippers on and settle down in front of an old episode of Only Fools and Horses. I love that show.

Carl Cox is a Zenith Friend of the Brand and the Zenith DEFY Extreme Carl Cox is available to purchase now, zenith-watches.com

Sign up to read this article
Read news from 100’s of titles, curated specifically for you.
Already a member? Sign in here
Related Stories
Top stories on inkl right now
One subscription that gives you access to news from hundreds of sites
Already a member? Sign in here
Our Picks
Fourteen days free
Download the app
One app. One membership.
100+ trusted global sources.